Although this was a good episode, it wasn’t the game changer last week’s episode of Halt and Catch Fire was; instead, “Run Time” seemed to be more about setting up this coming season. So what did happen? Well, Joe got a job, Cameron went on a hiring spree, Donna is still annoyed with Cameron for going on that hiring spree, and Gordon is bored at home with all his money.
We start with the introduction of Joe’s future father-in-law, Mr. Wheeler, who is played by the great James Cromwell. Cromwell is one of those “he’s good in everything” sort of actors, and I’m delighted to see him on TV again after too long an absence – and if we get more scenes with Wheeler and Joe, I’d be pretty darn happy. Joe is still smarting from losing all that money during the sale, and Mr. Wheeler lays some truth down: at this point, he’s unhireable, so he better take the offer to come work for him. Joe takes the offer, despite Sara’s reservations. I find I’m really liking Joe and Sara together, and Aleksa Palladino is a good addition to the show.
Gordon is delighting in his new found freedom at home, planning to buy a lot of new equipment and take up cooking (yeah, that’ll happen). But Donna is a little preoccupied by her work at Mutiny. When she finally gets to work, she shows Cameron the chat room she’s created, which doesn’t go over well. Cameron thinks it was a waste of time, but considering what we know about the future of the internet, Donna is far more forward thinking than Cameron believes. One person who isn’t in touch with the wave of the future is Bos (the returning Toby Huss), who has been hired by Cameron. He came up in the age of secretaries doing his typing, so he never even had to learn the basics of computer technology. Out of prison, he needs a job, and Cameron’s guilt/friendship/pity, are fueling these decisions… unless Bos can use his corporate know-how to get them more funding.
Gordon goes to the doctor due to that nasty nosebleed from last episode, and it is, fortunately, just due to his coke habit. Gordon is probably doing a lot more than he claims – considering how quickly he pulled another baggie out in the garage. And speaking of that garage, the scene of the night was probably his glee when unpacking all his knew computer toys (with the Atari placed right in front of the camera). It was like watching a little nerd at Christmas.
Gordon is clearly bored at home, considering how quickly he pulls out the coke and calls Donna. He wants to be at Mutiny – and I hope they don’t let him. Donna needs to work solo, and Cameron needs to be on her own and grow up a little. But Gordon is clearly hurt when Donna hangs up when he calls to tell her they now have two phone lines. So Gordon starts playing their game: Tank Battle. He invites Stan over to play, and they notice the glitch that causes the winner to be selected randomly. Gordon goes over there, and sends Stan to pick up his daughters in one of the funniest scenes of the entire series. Gordon clearly doesn’t understand that “stranger danger” was being taught in schools at this time. After telling the boys at Mutiny how to fix their game with a little too much swagger, Gordon hears someone yell “someone get Donna, someone tried to kidnap her kids.” Gordon smoothed out the situation at school and asks Mutiny not to tell Donna, promising to get them pizza for a month, because “I can take heat from my wife, I just prefer not to.”
Cameron and Donna go to meet investors, Cameron in her usual messy hair and ripped jeans, and Donna looking very smart in her power suit. They’d make a good team… if they would accept what the other brings to the table. Their investor claims the games aren’t as good as Atari and only fun when playing with other people. The always diplomatic Cameron claims “if your nephew understood coding a little better” he’d like us more, is not going to win over any investors. If you only want coders to like your game, they’ll have a pretty narrow subscription base. Cameron clearly is out of her league during the meeting, claiming they have vague data to prove they have more subscribers in the pipeline. Donna tries to cut into the conversation and prove it, but they are sideswiped when asked if they have or want kids. Cameron’s “no” is met by a very annoyed Donna saying “I have two” and staring these two men down. She seems only more annoyed when told “I bet on the people. Success is not another to do attached to the fridge.” Donna dead-eyes them, while Cameron asks if they are getting funded. They aren’t.
Joe arrives at Wheeler’s company – well, the basement of the company. Turns out that job offer was in data-entry. It isn’t just a big step down for Joe; he’s fallen into a canyon. He takes it in stride, and after realizing Mr. Wheeler is doing this to punish his former son-in-law, he seems aware that he’s going to have to prove himself. Good; maybe this will teach him some of the humility he wants to have. Then again, maybe this will be bad for everyone. Who knows, but at least he has an in with a big company again.
Mutiny has been hacked, by Tom, a computer support guy at a bank. Not only is he copying their games and handing them out free of charge, but he figured out a way to host multiple users on a single phone line. Donna wants to take legal action. Cameron checks his log history and offers him a job because he knows how to hack – and he loves her games. Donna is once again annoyed by this kind of decision-making, and threatens to quit if she hires anyone else. She tells Cameron to offer him $20,000 instead of $25,000 because she already ratted Tom out to his boss and she knows he’s about to be fired.
Cameron and Bos’s relationship seems a lot closer than we ever knew. She’s been writing to him in prison (the last letter is shared in front of Mutiny, which enrages Cameron). She also signed her letters Catherine, her real name, the same way she used to write to her father Cameron in Vietnam (after he died, she took his name). She wants Bos to work for her and prove his place in the industry again, but he isn’t ready to get back to business. She tells Bos he can’t live in her house, Donna and Gordon talk about their day, and Joe sends Mr. Wheeler a waffle iron as a thank you gift. Like I said, this is more of a set-up episode for the rest of season two, but it’s a good episode regardless, and I like the show’s new direction and pace.
Stray Thoughts:
- I’m bummed to say good bye to Stan who is moving to Silicon Valley. Seems like Gordon needs a friend.
- Donna and Cameron are on the brink of imploding due to these hires, lack of funding, and inability to fix there lag times.
- Despite its ’80s setting, Donna has some of the best clothing on TV
- I hope Mark O’Brien is a regular as Tom, because he and Cameron seem like a fun pair.
- Line of the episode: “For particularly naughty images, you might even get to use the Big Kahuna over there… if you ask me first” said by Joe’s new boss while pointing to the microfiche machine.
Lesley Coffin is a New York transplant from the midwest. She is the New York-based writer/podcast editor for Filmoria and film contributor at The Interrobang. When not doing that, she’s writing books on classic Hollywood, including Lew Ayres: Hollywood’s Conscientious Objector and her new book Hitchcock’s Stars: Alfred Hitchcock and the Hollywood Studio System.
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