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Halt and Catch Fire Season 4 Episodes
Season 4 Episode Guide
10 Episodes 2017 - 2017
Episode 1
So It Goes
Sat, Aug 19, 201744 mins
Two segments of Gordon, Joe and Cameron's business are going in divergent directions. CalNect, their ISP, is doing well, AOL who wants to buy it. Loadstar, their web browser which Joe and Cameron are working on, the latter remotely from her home base in Tokyo, has bugs which Cameron, the coder, has to fix. Much to Joe's dismay, Cameron seems to have gone silent on him. As such, another web browser, Mosaic, has overtaken the market, despite the fact that Joe and Cameron had a full one year head start on them. And Gordon wants Joe's energies placed on dealing with the issue of CalNect and AOL. As Gordon celebrates his fortieth birthday and the financial success of the company overall, they are unaware of the other issues which Cameron has been facing beyond her day job at Atari. Meanwhile, Donna is not averse to pulling the funding from projects that have either stalled or that are not visionary enough for her taste. When she gives twenty-four hours to Rover, a company looking for funding, to rejig their medical database idea, a clash may be in the works between Rover/Donna and Gordon/Joe as information was passed between ex-husband/ex-wife in general dinner chit-chat.
Episode 2
Signal to Noise
Sat, Aug 19, 201747 mins
While talking on the telephone, Cameron discloses to Joe that her marriage is ending, that Tom has found someone else, and that she will not be returning to Tokyo. This admission begins a human connection between the two despite the physical distance of the telephone line. They are both unaware that people have been looking for them, with one message making its way through to Cameron affecting her professional livelihood. The telephone call means that Joe has not made his way into work, where there is a crisis with CalNect's flat rate structure leading to some users being logged on 24/7 preventing other users from logging on due to limited bandwidth. As Gordon and Shep try to connect with someone with authority at MCI to address the issue immediately, Gordon has other things to juggle in his life. One is Haley, who, generally reliable, was caught skipping class. Gordon knows that there is something deeper going on with her. And another is Bos, whose outward social visit masks his true more serious intention. Meanwhile, Donna promotes Tanya to be the lead with Rover, while Donna will find that having Trip Kisker III as another partner at what will now need to be called AGGEK will be a thorn in her side.
Episode 3
Miscellaneous
Sat, Aug 26, 201746 mins
The ISP division of CalNect is unable to overcome its external difficulties by the time Joe resurfaces at work, Joe who sees getting rid of the boring albeit financially lucrative (even in its sale) division as an opportunity. What Joe and ultimately Gordon venture into has differing opportunities and issues as seen by the two partners, Gordon's view which has a more personal investment. As Atari has decided to shelve "Pilgrim" temporarily, Cameron takes steps to market her game outside of the Atari machine, one of those steps which doesn't end up quite the way she wants. And Donna's professional life isn't going very well. The Rover team, overseen by Tanya and Bos, isn't producing the results she wants, she blaming Tanya, Bos and the contractors. She runs into an old adversary at a conference, that adversary who she probably would not have wanted to see but who she cannot help take at dig at anyway. And she and Trip constantly seem to have the knives out for each other, Trip who inherently has the upper hand if only because he is a male among what is largely the old boys club of the company. As such, Donna turns to Diane for support. Beyond but through these issues, Donna will come across an even larger issue when she is made aware of something called "Comet", so named after its creator Haley.
Episode 4
Tonya and Nancy
Sat, Sep 9, 201743 mins
The Comet and Rover teams are competing for the search engine market, each side coming into their respective projects from two different directions. On the Comet side, Joe and Gordon are hiring content experts to direct the respective sections - Haley the head of the comedy section - all overseen by a traditional librarian, Katie Herman. With the lion's share of the market, it is a party atmosphere at Comet as each person goes about his or her work. On the Rover side, most of the impetus for success or failure rests on Cecil's shoulders, he who has written the so far poorly functioning algorithm which is supposed to result in the most relevant hits for any search. As such, Donna continues to rail on Tanya and Bos to manage the project toward success. Bos, who is still facing dire financial problems without telling anyone, tries to steer the project in a direction for his own financial windfall. The two teams are bound to collide with so many of the players having personal relationships with each other, whether it be Gordon, Haley and Donna's family relationship, or the friendships between Joe, Gordon, Cameron and Bos. Meanwhile, Cameron is still trying to find her place in life following her break-up with Tom, thus needing to find a place to live in the Bay area, and the failure of Pilgrim. She thinks she's found the perfect place, the locale and temporary nature of the current accommodations which Joe finds less than ideal. This life may just be a stop gap until something professionally piques her interest.
Episode 5
Nowhere Man
Sat, Sep 16, 201745 mins
Rover's fortunes take a major turn with a new, more effective algorithm improving the searches. With all the problems that Cecil had, Donna is certain that he didn't write the algorithm as he and the team state. In questioning him and having subsequent discussions with the players, Donna knows that Cecil and Bos, if not others, know who did write it. Donna has to decide how far to push in finding out. Bos, in turn, needs to make another request to Cameron to protect his secret from Donna. The Comet team as a collective seems unconcerned about Rover's growing market share - Gordon who is too much in mutual lust with Katie to notice what is happening with Rover - everyone that is except Joe. In the process, Joe and Gordon discuss what their visions for themselves as a working partnership were ten years ago. An incident that occurs may change the nature of what each person decides to divulge in terms of secrets. Meanwhile, Cameron receives a visit from someone from her past, that visit which may close a certain chapter in her life.
