Halt and Catch Fire (2014–2017): Season 3, Episode 3 - Flipping the Switch - full transcript
The strain of living and working together start to show for Gordon, Donna and Cameron, especially as Gordon believes Donna has only asked him to attend regular executive meetings to make him feel included, demonstrating that the power in his and Donna's overall relationship rests with her. Donna carries the stress of that strain into a business lunch with Diane, while Gordon turns to an old friend to cope. Ryan's departure from the company leaves an obvious hole that needs to be filled. As Cameron's attempt to lure Ryan back doesn't work, she is tasked with looking for a new coder from among the students in a college computer class to which she will be giving a guest lecture. Cameron finds someone unexpected there. Ryan is feeling at a loss working for evasive Joe, who wants him to figure out exactly why he hired him without being told. Joe inviting him to a senior executive meeting a week into his employment may or may not answer the questions for Ryan. And Cameron and Donna delegate Bos to provide the offer to purchase Swap Meet, about which Diane quietly seethes feeling that Cameron and Donna themselves should be the ones to handle such an important task. Diane takes measures to ensure her $600,000 is handled properly by Bos, who ends up surprising her.
CQ, CQ, is this frequency in use?
CQ, is anybody out there?
Hello? This is KC4L.
Can anybody hear me?
What's that?
Uh, it's a radio that I made.
What does CQ mean?
It's what you say when you're looking
for other people who've made radios.
Comes from the French word s?curit?,
which means safety or security.
You can hear it when you say "secu, secu".
Did you want something?
I wanted to say good night.
Oh, God, Lump, I'm so sorry.
Did you brush your teeth?
Okay, I'll be out there
in just a second, okay?
Daddy's in the closet looking
for people with radios.
Okay.
That thing made it from Texas
and the KitchenAid is still in storage?
Are you really gonna stand there
and try and pass yourself off
as someone who ever used that mixer?
Are you sure this is the
best place for all this?
No, I'm pretty sure it's
the worst place for it,
but since the place that I was
gonna use isn't available,
- I'm making do.
- Okay, sorry.
Have you found anyone?
No, the connection sucks.
Is it the antenna, maybe?
I don't know. Could be.
Or it could be that all the guys
that were out there when I was a kid
are too busy running companies
to have time for hams.
Yeah, or they moved online.
There must be some new kids out there.
I'll be out in a sec.
CQ, CQ, for shit's sake,
is anybody out there?
Hey, Cameron and I decided to
have a weekly project meeting
to streamline the SwapMeet integration
and we thought that you'd
be a valuable addition.
Yeah, sure.
If you want me there.
Yeah, we do.
Do you want me there because you think
I might have something to contribute
or because you want me to feel
like I have something to do?
How about just because
I respect your opinion?
'Cause I just don't want you to
feel like I can't self-start
because I absolutely can.
No, of course you can,
but the coders look to you.
I feel like you could be
a valuable liaison.
And I want you there.
Okay. Yeah. I'll be there.
Good.
You know I don't really have a choice.
You're my ride.
# There's nothing much to take #
# I'm an absolute beginner #
# And I'm absolutely sane #
# As long as we're together #
# The rest can go to hell #
# I absolutely love you #
# But we're absolute beginners #
# With eyes completely open #
# But nervous all the same #
# If our love song... #
- Mr. MacMillan. Hi.
- Ryan, welcome.
I didn't realize it was, you know,
gonna be such a big party, so I...
That was very thoughtful. Thank you.
This is really a beautiful place you have.
- You know, it's dark.
- Mmm.
Can't really see what
everything looks like,
but from what I can tell, it's--
it's so...
Asian.
I'm glad you like it.
Yeah, it took me a while to find it.
I don't really know the city that well.
I grew up in Burlingame.
It's not far.
Just-- yeah, we didn't really get
to come to the city that much.
I really do like it, though.
I mean, look at it.
It's just so...
Asian.
You sure do have a lot of friends, huh?
I wouldn't really call
these people my friends.
