Goodbye: <i>Halt and Catch Fire</i>

Goodbye: Halt and Catch Fire

Somewhere along the way, and at some point during its four seasons, Halt and Catch Fire became the most human series on television. I suspect that thoughtful humanity was always there, from the start, it just took some time to fully reveal itself. The show's four main leads, Joe, Cameron, Gordon, and Donna—as well as lovable fifth wheel, Bos—have each undergone tremendous personal growth over the four seasons. Importantly, the series avoided treacly manipulation, instead opting for thoughtful sincerity in its portraits of people growing up and changing, together, through the years.

*Spoilers*

The series' fourth season has achieved a sublime sort of excellence, week in and week out, with one stellar and emotionally affecting episode after another. By the time we reached Gordon's sudden and unexpected death in the third-to-last episode, "Who Needs a Guy," Halt and Catch Fire was firing (pardon the pun) on all cylinders. This season has taken us on an emotional roller coaster ride, from moments of tentative, beautiful human connection—episode two ("Signal to Noise) was brilliantly structured around one long, intimate phone call between Cameron and Joe, resulting in one of the most perfect hours of television in recent memory; to moments of heartbreak—Cameron, expressing grief over Gordon's death while also despairing for her personal loss of one of the only close friends she has. We watch television and films in order to feel something, and no current series seems as adept at inviting viewers to care so much about its flawed characters.

In the penultimate episode, "Goodwill," the show delicately depicts what it's like to be faced with a deceased loved one's personal effects, and the absolute gut-wrenching pain and suffering that goes along with that—with every item of clothing or every old photograph the characters sift through, they're confronted with Gordon's death, all over again. Moments like this underscore just how consistently insightful and deeply moving the series has been. Of course, it takes tremendous actors to bring these moments to life, and Lee Pace (Joe), Mackenzie Davis (Cameron), Scoot McNairy (Gordon), and Kerry Bische (Donna) have been nothing short of outstanding over these four seasons, and especially during this final season.

I've been preaching the Good Word about Halt and Catch Fire for several years now and yet, still, hardly anyone I know watches. That's a shame, but AMC deserves some credit for ignoring low ratings and allowing showrunners Christopher Cantwell and Christopher Rogers to tell their story, at the pace they wanted to tell it, spanning a period of ten years in the characters' lives over the course of four television seasons. The final result is something wholly unique that I expect will stand the test of time and, hopefully, be discovered by new viewers on streaming services for years to come.

Many of my pleas with friends and colleagues to watch it have been met with, "But, I'm not interested in computers." The tech aspect of the series is simply the hook; it's the characters that provide the heart and soul, and who keep fans like myself coming back for more. Ultimately, Halt and Catch Fire isn't about tech innovations so much as it's about people searching to find something they feel they're missing—real, honest human connection. At various times, they earn a measure of personal redemption in each other's acceptance, friendship, and love. For four years, the little series that mostly flew under the radar slowly became the most emotionally satisfying series on television.

The series finale airs this Sunday on AMC. It'll be a bittersweet experience for viewers like myself. I'll be extremely sad to see it go, but also grateful that it existed for four wonderful seasons.

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