Episode 6
A Connection Is Made
Sat, Sep 23, 201750 mins
On the revelation that Cameron wrote the functioning algorithm for Rover's new search engine, Donna takes what she considers bold and drastic steps to protect the product. Diane, realizing that she wants to marry Bos in light of his heart attack, may factor into what happens. Donna also isn't coping very well below the surface, her destructive coping mechanism which Joanie is the first to recognize. Writing the algorithm got the coding bug inside of Cameron out - she needing something in light of Pilgrim's failure - she stating that she now does not need to do anything like that anymore. However, a few opportunities or incidents may change her mind. Over at Comet, Joe still believes they have a better product and approach. He also realizes more than Gordon that working at Comet has opened up a new life for Haley. Gordon, in the role of the traditional parent, may not see what Joe sees in Haley, who may jeopardize her own position in not living up to the employment agreement with her father. And Joe searches for some meaning in what they are doing to parlay that into a tag line for Comet, while he contemplates a rarely discussed part of his personal life.
Episode 7
Who Needs a Guy
Sat, Sep 30, 201744 mins
Gordon, in knowing more about Haley's natural feelings, wants to strike a more supportive relationship with his daughter, still keeping to their original agreement that her school work is not to suffer in the process. Haley, not knowing what her father now knows, shows her defiance in more ways than one. Without yet telling Cameron, Joe still dreams of having children with her, watching Haley bloom while at Comet and his small part in that blossoming which fosters his feelings. Joe still continues to try to find meaning in technology. An innocent comment by Donna to Gordon leads to Joe and Gordon talking about how possibly to repurpose Comet without totally losing its core functions. Joe, however, is suspicious of the source. As Gordon deals with the electrical and HVAC systems at the office, he and Joe delve more fully into their professional and personal lives. Cameron shows her initial current work to Alexa, who provides her with what she considers surprising feedback. Donna is regrouping, being forced into a mandatory vacation, being taken off the Rover project, and as she goes to AA meetings. What happens with Donna is affected by individual talks with Gordon, Diane and Joe. And Bos pleads with Cameron to meet him at a specified time and location. What Cameron finds in that meeting surprises her, the news of the meeting which Cameron quickly spreads to mutual friends.
Episode 8
Goodwill
Sat, Oct 7, 201754 mins
Donna has accepted Joe and Cameron's offer to help her and the girls pack up Gordon's house. Beyond the grief that each expresses in his or her own way, Donna and Joanie get into an argument based on some items found in the house. Only Donna, in reflecting on her and Gordon's early marriage, can truthfully address Joanie's accusations spoken in anger toward her mother and the situation. Joe and Haley continue to bond, this time during what ends up being a failed mission. The task at hand and spending time with the Clarks has extra significance for Cameron, not only in largely making up with Donna, but in light of Joe's admission to her that he wants to have children with her. Bos, a late arrival, has a specific task this day. Joe, in his grief, is oblivious to Bos' tactics. And although today is a day for packing and grieving, some must immediately or imminently address their future without Gordon. Two who need to make some decisions soon are Katie and Joanie, the latter who is graduating from high school this year.
Episode 9
Search
Sat, Oct 14, 201747 mins
It's the beginning of autumn, four months after Gordon's passing. A statement made by Bos' doctor at his latest post-heart attack appointment makes him think about his future. Joanie has made a decision what to do with her immediate life in lieu of college, somewhat with Donna's blessing. Haley, feeling like her loved ones are leaving her, takes a chance to get what she wants. Donna has been spending the summer largely swimming in the pool. Diane has decided to move on which means that Donna has to get out of the pool and accept or decline the position of managing partner, which is hers if she wants it. If she doesn't accept the position, Trip and his backers are hovering, Trip who would secure the company as an old boys club ultimately forcing Donna into a weakened position within the company if she stays. And Joe has continued on with what was his and Gordon's vision to repurpose Comet as not just a search engine, but a destination site in and of itself. The site is about to relaunch - the repurposed site for which Cameron did most of the coding as a favor to Joe - and Joe, at great expense, has commissioned a flashy advertising campaign, which has among its images Gordon and Haley. Joe envisions one last piece before the relaunch, namely to increase the site loading speed specifically to optimize it with what looks to be the emerging web browser of choice, Netscape, so that he can pitch the idea to Netscape that they be linked as sites. This short term and immediate job requires not only Cameron's expertise, but also clandestinely being able to obtain a copy of Netscape's soon to be released new version to match to their coding. Cameron has to decide where this job and Joe fits into her life, especially against broader opportunities that Alexa keeps presenting to her.
Episode 10
Ten of Swords
Sat, Oct 14, 201752 mins
In light of what happened with Netscape, Joe makes a decision about Comet's future. He turns to an unexpected source for guidance about what to do in light of Comet and in light of what happened between him and Cameron. Donna is basking in what has been a revitalized and renamed company largely on her doing. She gets an even more promising sign about her life when she receives a telephone call from Joanie, who needs to relate an experience on her travels through Thailand. Haley takes a turn in her life, that action which may say more to her mother than any other action of late. And in light of what happens in her relationships with Joe and Alexa, Cameron needs to make the rounds to all her friends before moving onto the next imminent phase of her life. That last stop is at Donna's, which coincides with Donna preparing to host a lavish women in technology social gathering at her house. What happens with Haley and a speech by Donna may influence what both Cameron and Donna decide to do with that next phase of their lives.