Most of them don't even know
whose house they're at.
Except for Ken over there.
Ken knows exactly where he is.
You know what? I'm thirsty.
Why don't we open this up?
# As long as you're still smiling #
So whereabouts do you live now?
Or are you still in Burlingame?
Oh, no, I got out of there a while ago.
I'm in Los Altos now with
a bunch of college buddies.
They're really jealous
that I'm working for you.
I was telling them about how
the office is on the top--
What do you do for fun?
Oh, um, you know, the usual.
Video games. Movies.
But mostly I just love to code.
I can't tell you how curious I am
to see what you have in mind for me.
You came to me, Ryan.
Yeah, I know.
I have a ton of ideas.
I'd love to show them to you.
But I know the company is focused
on user version 2.0 right now.
So I'm just ready to pitch in.
Is that what you think I'm looking for?
All right, someone just came in
who I really need to speak to.
Hey, it's a party. Try and have fun.
# If there's reason #
# To feel all the hard times #
# To lay down the hard lines #
# It's absolutely true #
# Halt & Catch Fire 3x03 #
Flipping the Switch
Original Air Date on August 30, 2016
What are you doing up?
Joe MacMillan?
Really?
Do you have any idea what
you're getting yourself into?
Well, I was hoping to learn something--
Look, I know you must be feeling
real special right about now.
Joe's great at that, but trust me,
he will burn you.
Look, I know I should have
probably talked to you about it--
He did it to me. He did it to Gordon.
Even Donna, the nicest
woman on the planet,
doesn't speak to him anymore.
You think you're gonna be any different?
I don't know, Cameron.
Listen, I get it.
Really, I do.
And I'm willing to give you
a pass just this once.
Come back to Mutiny.
Be a part of something real.
I don't even think
the guys would have me back.
Well, the guys will deal
if I tell them to.
What do you say?
Okay.
You just made a really dumb call.
I told her you weren't home.
She wouldn't leave.
She was here for like an hour
just staring.
Dude, where've you been?
I got hammered and passed out at Joe's.
Oh, wow. Hey, was that fun?
I don't know what the hell it was.
Okay, that makes absolutely zero sense.
Well, we thought it made a lot of sense.
Well, you guys are
the heads of the company.
Of course you should be the ones
to bring the offer over to SwapMeet.
Gordon, it's a formality. Bos can do it.
It's not a formality.
It's about perception.
And the people that
you're buying, especially
since they're coming to work here,
need to view you and Donna
as the ones in charge.
Gordon, we've already met with
them a gazillion times, okay?
We've had lunch. We've had drinks.
They know we're in charge.
God, if I had it my way,
they'd just send us the disks
and we could call it a day.
Okay, look, it's dropping off an envelope.
You don't mind doing it, do you?
Do you want to make it
sound any less important?
- I would be happy to do it.
- Thank you.
Okay, so the whole company
is gonna bend over backwards
because she can't get over herself.
No, I don't think it's a good
idea for us to go either.
The heads of the company
don't tender the initial offer.
We wait for the counter
and only get involved
when the real negotiations begin.
That's how you show them who's in charge.
Mm, okay.
Okay, up next,
how are we doing on the speed
of the background graphics?
Well, we'll never get under
half a second at 2,400 baud.
We're gonna need to use Huffman,
or even better, Lempel-Ziv compressions
so we're not sending all the bits through.
Okay, since when are
we doing a graduate seminar
on information theory?
Our guys can't handle that.
No, no, no. That's smart not
sending all the bits through.
We preload the most common backgrounds
on the diskettes users already have
and just send the catalog numbers.
Okay, so just send the index to the scene.
Okay, that's good. I see that.
That's good, right? No complex coding.
Well, you'll have a limited set of images
and the user will get tired of
waiting for the same-old same-old,
but, yeah, it's great if that's
what you guys want to do. Great.
- Great.
- Great.
So we will preload the data. Thank you.
And now for what I thought was going to be
the only unpleasant topic
for this meeting--
evidently I was wrong--
replacing Ryan.
