S01.E03: High Plains Hardware

[Stinger97]

Gordon and Cameron struggle to make Joe's vision a reality, while Joe and Bosworth seek capital to fund the making of the new machine.

 

Sneak Peak: 

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lTg09SCD59o

[Peace 47]

Donna is my queen. I love her to pieces.

I don't know if the show wants us to root for John over Joe or not (probably not), but team John over here, like 10,000%. Joe can take a long walk off a short pier. I don't care that John purposefully sunk the venture capitalist and so Joe was only retaliating by sinking the Jean Smart option. I still find John displaying remarkable restraint by not, you know, murdering Joe.

I feel bad for the actress playing Cameron. She doesn't have a lot to play off of (as in exchanging dialogue with other characters), and a lot of her character development has to be internalized. That must be difficult.

[88Keys]

 I don't care that John purposefully sunk the venture capitalist and so Joe was only retaliating by sinking the Jean Smart option. I still find John displaying remarkable restraint by not, you know, murdering Joe.

 

 I do not understand why he doesn't just fire him and take over the PC sales himself.  It's not like he needs Joe to write the code or anything.

[Peace 47]

I do not understand why he doesn't just fire him and take over the PC sales himself. It's not like he needs Joe to write the code or anything.

I don't understand the legalities of all of this, but I thought that the show had said that Cardiff could not fire either Gordon or Joe because they were both involved in cloning the BIOS, and so firing them would be tantamount to admitting guilt. So I think they're stuck with Joe for the time being?

[Watcher0363]

This took an unexpected turn tonight. All that unprotected sex in the early eighties. Oh my. Somebody is going to need the Dallas buyers club.

Edited June 18, 2014 by Watcher0363

[SonofaBiscuit]

I started watching this show because of Lee Pace, but I think that Gordon is the only character of the main three that I am actually interested in.  His wife is a smart lady, and I love that she offered up a really innovative idea, even if it is something that is logistically impossible (due to the ways the parts are currently manufactured) according to that guy that Gordon fired after the random car accident.  Can Gordon's wife please join the team? 

 

Joe's and Cameron's stories are just off in WTF territory right now.  I don't really care to watch Cameron partying with some unemployed losers that she met two seconds ago in an alley or Joe hook up with a guy he's known for five minutes. 

Edited June 16, 2014 by SonofaBiscuit

[Soopertater]

John still doesn't know anything about personal computing.  Remember when he asked Cameron the difference between a GOTO and a GOSUB/RETURN loop?  Heck, I remember that from 8th grade. :-)

 

And IIRC, Cameron's almost-tattoo was Black Flag.

[GaT]

WTF did I just watch? I still don't understand a damn thing they're talking about, & why is Joe screwing that woman's husband/boyfriend? Gordon acts likes he's in a perpetual daze, he seems kind of useless to me, Cameron is...I don't even know what Cameron is, it's like she's disassociated from life, & Joe is just hateful. I don't know if I'll be watching this next week.

[Jeebus Cripes]

I totally didn't see Joe sexing up that dude coming, but it was actually hotter than the hookup with Cameron. The thing that really intrigues me, is whether or not Joe is actually bisexual, or if he's straight and screwed that guy just to piss that woman off. The latter is disturbingly sociopathic. Like someone who will literally do anything to get his way.

Edited June 16, 2014 by Jeebus Cripes

[hincandenza]

I'm still hanging around, but I do feel pretty unsure this will pay off in an unsatisfying way.  The bird thing was a bit heavy-handed as metaphor, and like Jeebus I'm not sure what Joe's deal was having sex with the 'boyfriend' of Jean Smart's character, or how she knew so fast that Joe had slept with her pet.  It seems a bit dated to have his big secret be that he's gay/bisexual, but I find him the least interesting person in any event, not the least of which is why Cardiff and John haven't basically kept him an employee, but sidelined him since he is apparently determined to run this company into the ground. 

 

Gordon has my sympathies, as does John who seems like a stand-up guy.  Cameron remains a weird enigma, and without some payoff such as actual character growth or concrete accomplishments, I don't know that I can care about her as the tortured, gutter-punk genius.

 

I also am unclear on the reason Gordon fired that guy; was it the accident, or his old-school blathering, or that Gordon decided he didn't need any naysayers (certainly it seemed he was about to tell Joe the portable PC was impossible when he was at the door in the office, but had second thoughts).  I'm leaning towards the latter, but this show as we've talked about in past episodes is not very good at being clear on things that should be important.  There's a happy medium between telling, not showing, and being too obtuse for your audience to keep up.

