Halt and Catch Fire Recap 6/15/14: Season 1 Episode 3 “High Plains Hardware”

Halt and Catch Fire Recap 6/15/14: Season 1 Episode 3 “High Plains Hardware”

AMC’s brand new series Halt and Catch Fire airs with a new episode tonight, this episode is called “High Plains Hardware” and on tonight’s episode Gordon and Cameron struggle to make Joe’s vision a reality.

On the last episode Joe’s team needed to get pass the differences between each other, their main concern needed to be about building the new machine. Did you watch last week’s episode? If you missed it we have a full and detailed recap, right here for you.

On tonight’s episode Gordon and Cameron end up hitting a bump in the road as they struggle together to make Joe’s vision become a reality, while at the same time Joe and Bosworth seek help from the capital to see if they’d fund the making of the new machine.

Tonight’s Halt and Catch Fire’s episode is going to be a great show, and you won’t want to miss it. So be sure to tune in for our live coverage of Halt and Catch Fire— tonight at 10 PM EST! While you wait for our recap, hit the comments and let us know how excited you are about this new series, Halt and Catch Fire. Check out a sneak peek of tonight’s episode below!

RECAP:

Gordon looks at a dying bird while his daughter’s fret. Donna asks if it’s breathing and she asks if there’s anything he can do and he says only the vet may help. The neighbor offers Gordon a ride to work since his car is in the shop and they lament the bird’s death to come. The nieghbor says – Let Go, Let God. He tells Gordon not to sweat it.

Cameron wakes in her office to a vacuum cleaner switching on and goes back to work in the wee hours of the morning. Joe listens to music and watches the synthesizer lights on his stereo.

Gordon talks to one of the employees and is beating around what he’s really trying to say. Randy bursts in and says he won’t wait around to be fired by him or Joe. The guy in his office panics, having no idea he was called in to be laid off. Randy hands him a reference letter to sign it. Randy tells him he looks forward to their PJ project crashing and burning. Gordon signs it wordlessly.

Joe is up front of the room and explains the 28 pound computer is not portable, it’s luggable. He tells they they are not making a carbeurator. He holds up a briefcase and tells him by the end of the year, Cardiff Electric will release a computer with two disc drives weighing no more than 15 pounds. The room erupts in loud talk saying it can’t happen.

They say Randy could have worked on this, but he was fired. Joe pulls Gordon outside and asks if these are the guys he chose. Joe says their attitude sucks and Gordon says these are the only engineers left with microprocessor experience, so this is what they have.

Cameron walks around the office picking up stuff off the desks of other people that were fired. Cameron loads up her office in the storage area with stuff and goes to work tapping away on the keys with her Walkman on. She is frustrated and starts again. She types – not good enough.

The engineers try to figure out where to put the heat synch. Gordon says they need to add speed without adding heat. The engineers debate what to call the workroom and decide on The Kill Room since they are likely to get so frustrated they murder each other. Joe chats with Aaron Littlefield, a venture capitalist, and tells John to talk to him. He says they have cash to spend and want to invest in the market. Joe says he already cleared it with Nathan and John reluctantly goes to talk to Aaron.

Donna tells her boss they have to recall 10,000 unites because of keyboard issues. He asks how soon can he tell Mark and she says Monday or Tuesday. He asks about her parents and she says they are good. She asks about Martine and he says she’s frustrated that Texas Instruments doesn’t always mean staying in Texas. He says he can’t believe they’re here and are a long way from high school.

He says they all knew she was just marking time in marching band waiting on something better to come along. He asks again about the report and says he’d like it tomorrow. She promises to deliver it and leaves.

Cameron rubs her head in frustration and looks around. She turns to the pilfered items and dials the phone. She gets Joe’s secretary who asks if it’s Cameron and she hangs up. Joe and John talk to Aaron about IBM trying to take them down. Aaron tells them to come clean because if he partners with them, he’ll audit their books and install a guy – Roger – to keep an eye on them.

Joe offers a weekly call instead. Aaron asks about their client base and John says it’s a whole new client base – John gets sassy and says they can go door to door or sell at county fairs. Joe is annoyed. John hands Aaron a card and tells him to call the ranch anytime. Joe offers to show Aaron sketches, but he decides to leave and says he’ll be in touch.