Oh, I went by his house this morning.
He is not open to coming back.
What?
You didn't harm him in any way, did you?
No, he was fine when I left.
I mean, he's a moron,
but he was ambulatory.
You know, I want you looking for
people at that class tonight.
Oh, God.
Hey, look, I'm already covering
for you at this lunch.
And don't complain about
being asked for by name
by the next generation of coding talent.
You should be very flattered.
Even if I find someone, it's gonna
take forever to catch them up.
Ryan really understood the guts
of the neighborhood code.
And if we're gonna build out
SwapMeet alongside it,
we need someone who really gets it.
Well, uh, who wrote the
original code for that section?
- Tom did.
- Great, which one is Tom?
None of them. He didn't make the trip.
- Why not?
- He just didn't.
- Okay, was it a money thing or...
- No.
- Well, then get him back.
- No.
If you can't get Ryan,
getting the programmer
who originated the code
makes the most sense.
Look, Gordon, I said no.
Can we just drop it, please?
Why am I even in this meeting
if no one's gonna listen
to a word I have to say?
We are listening.
We're simply disagreeing.
No, Donna, you're disagreeing.
Because you are opining on subjects
about which you do not have
all the information.
I am opining on subjects
on which I am fully informed.
No, Gordon, you really aren't.
A lot happened while you
were off doing other things.
Oh, damn it, Donna.
You know what? I screwed
her once, okay? Jesus.
Excuse me.
What the hell was that?
Please, like Cameron doesn't already know.
The walls in our place
are so goddamn thin,
she can hear it every time I take a shit.
I invite you to a meeting and
this is the way you behave?
- What is wrong with you?
- I am sick and tired of being punished.
Okay? I agreed to the move.
I bought the mainframe.
I fixed the mainframe.
I've let her live with us.
Everything I've been asked
to do, I've done.
I shut you down because Tom
is Cameron's ex-boyfriend.
So what?
So it's obviously a sensitive subject
and I was trying to steer you away from it.
So you thought my infidelity
would be a wonderful topic?
You brought that up.
While I was off doing other things.
Like everybody in this room
doesn't know what that means.
- I was talking about the mainframe.
- No, you weren't.
No, you weren't and don't
pretend that you were.
It's always there, Donna. Every time
I look at you, it's always there.
This is not something to discuss here.
We'll talk about it at home.
What's the difference?
Hello?
Greetings from the ether.
Is anybody there?
I'm right here. Can you hear me?
I'm right here. This is KC4L, over.
Hello?
I'm right here. Can you hear me?
Right this way.
First time dining with us?
No. I wish.
- Oh, hello there.
- No, don't get up.
Sorry.
Where's Cameron?
Oh, she is preparing a guest
lecture she is giving tonight.
She's so sorry that she couldn't make it.
We'll have to soldier on without her.
May I get you something from the bar?
You know what? I will have
a gin and tonic, please.
- Very well.
- Thank you.
Nice choice.
And what's your excuse?
I just like drinking at lunch.
So, the official SwapMeet
offer is happening today?
Yes, John Bosworth is taking
it over later this afternoon.
- Exciting.
- Yeah.
Will he go over with you and Cameron?
No, he's our advance man.
He's taking care of it.
- Whenever the ladies are ready.
- The usual, Jason.
Chicken paillard.
It's thin, crispy, and somehow still juicy.
I don't know how they do it.
Uh, you know, I will try the...
mushroom ris-- risotto.
You still wear your ring, huh?
- For work.
- Mmm.
Men can't seem to handle the
idea that sexual availability
and business acumen
can exist in the same body.
It simplifies things.
So when you say John Bosworth
is your advance man,
what exactly do you mean?
# I like new fashion #
# I like old stories #
# Like my sister used to tell #
# This is the voice #
# This is the picture #
# I like romantics,
but I don't like Steven #
# Old men... #
Whatcha doing?
Oh, I'm just working on 2.0 with Brent.