[thuganomics85]

I will admit that Joe getting it on with Jean Smart's boyfriend has at least made interested in wondering what the deal is.  Is he bisexual, or is he just someone who will hit on anyone, in order to his way?  Then again, maybe he's actually gay, and all his stuff with Cameron was an act.  I hope they actually do a decent job with this.

 

I'm continuing to try and be patient, but I'm already at my wits end with Cameron.  Her general "rebellious" attitude is bad enough, but now she's doing shit like nicking things from the people who just got fired.  I'm glad John at least called her on that, but she didn't seem to give a shit, so I doubt anything will come of it.  Oh, and she also took Gordon's soda too, because he apparently did something to her, that makes her hate his ass.  Add all that, plus her using her first paycheck to just blow it on a fancy hotel to hang out with street kids, and I'm not liking her.  Again, this is AMC's thing, I guess, but I really hope she brings something in the upcoming episodes, do make it all worth it.

 

Gordon really didn't do much, but I guess it was kind of interesting seeing him have to be a leader of some kind.  I guess he fired that guy at the end, because he didn't like that the guy went against Donna's idea, but it took the car wreck for Gordon to finally say it.  Not sure what to make of that.  Except that the guy reminded me of a young Matthew McConaughey.  Really wanted him to either say "Alright, alright, alright!" or "Time is a flat circle."

 

John and Donna are totally my favorite characters right now, which I'm not sure is suppose to be happening...

[ABay]

I'm not sure what Joe's deal was having sex with the 'boyfriend' of Jean Smart's character, or how she knew so fast that Joe had slept with her pet.

Joe and Travis came back into the room together after being away for too long, then Joe gave her a suggestive look and said "We decided on a *port*." She got the double entendre. I also think Travis's comment on the liquor was something she knew he didn't know and must've got from Joe. She might also have known that Travis wasn't exclusively hetero.

 

If they're going to have Joe making out with a guy every week, I'll have to keep watching. It was definitely hotter than Joe and Cameron.

[attica]

First of all, I was glad to see that piece of shit gremlin get walloped. Hate that car, and all it stood for. Second of all, I share the surprise and delight with Joe doing the dirty hula with the boytoy. Third of all, when is Donna gonna get hired by Cardiff?! She'll fix everything, I just know it.

Edited June 16, 2014 by attica

[dubbel zout]

Joe hook up with a guy he's known for five minutes.

 

When Cameron stopped by later for some sex, I thought, "Joe is having a busy night."

 

John and Donna are totally my favorite characters right now, which I'm not sure is suppose to be happening...

 

Same here, with Gordon a close third. Joe is plain annoying to me, and Cameron is an underdeveloped cliché, if that isn't an oxymoron.

 

First of all, I was glad to see that piece of shit gremlin get walloped. Hate that car, and all it stood for.

 

Hee. But the Gremlin was a better car than the Pacer.

 

when is Kathy gonna get hired by Cardiff?! She'll fix everything, I just know it.

 

Seriously. But Joe throws a tantrum next week when Kathy's at the office, so I'm sure he'll cut off his nose to spite his face and not let her be involved. He's such a baby when things don't go exactly the way he wants them to. I hope that changes, because it's no fun to watch. I want to slap him and tell him to grow up.

 

Except for everything Cameron-related, I liked this episode the best of the three so far. Jean Smart always makes everything better. I kind of wish we'd seen her tell John that the deal was off, because she's awesome in scenes like that. Poor John, though.

 

He was living at the office, right? That's one reason why he told Cameron she couldn't?

Edited June 16, 2014 by dubbel zout

[tveyeonyou]

I totally didn't see Joe sexing up that dude coming, but it was actually hotter than the hookup with Cameron. The thing that really intrigues me, is whether or not Joe is actually bisexual, or if he's straight and screwed that guy just to piss that woman off. The latter is disturbingly sociopathic. Like someone who will literally do anything to get his way.

This! I'm having a hard time really getting into this show but there's something that keeps me giving it another chance, hoping it'll start moving in some direction. As far as your post, Joe with the dude was definitely way more interesting than the Cameron hookup chemistry-wise, and while I'm not sure either whether he's bisexual or not, I really felt like he did that intentionally to piss off that woman. Like he wanted her to know that he could accomplish anything he set his mind to, including taking her man, kind of like he took her 10 million dollar offer as a personal insult because it wasn't enough for his 'grand vision' or something like that.

