Halt And Catch Fire

Summary: Set in the early 1980s, series dramatizes the personal computing boom through the eyes of a visionary, an engineer and a prodigy whose innovations directly confront the corporate behemoths of the time. Their personal and professional partnership will be challenged by greed and ego while charting the changing culture in Texas’ Silicon Prairie. Creators: Christopher Cantwell, Christopher C. Rogers Starring: Lee Pace, Scoot McNairy, Mackenzie Davis, Kerry Bishé, Toby Huss, Morgan Hinkleman, Alana Cavanaugh, Bianca Malinowski, Scott Michael Foster, Eric Goins, Graham Beckel, Cooper Andrews Official Website Wiki Entry IMDB Metacritic

PREMISE – SPOILER WARNING:
Halt and Catch Fire takes a small group of people who are all profoundly driven, obsessed, and passionate about the future potential of computers, and sets them about the task of creating a machine from scratch – a goal, which, at the time, (early 80’s) seemed impossible next to the market control of corporate giants like IBM.

This setting is unusual for a television drama, and is engaging enough in its own terms, but its actually not the unusual setting that make this show so watchable; its the deeply interesting characters and the rich dynamics between them that really makes it great viewing.

The core character is ‘visionary’, Joe, a man with absolutely no moral or ethical compass – only an unstoppable drive to succeed at any cost. The people unlucky enough to be caught up with him in his mission to make a new pc are consistently at various stages of dissolution, coping with the ongoing aftermath of his wholly egotistical and single-minded goal.

The interplay between the people caught up as staff working under Joe is often subtle, but riveting viewing. Definitely worth a look, not only for its unique setting, but for the rich interplay between its dark, complex, and intriguing characters.