I figured it was all hands on deck,
so I would jump in and help out.
Don't do that. I've already got a Brent.
That's not what I hired you for.
Hey! Excuse me.
Excuse me. Wait.
Hey, man, why did you hire me, then?
I'm beginning to wonder that myself.
# Old men love war songs #
# Love Vera Lynn... #
You know, I just--
I didn't know what
I was getting myself into.
You know, and I wanted
to fix things so bad,
but, I don't know,
she just doesn't seem to want me there.
I mean, she says she does,
but that's what she thinks I want to hear.
Oh, wait.
- Donna?
That's my wife. This is KC4L signing off.
Hey, Donna.
- Oh, hey.
- Hey.
I, uh, finally got the ham working.
You know I was always planning
on moving out, right?
Like, this is not exactly
an ideal setup for me either.
It's not like I like listening
to you take a dump.
You know, just for the record,
Donna never said anything to me
about whatever problems
you guys were having.
She would never do that.
I have the letters of transit.
A very important document.
- It's the SwapMeet offer.
- Oh.
And Godspeed to you, sir.
How was lunch?
Extremely delightful.
I had risotto,
which is rice, but not.
What else did you have?
I had a few-- several gin and tonics.
- You okay?
- Yes, I'm great.
Fine.
You know, my ex worked
those long-haul flights
and I was away on business half the month.
We barely spent any time together.
Still managed to get
on each other's last nerve.
I don't know how you and Gordon do it.
Well, apparently, not so well.
I think your husband's all kind of tricky,
but, by God, I know he cares.
I can feel it from 50 paces.
There are men out there who've
done a lot worse, Donna.
Yeah.
But it's hard to turn that into good news.
I want you to come to this meeting.
- Right now?
- Right now.
You must be John Bosworth.
Diane Gould. I'll be your
backup this afternoon.
Oh, pleasure to meet you.
Didn't know I needed backup.
Well, you don't, of course.
I just knew you'd be here and I thought
it would be a nice way for us to meet.
Sure.
Seems a little quiet.
Yeah, I noticed that.
And the parking lot seemed empty.
Yeah, I noticed that, too.
Maybe we should get a tour.
We're giving them 600,000
of my hard-earned dollars
and a piece of your company.
That earns us a poke around.
Doug Sheridan. So nice to meet you.
- Hey.
- This is my partner Craig Bausch.
Craig, John Bosworth.
Nice to finally put
some faces to the names.
This here is Diane Gould, our partner.
Of course. Pleasure to finally meet you.
This is quite the delivery committee.
While we're here, we thought
we should have a look around.
Oh, of course.
Sure.
Welcome.
We pulled a pretty epic
all-nighter last night,
so we're kind of down to bare bones.
But you should be able
to get a sense of the place.
I know I speak for all the investors
when I say how delighted we are
with the growth of the
individual user base.
That tastes terrible.
- I mean, that tastes just like...
ugh.
Look, we may not have
seen it at the start,
but the people have spoken
and you truly are
the thought leader that
we always knew you were.
Huh?
So 2.0.
When are we doing this?
Well, production can have disks ready
to ship in a matter of months.
The question is, is it better to start
charging at the beginning of the year?
Or do we flip the switch in September
and hope that the charges get lost in
the list of back-to-school expenses?
What do you think?
When do you think we should start
charging for the new user version?
Well, I--
I mean, I thought
you weren't going to charge.
Hold on, I'm--
I'm sorry, what's your name again?
- Ryan.
- Ryan, right.
Of course we're gonna charge.
I mean, what's the point
of developing a user base
if we don't turn them into
paying customers at some point?
And my gut is telling me
sooner rather than later.
What a surprise.
I see a spigot and I want to turn it on.
The focus groups we've done indicate
we'll be losing 30-40% of our
users whenever we do it.
It's just a matter of how big you
want to grow the base beforehand.
And, unfortunately, people are
going to hate you for a little while.
Sorry, couldn't be helped.