I just don't know what to think about this show.

 

edited because your post wasn't having sex with Joe, well, as far as I know, Joe could very well change that if it'll help him get what he wants :D

Edited June 16, 2014 by tveyeonyou

[scowl]

I'm having more trouble with this show, I guess because I know too much. I want the technical guys to succeed but giving us eureka moments only to have them dismissed later for mumble fritz technobabble with the genus saying, "Oh shoot, forgot is making these characters look like bumbling idiots. You can split PC boards. It would have worked. The geek babbling about "Intel or AMD" needing to reroute their dilithium crystal circuits through a flux capacitor or whatever for this to work made no sense and was just hitting my face with stupid. It's especially jarring when this is mixed with correct information like arranging chips on a PC board or the dilemma on whether or not to put a heat sink on the CPU.

 

The drama of Cameron writing code with lipstick on a mirror is the tired cliche of the tortured genius trying to get the brilliance out their perfect minds. Nice to see her typing code into a computer for one moment. That works a lot better than writing it in lipstick.

 

Right now I don't know what kind of widget they're trying to make. All I know is they have no chance of producing anything at this rate. I have a feeling they're going to throw us one eureka moment that quickly solves all their problems in one episode.

[hincandenza]

Yeah, as a fellow techie I get what you mean, scowl; you really hit the nail on the head.

We're three episodes in, out of (checks Wiki) 9 apparently, yet I still don't know what exactly they're trying to make... a faster PC? A cheaper one? A portable one? All three? In what kind of timeline, and with what money, and what parts? From last week we learned that Cardiff is going to run out of money in a couple of months, yet Cardiff himself is strangely sanguine about this "bet the farm" approach.

And why would the BIOS code be a bottleneck at this point, when they're still debating basic hardware layout? You can't reverse engineer a BIOS in one week anyway, they knew she'd take a few weeks.

It's telling that the 8 episodes of an almost slapstick style comedy, "Silicon Valley", were not only vastly more enjoyable, they had by their third episode far better character development and a clearer goal for our characters, with audience-understandable road blocks and challenges.

Unless something miraculous happens, this is a one-season-and-done show.

[GaT]

 

The geek babbling about "Intel or AMD" needing to reroute their dilithium crystal circuits through a flux capacitor or whatever for this to work made no sense and was just hitting my face with stupid. It's especially jarring when this is mixed with correct information like arranging chips on a PC board or the dilemma on whether or not to put a heat sink on the CPU.

As a total non IT kind of person, I wish they would start talking about dilithium crystals or the flux capacitor. Those are things I understand, all the other stuff is just techno babble to me because this show seems to think we all design computers & know what they're talking about. They need to hire Scotty & Doc Brown as a Greek chorus.

[Stinger97]

As others have mentioned, color me surprised at Joe and the random dude hooking up. Although, I do have to say that Joe could do better. That dude wasn't impressing me. He looked a little like a young Jon Favreau to me, which isn't a compliment. Moreover, maybe there was more chemistry between Joe and the dude because Lee Pace was feeling it more? 

[Lee4U]

He's simply a repellent human being - I think he just uses sex as he feels a need to; I don't care what his sexuality is because I don't care about him at all - or, really any of them.  I haven't seen a show with such poorly developed characters in a long time.  None of what is happening is making sense (I do get the overall general plot point but other than that - nope) because I don't have a clue about these people - maybe Gordon somewhat but even him, very little.  

 

I think that was it for me.  Just bored with them all.   I loved Lee Pace in Pushing Daisies - he was a fully formed character.  Here they are a bit like cardboard characters who can talk and screw - neither of which has been interesting.  

[walnutqueen]

First of all, I was glad to see that piece of shit gremlin get walloped. Hate that car, and all it stood for.

 

 

Hee. But the Gremlin was a better car than the Pacer.

 

 

OMG - I am very afraid to ask what Gremlins stood for.  My first new car was a 1974 Gremlin (V8 - 304, baby).  Loved it till the engine blew.  I loved the look of the Pacer, too - took one for a test drive and it felt like a little moon ship or something.  I was young.  :-)

 

I am just not really feeling this show.  Too bad - I enjoyed Silicon Valley and had high hopes for this, but have been disappointed so far.