Gordon works and another engineer tells him to let them go to buy some goodwill. Gordon does and wishes them a goodnight. Brian stays and they talk about the hear issue. Cameron comes in to get a soda from the machine and he talks to her but she says no contact. She grabs her soda, flips him off and goes. Gordon is aggravated and Brian says he’ll order pizza. He realizes Cameron stole his soda.

Donna’s parents show up with gifts for the kids. She bought a headstone for the kids that says “Bowser” and plays Chopin’s funeral march. Her mom says the Japanese never rest on innovation and that’s what they stock their catalog business with. Her mom asks if Gordon is working late and says she doesn’t want to see Donna worked down to a nub. Donna asks if she seems nubbish and her mom says she’s radiant.

Her mom then asks about TI and says she hasn’t seen Hunt at the club since he moved back. She says she hopes to see his foreign wife at July 4th and Donna says she’s Canadian. She says he likely won’t be in Dallas long and will probably be sent overseas since management likes him. Her mom asks if you can imagine and Donna pauses doing dishes to do that.

Joe meets with Nathan and says they need an investor. Nathan says John wasn’t wrong. John brings them drinks to the table and sits. Nathan says that Joe is the vision guy and John is the money guy who will make all the financial decisions on this project. John and Joe look at each other and Joe says it’s agreed. Nathan says good.

He tells them no more backstage bullshit and says he’s going to set them up with Louise Lutherford, a local, who has enough money to get them through this. Nathan says she’s a handful and Joe asks if she has a background in – the waiter interrupts and Nathan and John order steaks and Joe does the same.

Gordon and Brian burn the midnight oil working on the design and discuss moving cables to other parts. Brian says he wants this to work and it’s a hell of a concept. He says to execute it will be tough sledding. He says they need to sit down with Joe and tell him it can’t be done. Brian says he’ll be his wingman but Gordon says he can tell him.

Cameron works on her white board. She writes and erases again and again and grunts in frustration. Joe calls her on her phone and she asks what he wants. He says he’s checking in and he says she’s a talented coder but she’s a bottleneck. She tells him he should be a motivational speaker and he asks if he needs to come down there. She says no and hangs up. Kind of sounded like he wanted to.

Gordon tells Donna he’s sorry he missed her mom and she says he’s not. She says the girls miss the bird and barely ate and he says it may not have been the best night for kitchen. She’s working on the report for Hunt and she looks at his layout. She says it’s interesting and he asks her to take a look but she says she has to finish the report.

Donna glances over and tells him to move the interrupt controller and the parity RAM chips then rotate the DMA controllers to make room. She sketches and folds the paper in half and tells him to piggy back it. He says that’s interesting and gets back to work.

Cameron dances around the office with Walkman on and then pulls it off as she sees a light in John’s office. She wanders in and looks around. He’s there and startles her. She turns and says hi. He asks if she is wearing Lloyd’s shoes. He tells her he had to fire him this morning and says she’s wearing a dead man’s shoes. She kicks them off and says she only came in to switch off his light since she heard money is tight.

He asks the difference between Go To and Go Sub. She explains and he says it makes no sense to him. She says it’s hard in the beginning. He sits and says if it wasn’t for her friend Joe he would be home right now. He asks if Joe is different and she stares blankly. He chuckles and puts on his glasses and tells her to take care of the shoes. She scoops them up on the way out. John tells her she can work here as late as she likes, but can’t live here.

Next day, Gordon has white boarded his wife’s overlapping design concept and says he thinks they can make it work by splitting the motherboard and layering it on top of itself and run the jumpers vertically. The other engineers are intrigued and they agree that it’s nice work if they can stabilize it. He asks Brian for a ride home for work and shows him the new idea – a layered array.

Brian asks who will mass produce a new layout for them. Brian asks what he’s thinking. Gordon says he wasn’t thinking that far ahead. He says it’s a killer idea but they only have three months and they can’t reinvent the wheel. He tells Gordon it’s his call. Gordon tells the engineers to forget it and says he’ll tell Joe. He erases his incredible idea.

Cameron plays with a pencil sharpener and sulks. She looks through shavings on her desk then groans and starts throwing stuff in the trash can. She looks at her notes then sees an envelope with her paycheck. She smiles and goes to the bank and comes out with a huge wad of cash in her hand.