Well, it's been a long time since
I cared what people thought about me.
My gut says...
September.
What's our price point?
If we can stay below the $15 threshold,
consumers seem willing to shine it on.
Oof, that sounds awfully high.
Can't we keep it under 10?
No, the fact is for a one-time
annual expense of this kind--
$14.95.
Yes. That.
That right there. That--
that has my vote. Yes, please.
What do you think?
Yeah, I-I guess
$14.95 sounds good.
Well, if Ryan's on board, huh?
So that's it.
Come September, we start charging $14.95.
- You okay?
- Yeah, of course.
Look, I know it tastes bad,
but this is the right move.
- Mmm.
- I promise you, all right?
Can I come in?
What is it?
Hey, I--
I just wanted to say that even
though it does make perfect sense
to hire the person who wrote that code,
I didn't realize that that was
someone that you had a thing with.
So if I seemed insensitive earlier today,
I'm sorry.
Okay.
And just-- Tom and I wrote
that code together.
Just, you know, FYI.
It wasn't all him.
Okay.
And I hope I didn't make you feel
like you living here is the
cause of all of our problems.
You're not gonna start talking
to me about your wife, are you?
No, I'm not.
Just 'cause I really--
I don't think I can handle that.
Look, I still don't think
that we should all be living
under the same roof,
but obviously there's
something else going on.
That's all I wanted to say.
So when are you guys moving out?
Jesus, you got every goddamn
mug in the house in here.
No, I don't.
All right. Hey, good luck tonight.
You, too.
I just don't understand how
the wind gets into Candlestick.
I mean, there are walls.
Wind's a Giants fan.
It does what it needs to do.
It beats the hell out of
sweating bullets in Arlington.
Yeah, well, that's why I'm a Houston fan.
Air conditioning like God intended it.
Where was God when Nolan Ryan
left that one hanging for
Will Clark the other day?
You want to get that?
No, it's fine.
This is more important.
Yeah, hey, we appreciate
the extra attention,
but don't you fellas have a receptionist?
Of course we do. She's at lunch.
- Late lunch.
- We do a lot of business with the East Coast.
So we work through lunch a lot and
then we, you know, have it later.
Can somebody answer the goddamn phone?
Everybody's really spent from last night.
It was a real ball-breaker.
Yeah.
Sure.
What'd you do that for?
Oh, I'm not comfortable with it.
No, it was a figure that was arrived at
when we were operating with
less than current information.
The value of our company is
in our intellectual property,
our loyal customers, it's not out there.
No, it sure as hell isn't. Come on.
Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.
Where are you going?
Oh, we need to reassess.
Mr. Bosworth, I assure you
the company you're bidding on
is a lean, mean version of itself.
Oh, I'd say it's a lean, mean
version worth about 400K.
400,000 sounds like a good place to start.
No, it sounds like a good
place to finish, son.
If you can find someone willing to pay
north of 350, you should go for it.
- Wait, he just said 400.
- Oh, I'm sorry. My mistake.
- 325, how's that sound?
We just saved you $250,000.
I'd think you'd be happier.
I am happy, very.
I'm just a little surprised
by how completely off-book you went.
I thought this was supposed to be
handshakes and how do you dos.
You see an opportunity, you take it.
That's the sport of it.
It could have gone the other way.
But it didn't.
- Mr. MacMillan?
Uh, I just wanted to say that--
that I don't think you should
charge for the user version.
Why didn't you say that in the meeting?
I've been here for, what, a week
and you plunk me down
in some senior staff meeting.
What was I supposed to say? I
just agreed with everyone else.
But that's not right because
it's not what I think.
I'm sorry you couldn't
keep up in the meeting.
You made a promise to people
that you wouldn't charge them.
I didn't promise that I
wouldn't ever charge them.
Of course you did.
You said freedom from fear is a right
and you shouldn't have to pay for it.
And in a perfect world that would be true,
but it's not the world we live in.
- Then why'd you say it?
- Because I believe it.