[Agfa]

I'm still on board. I like Donna more and more and would love for her to be more involved with the computer. I guess I can see her helping Gordon at home more and more, and then getting pissed off when he gets all the credit.

Cameron needs to start getting integrated in the story better, because scenes of her alone being distressed and then going to Joe for sex are getting pretty boring.

Speaking of sex with Joe, color me surprised that none of his 2 sex scenes were shown on screen. And that he fucked that guy. I don't know if he's a sociopath or truly bisexual, but I like it.

 

And I may be alone in this, but I love when their geek babbling, even if I don't understand any of it (and/or if it doesn't make sense). I need to feel that these people actually know what they're doing and are good at it.

I'll be there next week.

[LJonEarth]

He's simply a repellent human being - I think he just uses sex as he feels a need to.

 

I completely agree. Did I read it correctly that he was propositioning Cameron with the "do I need to come down there" stuff? And then his annoyance when she showed up at the end of the episode. His characterization is edging toward sociopath with each episode.

[88Keys]

I completely agree. Did I read it correctly that he was propositioning Cameron with the "do I need to come down there" stuff? And then his annoyance when she showed up at the end of the episode. His characterization is edging toward sociopath with each episode.

 

If they are trying to make Joe some kind of rogue anti-hero that we can root for, they are failing miserably.  He's downright scary.  I think (hope?) they are setting him up to eventually be an all-out bad guy.  I suspect that, if/when the Cardiff PC takes off and the company starts making money again, Joe will try to take it over from Bosworth. 

[Yolapukka]

The thing that really intrigues me, is whether or not Joe is actually bisexual, or if he's straight and screwed that guy just to piss that woman off. The latter is disturbingly sociopathic. Like someone who will literally do anything to get his way.

I don't know if he's a sociopath or truly bisexual, but I like it.

 

 

If they are trying to make Joe some kind of rogue anti-hero that we can root for, they are failing miserably.  He's downright scary.  I think (hope?) they are setting him up to eventually be an all-out bad guy.

 

I thought last week when we got that parting shot at Joe from the IBM guy along the lines of "They don't know what you are yet"  that it was not just in reference to him being a terribly destructive person,  but also that we were going to get some sort of reveal along the lines of him being bisexual or bi-polar and I'm still inclined to think we will find out he has mental issues beyond being a mercurial  and somewhat mean-spirited guy who has as much concern for the people he damages as he does roadkill. Though I doubt the show will necessarily slap a specific label on him.  I do enjoy the three leads overall but they all seem like selfish, at times horrible people and none of them seem to have much of a sense of warmth or humor, (Though Gordon gets a pass on that for the times he forgets to stare at the world with dead eyes) I'm not asking for wacky hijinx, just  an occasional flash of wit and Joe's dismissive summing up of Jean Smart's character definitely does not count, it was openly surly and the lines were clunky. Whether he is actually bi-sexual or not, he nailed the boy-toy out of sheer spite, so  he seems rather monstrous either way. I really appreciated how well Jean played the character's wordless reaction to observing what had passed between the two men. 

Edited June 17, 2014 by yuggapukka

[StatisticalOutlier]

As others have mentioned, color me surprised at Joe and the random dude hooking up.

 

When Joe started kissing the guy, Mr. Outlier exclaimed, "The pie maker's going rogue!"

 

The Gremlin was such a horrid little car.  My friend had a mint green one we unironically called "Grim."  You could clean them by just opening the doors and spraying with a hose.  But what a handy shortcut for evoking a certain time period.  Assuming there would be even one still running by the early 1980s. 

[Soopertater]

Some fellow watchers are debating whether Joe is actually bisexual, or just hell-bent enough to get his way that he would...ahem...putt from the rough to turn away a venture capitalist that he didn't like.  Either way, the character is just going 5 directions a minute.  Some of this needs to be addressed soon, or they will fizzle out in a sea of weird memes and obscure tech talk.

[Jeebus Cripes]

Seriously. But Joe throws a tantrum next week when Kathy's at the office, so I'm sure he'll cut off his nose to spite his face and not let her be involved. He's such a baby when things don't go exactly the way he wants them to. I hope that changes, because it's no fun to watch. I want to slap him and tell him to grow up.

