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» » Halt and Catch Fire Goodwill (2014–2017)

Short summary

Donna has accepted Joe and Cameron's offer to help her and the girls pack up Gordon's house. Beyond the grief that each expresses in his or her own way, Donna and Joanie get into an argument based on some items found in the house. Only Donna, in reflecting on her and Gordon's early marriage, can truthfully address Joanie's accusations spoken in anger toward her mother and the situation. Joe and Haley continue to bond, this time during what ends up being a failed mission. The task at hand and spending time with the Clarks has extra significance for Cameron, not only in largely making up with Donna, but in light of Joe's admission to her that he wants to have children with her. Bos, a late arrival, has a specific task this day. Joe, in his grief, is oblivious to Bos' tactics. And although today is a day for packing and grieving, some must immediately or imminently address their future without Gordon. Two who need to make some decisions soon are Katie and Joanie, the latter who is ...

User reviews


  • comment
    • Author: Joony
    Halt and Catch Fire is not a show about the history of computers, software or the internet - it is a show about people. All the main characters evolve over different stages in their lives. They reach milestones, fall to their lowest pits and climb back up. We see lonely narcissist evolve into family people. We see different stages of a marriage. We see kids growing up. We see business partners part their ways and reunite. We see rebellious and misunderstood teens. We see people coping with their midlife crisis. We see heartbreaks and we see the different phases of falling in and out of love.

    In this episode (and this is not a spoiler) we see a family (all of the main characters) trying to cope with an unexpected (it was hinted in the show itself) loss. This episode depicts grief in a manner I've never experienced on a TV show. It had me crying quite a few times. Basically because of the excellent job of setting all the characters up. They are not simply some brilliant geniuses that always succeed in life - they are human. Yes, even the Mystery-Man himself.

    But mostly it had me crying because of Mr Clark himself. Sure, Gordo had his weird and shady moments, but he was a very lovable character. But it is not just that. He felt real. I don't know, if it were the different lenses/focal lengths they used to shoot Gordo in the last few episodes, but he felt so close...so..alive? Well, no more talk about this episode. It was absolutely great! To enjoy this episode at the maximum capacity you have to remember all the dynamics between all the main characters and Gordo. Makes it so much better.
  • comment
    • Author: Doriel
    This was a HALT episode that shadowcased grief and how to deal with it for different generations, characters and what role Gordon had in their life. It is one of the most moving portraits of such a devastating loss as I've ever seen.

    The show started about building a PC, but it was never a tech or IT documentary. Tech or IT was the world building or setting, since whatever the characters and their companies do is fictional against real history. And they always used their projects to project their wishes onto human connections. You know from the start none of their projects or businesses will go down into history. It has always been about the characters, how they inspire, love, sabotage or destroy each other. After all, since 1x06 Camero tried to put a soul in the machine. And as the characters grew and bonded more, they require less tech and more personal interaction about life itself to influence each other.

    We've been with Gordon since the first episode. Neither viewers nor the surviving characters who loved him could just "move on and re-launch" the episode after learning of his death.

    In other writing hands it could have been corny. But it wasn't. It was all just devastatingly and beautifully human, from the daughters, to Donna, Joe who does not know how to deal with it, to Cameron, Katie who only had freshly fallen in love and was envious of a picture of a time Gordon shared with Donna, not knowing the wrongs he did at the time, and Bos making some soul food.

    So, everything else came to a grinding halt for this episode, as it should be.

    No need to "guess" this is their last season. The writers and actors confirmed that S4 was going to be the last season and that it was exactly what they needed to wrap up the series on their own writing terms.
  • comment
    • Author: Maman
    This series began with the creation of a machine as the "star". It has since blossomed into a beautiful story about human relationships. This episode is the best I've ever seen in how humans deal with death. We have watched these characters bond & fight & connive & (finally) love for 4 seasons. Seeing them come together to deal with the death of one of their own is heartbreaking. It is magnificent!
  • comment
    • Author: Naa
    This entire episode was about clearing the house of a deceased character. A whole hour of soap opera.

    Who do they think the audience for this show is? There is not a single reference to the history of the internet, the supposed theme.

    They started out doing a pretty good job but this show has become simply an agenda for the ambition of the director, writers and actors.

    This episode in particular is the ultimate proof of this. All the actors get to ham it up in what seems to be a deliberate and desperate bid for an Emmy.

    No one expects H&CF to be anything else than dramatized documentary of the internet. Lately it has been all drama and no documentary. It is not as if they have run out of material - they have only covered the 70s up to the 90s.

    They have abandoned their audience to pander to baby-boomer Academy judges. I expect this will be their last season.
  • Episode complete credited cast:
    Lee Pace Lee Pace - Joe MacMillan
    Scoot McNairy Scoot McNairy - Gordon Clark
    Mackenzie Davis Mackenzie Davis - Cameron Howe
    Kerry Bishé Kerry Bishé - Donna Emerson
    Toby Huss Toby Huss - John Bosworth
    Anna Chlumsky Anna Chlumsky - Katie Herman
    Kathryn Newton Kathryn Newton - Joanie Clark
    Susanna Skaggs Susanna Skaggs - Haley Clark
    Ian Wolterstorff Ian Wolterstorff - Goodwill Employee
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