But I've got a board and investors
and I've got people to answer to.
But you're ruining the product.
I am the product.
I know.
# It was a slow day
and the sun was beating #
# On the soldiers
by the side of the road #
# There was a bright light #
# A shattering of shop windows #
# The bomb in the baby carriage
was wired to the radio #
# These are the days
of miracle and wonder #
# This is the long distance call #
# The way the camera follows us in slo-mo #
# The way we look to us all #
# The way we look to
a distant constellation #
# That's dying in a corner of the sky #
# These are the days
of miracle and wonder #
# And don't cry, baby,
don't cry, don't cry #
# It was dry wind #
# And it swept across the desert #
# And it curled into the circle of birth #
# And the dead sand
falling on the children... #
No, I was at Austin Tech.
I never really finished,
but then I started working
and there was just
no real time to go back.
Thanks again for coming.
Yeah.
Feel free to start.
What, no kiss this time?
What do you want?
You gonna tell me I'm a horrible person?
Go ahead.
I'd be well within my rights to want that.
What I'd really like to say is--
is thank you.
Really?
For what?
Everything, I guess.
How could I have risen from the ashes
if you hadn't burned it all to the ground?
Is that why you stole my best coder?
Who, Ryan? Come on.
The Valley is crawling with Ryans.
No, actually, he's incredibly talented.
Do you want him back?
What are you doing here?
Did you follow me here?
No, Cam, I don't have time to follow you.
I'm a--
I'm a student.
Why is that funny?
Because it's a lie.
Well, maybe I got tired of being told
I was just a salesman who couldn't code.
Okay.
I--
God, I don't know what kind of
dress-up game you're playing,
but, yes, you're a student.
I might not ever be great at it, but...
I'm not unteachable.
Joe,
I know you got this whole humble
Zen master thing working for you,
but come on.
Save it.
I'm not buying it.
You don't have to buy it, Cam.
Haven't you heard?
I'm giving it away for free.
Cam.
Cam.
How were they last night?
I didn't see them.
They were in their room when I got home
and gone before I left this morning.
It was quiet.
Yeah, that's not always a good sign.
Well, it's better than screaming.
I've heard quiet make
you beg for screaming.
Put that there.
Hey.
I want to apologize
for my outburst yesterday.
It was totally inappropriate.
And it shouldn't have happened.
So if I made anyone feel uncomfortable,
then I'm sorry.
Well, that little speech
made me very uncomfortable.
- I'm kidding.
- It never happened.
- Come on.
- What?
- It so clearly did.
- It's a thing you say.
Okay, look, we don't have
to discuss this ad nauseam,
but we thought saying nothing
seemed equally stupid.
So we're saying something.
We are aware that bringing
a marriage into the workplace
is complicated and we're
doing the best we can, okay?
Now, can we try to get
back to where we were?
Okay, great.
The big Ryan-shaped hole.
Did you find any prospects last night?
No, but I decided we don't need anyone.
- Of course we do.
- No.
Not if I do it.
Oh, I don't know. I feel like
you're already spread pretty thin.
No, he was right. Getting the
person who originated the code
makes the most sense. That's me.
Well, but you should have some help.
We just bought a company.
Maybe one of them can help.
No! Look, I'd just have to
explain everything to them.
It makes double the work for me.
All right, if you think you can handle it.
Yes, I can.
Okay, so we got a call--
You got to be kidding me.
You're moving on?
Yes. Did you have something
you wanted to say?
No. No, no, go ahead. It's your meeting.
- We got a call--
- She can't do it herself.
The company spends a third of its
time waiting for her as it is.
He's not wrong. You could
do a bit more delegating.
I do, just not when it's something
that I think is truly foundational.
But you think that
everything is foundational.
Look, if she says she can
handle it, she can handle it.
Oh, my God. Oh, my God. Oh, my God.
Gordon, what is your argument?
You're just sinking the company
by taking on all these--
- No, she's not sinking anything.
- Can we please just focus?
I want you to pack up your stuff.