 

I would happily slap him, tell him to grow up, then have hate-sex. But enough about my kinks... Seriously, though. You are right. He isn't fun to watch, but he is compelling. I'm sure that's mostly because of Lee Pace, but I am asking lots of questions and wanting to know what the hell is making him tick. If that's the writers intention, then it's working at the moment for me. That said, the petulant temper tantrums are getting old real quick.

 

Great post, @yuggapukka. I'm echoing a lot of those feelings.

Edited June 17, 2014 by Jeebus Cripes

[Aprilshowers]

So 3 weeks in I'm just not sure about this one. This episode seemed a bit over the place and Cameron's scenes feels like we're watching clips of Some kind of wonderful or the Breakfast club just way to jarring that it takes me out of the show, why all the music??. I couldn't roll my eyes enough during her tortured genious lipstick scene, ugh.

 

They need to do something about these characters and yes to Gordon's wife being the only one to being fleshed out.  I'll try to stay on topic with the episode but honesty, wtf even happened? Joe had sex with that guy um why? He really liked him? He was using him to get at the bitchy Jean Smart character? And am I supposed to care if he's bisexual cause really show just give me reasons to care.

 

I want to like it but it has some serious problems to address and we only have 6 more to go?

[scout1207]

 

And then his annoyance when she showed up at the end of the episode. His characterization is edging toward sociopath with each episode.

 

       Part of the problem is the character reminds me of Patrick Bateman and the actor resembles the lovechild of Christian Bale and John Cusack (and I didn't see American Psycho but I know enough about what goes on). So when he's standing in the room nude looking at things I keep expecting him to put up plastic. Or hold up a boom box playing Peter Gabriel. I'm conflicted.

 

Joe had sex with that guy um why? He really liked him? He was using him to get at the bitchy Jean Smart character?

Yeah that part came out of no where, but apparently he picked up on the guy's gaydar. He knew this tightly controlled, rent-a-friend debutante with money to burn was all about respectability and keeping up appearances. So he undercut her by sleeping with her husband, (whether Joe is gay or bi-sexual or whatever didn't matter) and eye-threatened her. The poster up above was right, there was double entendre with "trying a different port". If the rest of Dallas society ever found out her reputation was shot. So she tanked the deal because she realized she can't control Joe, which is what Joe wanted.

 

The above posters could be right. He may sleep with anyone to get what he wants.

Edited June 17, 2014 by scout1207

[Glory]

 Yeah that part came out of no where, but apparently he picked up on the guy's gaydar. He knew this tightly controlled, rent-a-friend debutante with money to burn was all about respectability and keeping up appearances. So he undercut her by sleeping with her husband, (whether Joe is gay or bi-sexual or whatever didn't matter) and eye-threatened her. The poster up above was right, there was double entendre with "trying a different port". If the rest of Dallas society ever found out her reputation was shot. So she tanked the deal because she realized she can't control Joe, which is what Joe wanted.

 

The above posters could be right. He may sleep with anyone to get what he wants.

Nail. Head. You hit it. 

 

It goes back to what he said to her at dinner about her being a woman all about herself who had to rent her friends and ply them with money and alcohol to hang out with her. I'd bet that Travis is either her "companion" or beard or something and she knew all along that Travis liked the dudes. She just didn't expect that a) Joe would pick up on that fact or b) that he'd actually seduce Travis. 

 

With that one move she realized she'd be stupid to get into bed with Joe (so to speak) and tanked the deal. 

 

However, if she'd been much more reasonable in her initial offer (or been willing to negotiate) then this probably wouldn't have happened. If she'd agreed to maybe at 50% stake for 10 million maybe Joe could have made it work. As it stands, they butted heads almost instantly and Joe just wouldn't stand for it. 

 

Love Donna. Hope she becomes the driving force behind the project. But do we think she is wishing she had married CEO dude who she went to high school with? That maybe she regrets her life with Gordon? Very interesting vibes in her two scenes with boss man. 

Edited June 17, 2014 by Glory

[Mertseger]

The lesser Whedons do seem to get their shows off the blocks unbearably slowly. I know we're supposed to be in the belly of the beast in this hero's journey dramatic arc, but is ANYONE at Cardiff remotely competent at their purported jobs? We get hints, but nothing so far demonstrates that Starbuck, Pie-man or Droopy Dog can accomplish basic human tasks like taking care of or feeding themselves let alone accomplishing some revolutionary tech change.

[dubbel zout]

If the rest of Dallas society ever found out her reputation was shot.

