Halt and Catch Fire: Search / Ten of Swords
October 15, 2017 1:28 PM - Season 4, Episode 9 - Subscribe
The two-part series finale (includes S4E9, S4E10)
Mostly I liked everyone's endings, except that Joe is still Joe and is going to almost immediately fixate on some intense little undergrad who he'll get caught up with in a toxic WHO CAN BE MORE INTENSE!? relationship. (biscotti sez dealing with Haley cured him and she's right about a lot)
posted by GCU Sweet and Full of Grace at 1:36 PM on October 15, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by GCU Sweet and Full of Grace at 1:36 PM on October 15, 2017 [1 favorite]
I loved and cried over all of the wonderful stuff with Cam and Donna and Bos and the girls, but I find myself kind of dissatisfied with Joe's ending.
I'm really sad for him - it felt like this season was building to a change in that so much of his frustrating behavior was tied to his lack of connections, and he was finally building those connections and valuing them. I guess he's at peace at his new job with his students and that's cool, but all he has of the gang is photos on his desk and the occasional letter and visit, right back to where he began, isolated in his own world of ideas. I was hoping the writers had planned to get him out of that.
Cameron and Donna though!!!!!! The most epic star-crossed platonic love story of the decade!!!!! What a show, I will miss it a lot.
posted by colorblock sock at 4:11 PM on October 15, 2017
I'm really sad for him - it felt like this season was building to a change in that so much of his frustrating behavior was tied to his lack of connections, and he was finally building those connections and valuing them. I guess he's at peace at his new job with his students and that's cool, but all he has of the gang is photos on his desk and the occasional letter and visit, right back to where he began, isolated in his own world of ideas. I was hoping the writers had planned to get him out of that.
Cameron and Donna though!!!!!! The most epic star-crossed platonic love story of the decade!!!!! What a show, I will miss it a lot.
posted by colorblock sock at 4:11 PM on October 15, 2017
Yeah, the Joe conclusion was a bit unsatisfying. I know he’s supposed to be fulfilled at his new job, but so much of this season was building towards him wanting a family. I was hoping the shot of all the photos in his office would end with some new ones, showing his new family.
I think I need a recording of Gordon’s self-care mantra. It was so happy and soothing.
posted by bluloo at 4:53 PM on October 16, 2017 [5 favorites]
I think I need a recording of Gordon’s self-care mantra. It was so happy and soothing.
posted by bluloo at 4:53 PM on October 16, 2017 [5 favorites]
Also why is he driving what appears to be an Esprit when by then he should be able to figure out how to get a grey-market Elise.
posted by GCU Sweet and Full of Grace at 5:42 PM on October 16, 2017
posted by GCU Sweet and Full of Grace at 5:42 PM on October 16, 2017
I liked the Joe conclusion, mostly because it made me feel sad for Joe (and I feel like he's probably unhappy teaching after having almost grasped greatness).
Overall, I thought it was a good conclusion. Some things felt a little forced to me, like Joe and Cameron's breakup and Donna's speech to the Silicon Valley women, but overall it seemed like a worthy send-off to the show.
posted by whir at 9:01 PM on October 16, 2017
Overall, I thought it was a good conclusion. Some things felt a little forced to me, like Joe and Cameron's breakup and Donna's speech to the Silicon Valley women, but overall it seemed like a worthy send-off to the show.
posted by whir at 9:01 PM on October 16, 2017
My wife turned to me and said, "They're breaking up because of Yahoo?"
posted by Obscure Reference at 9:40 AM on October 17, 2017 [4 favorites]
posted by Obscure Reference at 9:40 AM on October 17, 2017 [4 favorites]
I loved this show more than I have loved almost any show in recent memory, in part because it very closely paralleled many things in my own life (working in the internet biz at its beginnings), and they got so very much right.
I really cared for all the characters, and I feel like they did right by almost all of them. I was SO HAPPY when Donna had her (presumably) big social media idea in the cafe and went out to tell Cameron about it....SO HAPPY, I loved their friendship so much and they handled their reconciliation so nicely. I wish Gordon hadn't died. I do think Joe seemed happy at the end, and I do think he at least had some sense of how to be a functioning human because of Haley. Boz was happy.
They did good. I cried, you bet I did.
And I will watch the whole thing again.
posted by biscotti at 6:53 PM on October 21, 2017 [4 favorites]
I really cared for all the characters, and I feel like they did right by almost all of them. I was SO HAPPY when Donna had her (presumably) big social media idea in the cafe and went out to tell Cameron about it....SO HAPPY, I loved their friendship so much and they handled their reconciliation so nicely. I wish Gordon hadn't died. I do think Joe seemed happy at the end, and I do think he at least had some sense of how to be a functioning human because of Haley. Boz was happy.
They did good. I cried, you bet I did.
And I will watch the whole thing again.
posted by biscotti at 6:53 PM on October 21, 2017 [4 favorites]
I loved this show but I agree with whir, Joe and Cameron's breakup felt really sudden and forced. It was a good finale, though.
posted by saul wright at 10:04 PM on October 27, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by saul wright at 10:04 PM on October 27, 2017 [1 favorite]
Finally caught up on this season.
Joe and Cameron could never work and they were careening towards the breakup since they got back together. I was worried they were going to Cameron changing her mind and having kids, and I am so glad that the only thing I really wanted out of the ending (Donna + Cameron forever) was put back in there, if slightly rushed.