She goes to buy sacks of food then Judy, Ajax and another kid approach her and ask if she has money or a car. They mock her for having a job and call her a sell out. Judy says they’re going tagging for the night but are going to pound some vodka but are short on money. Judy asks if she has a better idea and she says yeah. They follow.

Debbie gives Joe directions to Ms Lutherford’s and tells him to be on time for cocktails. Gordon loiters outside even after the secretary tells him he can go in. He walks away without entering. Later, he’s at Louise’s with John. She asks where he’s from and he says Hudson River Valley. She says she and Travis (her boytoy) go to NYC each year for the opera.

Joe cracks a joke about Figaro and she says she’ll give them $10 million for 80% of the project. John says that’s aggressive and she says she knows about IBM poisoning their well. Joe says their projections are much higher than that and she says if they have a better offer, to take it. John tells Joe to quiet down and that they are at the brink. Joe starts to walk out and then a bell rings for dinner and she captures his arm and walks him to the table.

Donna hustles to Hunt’s office with the report. He opens the door long enough to snatch the report from her hand and to shut the door in her face.

Cameron is with the three miscreants and watches them smoke, drink and dance wildly. She refuses the alcohol but dances around a little then collapses on the bed. Ajax asks what her job is about and she says software. He says he thinks his dad does something like that. He calls for Grimace and tells him to tip the maid. He does. Cameron finally caves in and swigs some vodka. Ajax does some ink on her shoulder.

At dinner, Joe is bored and aggravated while John tells a dirty joke. Louise laughs and asks Joe what he thinks about the space program and Sally Ride. He says it’s a gimmick because the Soviets already sent women twice. She says that’s a curious outlook for someone cloning an IBM. Joe says they will not be partners and she asks why.

He tells her she’s a bored dilettante with time on her hands who rents her friends and repels everyone else. Louise looks at him and asks John if they have a deal or not. He says he’ll have Barry draw up the papers. She tells Joe it’s about knowing your side of the saddle. Travis looks uncomfortable and she asks him to get brandy so they can celebrate.

Cameron looks at the ink the guy did on her arm and freaks but then looks at it some more. She grabs a lipstick and starts writing code on the mirror. She erases and does it again. She strikes through it and starts over then rubs her eyes. She grabs up her stuff and leaves while the other kids rage on with their party.

Joe goes after Travis and he says he doesn’t know anything about Brandy. Joe comes over and puts his hand over Travis’ and then runs his hand up his chest and then turns his face to him. He kisses Travis full on the mouth and then they start making out. They get very aggressive with each other. Joe shoves him down and pulls off his jacket while looking at the guy hungrily.

John eats dessert – lemon meringue pie – when Travis comes back with liquor. Louise asks what took so long and where the brandy is. He says it’s not brandy, it’s Tuke Holdsworth 1912. Joe comes behind looking pretty smug. He sits and says he and Travis decided on a port. Louise looks between the two of them and immediately knows what’s what when Travis stares at Joe longingly. John tells Travis to pour him a snort.

Outside, John rails at Joe and says that pig iron bitch had us where she wanted and says they had a deal. Joe says they don’t need her. He says they can build the prototype on their own dime and then show investors. John asks what he said to Louise and he doesn’t answer. He asks what did you do and he says they will talk tomorrow and drives off.

Brian talks to Gordon on their drive home about a card game but Gordon sits silent. He tells Brian he should join the game. Brian is distracted and they get in a wreck. His gremlin is trashed. He asks if Gordon is all right and he nods. He says they can’t see because they don’t trim the branches. Gordon tells Brian that he’s fired. He gets out of the car and walks away from the wreck.

Cameron goes to Joe’s apartment and comes in uninvited. She tells him the address calculation code is too long and takes up too many bytes. She says she needs an address book that’s like a map. He asks why she’s there and she says she’s stuck. She pulls off her shirt and goes into his bedroom.

John looks at paperwork and then turns off his light and lies down on his sofa. He can’t sleep.

Gordon walks up to the house and hears the bird chirping. He walks inside and can still hear the bird. Donna asks if he had another late night and she says you’re bleeding. He shushes her and tells her to listen and says the bird is alive. She says animal control said the best thing is to kill it. He says he’s had a bad day and he’s going to kiss his girls, wash up and is not going back out there.

Donna goes to the shed and gets the shovel. She looks down at the still-chirping bird. She grimaces and looks at her husband standing in the kitchen. She whacks the bird, killing it.