 

I don't know about this; she has enough money that it might not matter. It would be humiliating for her if the news got out, but I also think that level of society is more forgiving of certain actions that one might expect.

 

I also think the deal with her wouldn't have gone through anyway, because it wasn't Joe's deal, it was John's. Joe seems intent on handling every aspect of the project himself. Look how annoyed he was when John showed up at the club when Joe was meeting Cardiff. There's a definite pissing contest between John and Joe, and so far, I think John has the edge. Joe knows it.

 

We get hints, but nothing so far demonstrates that Starbuck, Pie-man or Droopy Dog can accomplish basic human tasks like taking care of or feeding themselves let alone accomplishing some revolutionary tech change.

 

They're all outliers! There are more important things than sleep and basic hygiene!

Edited June 17, 2014 by dubbel zout

[Hanahope]

Have to agree that I'm not loving this show like I want to.  None of the 3 main characters appear to be rootable, Joe is too arrogant and mean, Gordon just too manic depressive and Cameron too angst-ridden rebellious.  As like others, I like Donna the best.  she's a practical smart woman, who is obviously hitting up against the glass ceiling at TI.  Now there's a story that could be interesting.  Trying to figure out wtf the Cardiff people are doing, is just numbing my brain.

 

Right now, the only thing this show has going for it is a dearth of much else on TV.

[zillabreeze]

 

Quote

    If the rest of Dallas society ever found out her reputation was shot.

 

I don't know about this; she has enough money that it might not matter. It would be humiliating for her if the news got out, but I also think that level of society is more forgiving of certain actions that one might expect.

Oh indeed it did matter!  At that time, the "new rich" in Dallas wanted desparately to be seen as the "old rich".  The old rich regime wasn't having any part of that.  There were very strict standards to belonging in the correct clique and you could not buy your way in.

[Irishmaple]

I wasn't too surprised when Joe seduced Jean Smart's boyfriend.  I think Joe uses sex as a weapon because there was a vibe between him and the leader of the IBM team that I thought had a personal edge to it.  The venture capitalist made a point of specifically saying how nice it was to see Joe again.  He's using sex to counter Cameron's stress and keep her motivated too.  His sexuality seems fluid and mostly used to get whatever he needs from whomever's in his sights.  Lee Pace mostly irritated me as Ned the Piemaker so finding him hot when he's angry and controlling came as a complete surprise to me!  

 

I'm enjoying Donna a lot too in contrast to Cameron who's coming across to me as entitled and dismissive, as low on empathy as Joe is.  Her sudden connection with the teens in the laneway was bizarre.  Was she proving to them she wasn't selling out by booking a room in a nice hotel so they could trash it?  Stupid.  I'd rather she arrogantly dismiss them by pointing out that her job just let her buy all this stuff and they're penniless in an alley, begging cash from her. 

[Soopertater]

Technically, I think Jean would be Travis' beard.  But since he is clearly subservient, he might also be her cuckold, kept man, boytoy, gofer, whatever.

 

The lesser Whedons do seem to get their shows off the blocks unbearably slowly. I know we're supposed to be in the belly of the beast in this hero's journey dramatic arc, but is ANYONE at Cardiff remotely competent at their purported jobs? We get hints, but nothing so far demonstrates that Starbuck, Pie-man or Droopy Dog can accomplish basic human tasks like taking care of or feeding themselves let alone accomplishing some revolutionary tech change.

I always though that was the point.  The are good at what they used to do--build large network infrastructures.  It's all they are used to.  They probably read about other computing concepts in college or from magazines.  We can all add and subtract, but do you remember any calculus from high school?  They're being asked to radically change how they think and approach their professions.  Which for a lot of techies, is their life.

 

BTW, one question about internet history.  Someone told me recently that the internet was invented at UCLA (their alma mater).  I always though the first package-switching network was beta-tested at UCLA and a few other uni's on the West Coast, but it was developed by BBN.  And wasn't that also back in the 1970s?

[scowl]

As a total non IT kind of person, I wish they would start talking about dilithium crystals or the flux capacitor. Those are things I understand, all the other stuff is just techno babble to me because this show seems to think we all design computers & know what they're talking about.

 

They've made it extra difficult because the widget they're making changes every week.

 

First Joe was going to make a clone IBM PC like Compaq was selling. Then next week he wanted an IBM PC that runs twice as fast at half the price with no idea how to do this. This week, after apparently masturbating in front of some computers, he decided that he wanted a more portable IBM PC clone, and now they talked about making it slower than a regular IBM PC to save power and space. By the end of the season I bet he'll demand they design something with a graphical user interface like a Macintosh. At half the price of an Apple II.