I did enjoy the music in this season -- and Haley, who was slightly younger than I was, but who got online around the same time.
posted by jeather at 6:04 AM on January 2, 2018
Joe and Cameron could never work and they were careening towards the breakup since they got back together. I was worried they were going to Cameron changing her mind and having kids, and I am so glad that the only thing I really wanted out of the ending (Donna + Cameron forever) was put back in there, if slightly rushed.
I did enjoy the music in this season -- and Haley, who was slightly younger than I was, but who got online around the same time.
posted by jeather at 6:04 AM on January 2, 2018
When Donna stands up and says that she doesn't want her daughters to have to do this sort of gathering to remember that they're still here -- oh it's just heartbreaking to watch that in 2018, knowing what I know now.
I deeply want Haley to grow up okay.
The bookending in this season -- Donna needing Gordon to pick her up from jail, Donna and Cameron working on undoing some data loss to recover some code -- has been so lovely.
The fourth season felt most familiar to me, not just because of the time period, but because the core original characters are middle-aged or older, and I'm middle-aged now, and the questions they're facing are like the hypothetical at the end of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.
This show makes me want to get back in touch with the people I've worked with at my past tech jobs.
posted by brainwane at 11:56 AM on July 9, 2018 [1 favorite]
I deeply want Haley to grow up okay.
The bookending in this season -- Donna needing Gordon to pick her up from jail, Donna and Cameron working on undoing some data loss to recover some code -- has been so lovely.
The fourth season felt most familiar to me, not just because of the time period, but because the core original characters are middle-aged or older, and I'm middle-aged now, and the questions they're facing are like the hypothetical at the end of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.
This show makes me want to get back in touch with the people I've worked with at my past tech jobs.
posted by brainwane at 11:56 AM on July 9, 2018 [1 favorite]
Just finished watching, and will really miss it. I LOVED this show. I started out despising Cameron and her at least once a show petulant toddler tantrums, and ended up loving her the most. I felt the saddest for Joe....like I just finished the series 15 minutes ago and am still upset at how lonely he must be. I am going to just pretend that he ends up working with Donna and Cam again. Also, the Donna and Cam friendship was the very best thing about the show.
Did anyone else notice that every home and office Joe had had green walls somewhere or everywhere? Even the office and the actual classroom at the end of the last show. All of his sofas and chairs in his apts were green too.
posted by the webmistress at 1:11 PM on August 25, 2019
Did anyone else notice that every home and office Joe had had green walls somewhere or everywhere? Even the office and the actual classroom at the end of the last show. All of his sofas and chairs in his apts were green too.
posted by the webmistress at 1:11 PM on August 25, 2019
I don’t know if anyone still reads this thread. But I just learned about this show two weeks ago and just finished this last ep today. Right now.
I feel very sad for Joe, and I think they didn’t do him or his transformations justice. I think, if the show was written even 5 years later, they might have had more options. So, Joe, this is for you.
It seemed to me that during the four seasons, Joe and Donna switched places in a lot of ways - took on each others roles and approaches to business and people.
In my mind, Joe decides to quit work. Just - quit. And he and Cameron have a lot of hard discussions, do the hard work of diving into the drivers for wanting and not wanting children, and in the end, they decide that Joe will stay home and take care of the kids — maybe their own, maybe they adopt. But Joe falls into Donna’s role at the beginning of the series, supporting Cam’s work, staying home and raising the kids — because thru the show, we’ve seen Cam loving the presence of kids, but not the full responsibility.
The show really did incredible magic showing how two angry, hurt people can find their way to deeply caring for someone else, and learning to treat them with patience and gentleness. And as much as there are problems with Cam having kids, there is an equal problem in mirroring the cultural message that, while men can succeed at both, women can only succeed if they sacrifice family. I would have better loved an ending that said, “what could women accomplish if they had the right support?”
So, in my world, Joe is tucking in their kids. Cameron rough houses with them until Joe forces lights out. Downstairs, Cameron says she’ll be happy when they’re old enough to build rockets with, then she and Joe talk through her latest coding blocker. And Joe and Cameron will always have each others’ back.
posted by Silvery Fish at 1:45 PM on May 10, 2023 [1 favorite]
I feel very sad for Joe, and I think they didn’t do him or his transformations justice. I think, if the show was written even 5 years later, they might have had more options. So, Joe, this is for you.
It seemed to me that during the four seasons, Joe and Donna switched places in a lot of ways - took on each others roles and approaches to business and people.
In my mind, Joe decides to quit work. Just - quit. And he and Cameron have a lot of hard discussions, do the hard work of diving into the drivers for wanting and not wanting children, and in the end, they decide that Joe will stay home and take care of the kids — maybe their own, maybe they adopt. But Joe falls into Donna’s role at the beginning of the series, supporting Cam’s work, staying home and raising the kids — because thru the show, we’ve seen Cam loving the presence of kids, but not the full responsibility.
The show really did incredible magic showing how two angry, hurt people can find their way to deeply caring for someone else, and learning to treat them with patience and gentleness. And as much as there are problems with Cam having kids, there is an equal problem in mirroring the cultural message that, while men can succeed at both, women can only succeed if they sacrifice family. I would have better loved an ending that said, “what could women accomplish if they had the right support?”
So, in my world, Joe is tucking in their kids. Cameron rough houses with them until Joe forces lights out. Downstairs, Cameron says she’ll be happy when they’re old enough to build rockets with, then she and Joe talk through her latest coding blocker. And Joe and Cameron will always have each others’ back.
posted by Silvery Fish at 1:45 PM on May 10, 2023 [1 favorite]
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posted by GCU Sweet and Full of Grace at 1:29 PM on October 15, 2017