Halt and Catch Fire Season 3 Finale: The Future's So Bright
Carissa Pavlica
at
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Mutiny didn't make it.
After watching the full two-hour finale featuring Halt and Catch Fire Season 3 Episode 9 and Halt and Catch Fire Season 3 Episode 10, it's unclear whether Donna will make it to the next season, either.
Because, yes, there will be one final season of Halt and Catch Fire coming our way. Thank you, AMC!! We will get to see how this story plays out. And now that Joe, Cameron and Joe are hoping to tackle the World Wide Web by virtue of creating one of the first browsers for the masses while Donna seems to want to crush their dreams, we NEED to see where this ends!!
I love how everything is so subtle on this show.
It doesn't feel the need to knock us on the head with news of a time jump. Instead, it slowly plays over the new name on Diane's company where Donna works, she turns on her computer to reveal Windows, its version, its year.
Everything happened when the Mutiny IPO didn't go as planned, apparently. Some of it was good, and some not so good.
Donna made a hell of an impression on Diane's company, becoming a named partner. It suited her. But not her marriage. Throughout the finale, she continued looking for the next big thing, but she was lonely. That was obvious. She was also still in love with Gordon, also obvious, but not to him.
And she had her eye on the ball, still looking for the next big thing.
Gordon continued working on NSFNET. He was a single father trying his hand at the "online" dating of the time. He was taking cooking lessons and doing things he probably never imagined he would before. Gordon, though, was happy.
Joe didn't seem to do much of merit. He played the stock market with his money, ate snacks and watched TV. What's happy?
Cameron and Tom were living in Japan working for the big boys. Cam's latest Atari game was at Comdex '90, and she was signing the game. That's where Donna sent Joe with the hope of getting him to deliver a letter about the next big thing. Joe didn't take the letter, but he did go. And things happened.
And that's all the recapping I'll do. Let's talk.
I think we always knew this finale was coming, at least the events herein. Cameron and Joe were going to have another moment. Cameron, Joe and Gordon were going to work together again. Probably, somewhere inside, the writing was on the wall that Donna would sabotage her place in the group, maybe even consider sabotaging the group once she was on the outside.
Joe: This isn't about Ryan. It's um...
Cameron: I'm just saying, I don't think you should keep the world from what you do.
Joe: OK. What is it that I do?
Cameron: It's so hard to bring about actual change, real change. And the whole world conspires to stop that from happening. But you bring people together. You create change. I think that that's really great.
From the very beginning of the series, all four of these characters were destined for something big. They're dreamers, inventors. They're always on the cusp of what's next.
We knew that NSFNET would lead them to the internet, but even then to what end?
That scene with all four of them and Tom, Tom the jealous husband who doesn't belong, pitching ideas to go from A to B to C to find their way to the browser.
How did we all get here today? We walked through this door.
Joe
The doorway to the World Wide Web. Tom trying to throw a wrench into it all by saying there was no way anything Tom said was right, after earlier arguing about http vs ftp. But Cam was right. Joe is a catalyst for change. Joe creates. Tom works for creatives. It must be a tough pill for him to swallow.
Similarly, Donna worked with a desperation. Gordon called her the money, and lumped in Joe. But Joe thinks about the big picture while Donna gets lost in the trees.
As soon as she told Cameron they could get rid of Joe if she couldn't work with him, it was the equivalent of someone smashing my big toe with a hammer. Donna knows nothing about the nuances of relationships.
She made that clear when she was talking to her own husband over the 4th of July weekend, but her inability to keep her mouth shut and just listen sealed her coffin on the project she brought to light to three people she loves.
Sadly, the last we see of her, she's making a knee jerk reaction. Hopefully she doesn't jet off to Switzlerland and onto a meeting with CERN. Why would she want to bitterly try to stop the people she loves from achieving something that she could find herself a part of in the future?
If there's one thing walking out of that building should have told her, it's that nothing is impossible.
Then again, if she would have seen how little of an impact her leaving had on the trio, if any at all, she might be even more angry.
Joe, Cameron and Gordon have always given each other the courtesy of listening, even during the bleakest of times. If nothing else, they have been heard by one another, and that has kept them from destroying the tenuous bonds they all share.
With as fast as things move in world of technology, it's hard to imagine where everyone will be when the series returns.
Will Kerry Bishe and Toby Huss still be a part of the cast? Will Gordon, Joe and Cameron still be moving into the browser arena, or will they have already conquered that and moved on? Will Gordon's illness have progressed? Will Cameron still be married?
There is so much to imagine and still time to let our imaginations take over. I can't thank AMC enough for making the renewal announcement today, while we can enjoy the finale for what it is with hope for the future.
Chat about it in the comments, imagine what's next and watch Halt and Catch Fire online if you have missed any of it.
Carissa Pavlica is the managing editor and a staff writer and critic for TV Fanatic. She's a member of the Critic's Choice Association, enjoys mentoring writers, conversing with cats, and passionately discussing the nuances of television and film with anyone who will listen. Follow her on X and email her here at TV Fanatic.