 

Is it any wonder Cardiff is having trouble getting financing with no clear product goal? This is exactly the kind of unfocused management with constantly shifting requirements that send engineers in search of sane employment and drive businesses into the ground.

 

I know people in the industry who spent time in these companies so I want Joe to fall on his naked ass and Cardiff to end up bankrupt. 

[Yolapukka]

 

Her sudden connection with the teens in the laneway was bizarre.  Was she proving to them she wasn't selling out by booking a room in a nice hotel so they could trash it?  Stupid.  I'd rather she arrogantly dismiss them by pointing out that her job just let her buy all this stuff and they're penniless in an alley, begging cash from her.

 

I got more of a feeling that the aimless youth (who looked far too worn down to be teens) were more like her usual milieu. Renting a room and partying with what seems like a windfall didn't seem like an unusual impulse, but I think she found it wasn't fun for her anymore. We don't know anything about her background, but  I would be surprised if she is the quirky one in a well-off, stable family. She comes off as someone who is used to existing on very little.

[dubbel zout]

They've made it extra difficult because the widget they're making changes every week.

I wondered if that were the case, so thanks for clearing that up, scowl.

 

I would be surprised if she is the quirky one in a well-off, stable family. She comes off as someone who is used to existing on very little.

 

I could see this being the case, actually—it's Cameron's way of rebelling against the bourgeois milieu she grew up in. But who knows, since we have next to no information about her.

[qtpye]

But do we think she is wishing she had married CEO dude who she went to high school with? That maybe she regrets her life with Gordon? Very interesting vibes in her two scenes with boss man.

 

 

I thought they were trying to say that the guy was getting promoted on a lot of Donna's hard work and Donna was stuck in a rut because she is a woman and there is a glass ceiling.... or her fucktard husband never helps her with anything and she can not devote the energy to her job needed to move up.  It also could be a combination of these two.

 

Everyone here seem to be having problems understanding what the hell is going on.  It seems they are going for a Madmen type of story telling style, but instead of making the show intriguing it is actively just frustrating the audience.

Edited June 18, 2014 by qtpye

[DrSpaceman]

Losing interest a bit in this show, its not really keeping me that into the characters.

So now he is bisexual as well? And he has serious issues with power and authority, which probably is why he is attracted to Cameron.

I too was confused about if they were going for Donna being in love with her boss or being upset with the fact he was being promoted based on her work. Didn't they say he moved around quite a bit? If thats the case, it can't all just be based on her helping him.

In regard to the internet question, its origins and the idea behind it go back to the 60s, ULCA was the location of one of the first "nodes" from which a message was sent but it wasn't really developed at UCLA

[Armchair Critic]

All that unprotected sex in the early eighties

 

And giving each other tattoos with blood dripping.

[ganesh]

I feel bad for the actress playing Cameron. She doesn't have a lot to play off of (as in exchanging dialogue with other characters), and a lot of her character development has to be internalized. That must be difficult.

That's hard for any actor. And per the plot she can't really interact with the other two much at all. She needs someone she can work off.

 

I don't understand the legalities of all of this, but I thought that the show had said that Cardiff could not fire either Gordon or Joe because they were both involved in cloning the BIOS, and so firing them would be tantamount to admitting guilt. So I think they're stuck with Joe for the time being?

That's what I got from the first episode when they're all sitting with the lawyer. I think the boss says, 'why don't I just fire you?' actually.

 

His wife is a smart lady, and I love that she offered up a really innovative idea, even if it is something that is logistically impossible (due to the ways the parts are currently manufactured) according to that guy that Gordon fired after the random car accident.  Can Gordon's wife please join the team?

I'm not saying the show is perfect. It needs work. But their kitchen scene was really well done. I bought that they built a computer together. I'm totally unspoiled, but I figured that Gordon firing the blabbermouth opened up for him to hire the wife. 

 

I totally didn't see Joe sexing up that dude coming, but it was actually hotter than the hookup with Cameron.

Joe hook up with a guy he's known for five minutes.

Isn't unexpected where the fuck did that come from? hoyay the best? This happened on another show recently (I don't want to spoil) and we were all virtually cackling with glee over on the boards. Hee. Not to be a jackass, but it's 1983, people fucked at the drop of a hat, and even now it happens. Gay guys in the 80s? Forget about it. I wouldn't be surprised if Joe likes to fuck guys once and a while because if you really don't want to, it's hard to perform. And you know Joe was definitely the top. That after scene was hee! Jean Smart was perfectly cast just for that scene alone. 

 

We're three episodes in, out of (checks Wiki) 9 apparently, yet I still don't know what exactly they're trying to make... a faster PC? A cheaper one? A portable one? All three?

Joe wants to make a (reasonably) fast, portable, inexpensive machine to sell directly to the people rather than to companies like was the norm back then. But he doesn't know how to actually do that (see below) and he thinks Gordon et al., can just switch on and get it done. Again, the show has problems, and not to be a dick, but I didn't find it that confusing. 

 

They're being asked to radically change how they think and approach their professions. 

I know paradigm gets thrown around a lot, but this truly is a paradigm shift. That means the way things were done to solve problems aren't going to work in this case. This was contrasted by Gordon's neighbor (old paradigm), this isn't going to work, to his wife (new) who solved the problem elegantly, but requires a completely new, and basically, systems engineering methods in order to actually make the solution. I thought it was pretty cool. I like the pedal to the floor pacing because I tend to think that's how it was back then.

 

My take so far: The show's not horrible, it's not great either, but so what? I've enjoyed the last three episodes. Honestly, between the deluge of Mad Men and Game of Thrones all over the place with articles on "why Don put his left shoe on first and what it could mean," to "why Aria laughed even though it was obvious to anyone paying attention," I'm enjoying this. The retro-ness, the quirky topic, the seemingly seat of the pants storytelling. Not everything has to be a thing. I don't like watch "turn your brain off" shows, but sometimes I just like to watch a show.

[Soopertater]

Did I read somewhere that the theft of the BIOS is somehow rooted in Microsoft doing something similar to a smaller company (QDOS?), making a few changes and selling it IBM for their PCs?  The hardware part...I dunno.  Never even saw a Compaq until about 1986, everything else in our middle school computer "lab" was so heavy they didn't bother to bolt it down.

[Jeebus Cripes]

Isn't unexpected where the fuck did that come from? hoyay the best? This happened on another show recently (I don't want to spoil) and we were all virtually cackling with glee over on the boards. Hee. 

 

I think I know exactly what show you're talking about because I watched that episode the very next night after watching this (I am a few eps behind on the other show), and it felt like I was having deja vu. 

[ABay]

Could one of you put it behind a spoiler tag?

[DrSpaceman]

I am still intrigued by what they were going for with Donna and her boss, not sure what the writers/actors are trying to convey.  There was an obvious uneasiness between the two of them, yet they go way back to high school and he knows her family.  He kind of hesitantly asked about her family, yet he knew them by name, and she knew his wife/family by name as well.  Is there a prior sexual history and now he has become her boss and thats the reason for it?  He seemed hesitant to ask her for the work she was doing by the next day.  Has he been her boss for long?   Is this a new situation? 

 

Anyway I do agree with the idea its not the best show, but it has little to compete with right now and will do for some summer enjoyment while everything else is on hiatus. They really made a good decision to put it on AFTER Mad Men was done and mostly after Game of THrones ended. 

 

Its too bad this can't be paired somehow with HBOs new Silicon Valley.  Would be nice to see current day and past computer tech shows together.  I know this is drama and one is comedy, but still would be a nice set up

 

Actually I think that is what is missing from this show as well.   Its obviously going to be compared to Mad Men, another period drama.  Mad Men is a drama, but it has plenty of comedy/dark comedy mixed in as well.  There are no light moments here, no Roger Sterling/Saul Goodman for the comedy relief in a very serious show.  Even the SOpranos, it mixed in humor. 

[ganesh]

I thought the wife and the boss were together in high school by the way they played that scene.

[SonofaBiscuit]

I feel bad for the actress playing Cameron. She doesn't have a lot to play off of (as in exchanging dialogue with other characters), and a lot of her character development has to be internalized. That must be difficult.

 

 

That's hard for any actor. And per the plot she can't really interact with the other two much at all. She needs someone she can work off.

 

 

I thought that maybe Cameron could have an interesting relationship with the guy who was supposed to sit in the room with her all day and make sure she didn't have contact with Gordon or his team.  But then that guy just disappeared and nobody really seems to be monitoring Cameron, so I don't know?