Starting tomorrow, we'll be
working out of my place.
If we're not charging for 2.0,
we've got to find a new income stream.
Don't smile. We might fail.
# Ah, watch out #
# You might get what you're after #
# Cool babies #
# Strange but not a stranger #
# I'm an ordinary guy #
# Burning down the house #
CQ, is anybody out there?
Hello? This is KC4L.
Can anybody hear me?
What's that?
Uh, it's a radio that I made.
What does CQ mean?
It's what you say when you're looking
for other people who've made radios.
Comes from the French word s?curit?,
which means safety or security.
You can hear it when you say "secu, secu".
Did you want something?
I wanted to say good night.
Oh, God, Lump, I'm so sorry.
Did you brush your teeth?
Okay, I'll be out there
in just a second, okay?
Daddy's in the closet looking
for people with radios.
Okay.
That thing made it from Texas
and the KitchenAid is still in storage?
Are you really gonna stand there
and try and pass yourself off
as someone who ever used that mixer?
Are you sure this is the
best place for all this?
No, I'm pretty sure it's
the worst place for it,
but since the place that I was
gonna use isn't available,
- I'm making do.
- Okay, sorry.
Have you found anyone?
No, the connection sucks.
Is it the antenna, maybe?
I don't know. Could be.
Or it could be that all the guys
that were out there when I was a kid
are too busy running companies
to have time for hams.
Yeah, or they moved online.
There must be some new kids out there.
I'll be out in a sec.
CQ, CQ, for shit's sake,
is anybody out there?
Hey, Cameron and I decided to
have a weekly project meeting
to streamline the SwapMeet integration
and we thought that you'd
be a valuable addition.
Yeah, sure.
If you want me there.
Yeah, we do.
Do you want me there because you think
I might have something to contribute
or because you want me to feel
like I have something to do?
How about just because
I respect your opinion?
'Cause I just don't want you to
feel like I can't self-start
because I absolutely can.
No, of course you can,
but the coders look to you.
I feel like you could be
a valuable liaison.
And I want you there.
Okay. Yeah. I'll be there.
Good.
You know I don't really have a choice.
You're my ride.
# There's nothing much to take #
# I'm an absolute beginner #
# And I'm absolutely sane #
# As long as we're together #
# The rest can go to hell #
# I absolutely love you #
# But we're absolute beginners #
# With eyes completely open #
# But nervous all the same #
# If our love song... #
- Mr. MacMillan. Hi.
- Ryan, welcome.
I didn't realize it was, you know,
gonna be such a big party, so I...
That was very thoughtful. Thank you.
This is really a beautiful place you have.
- You know, it's dark.
- Mmm.
Can't really see what
everything looks like,
but from what I can tell, it's--
it's so...
Asian.
I'm glad you like it.
Yeah, it took me a while to find it.
I don't really know the city that well.
I grew up in Burlingame.
It's not far.
Just-- yeah, we didn't really get
to come to the city that much.
I really do like it, though.
I mean, look at it.
It's just so...
Asian.
You sure do have a lot of friends, huh?
I wouldn't really call
these people my friends.
Most of them don't even know
whose house they're at.
Except for Ken over there.
Ken knows exactly where he is.
You know what? I'm thirsty.
Why don't we open this up?
# As long as you're still smiling #
So whereabouts do you live now?
Or are you still in Burlingame?
Oh, no, I got out of there a while ago.
I'm in Los Altos now with
a bunch of college buddies.
They're really jealous
that I'm working for you.
I was telling them about how
the office is on the top--
What do you do for fun?
Oh, um, you know, the usual.
Video games. Movies.
But mostly I just love to code.
I can't tell you how curious I am
to see what you have in mind for me.
You came to me, Ryan.
Yeah, I know.
I have a ton of ideas.
I'd love to show them to you.
But I know the company is focused
on user version 2.0 right now.
So I'm just ready to pitch in.
Is that what you think I'm looking for?
All right, someone just came in
who I really need to speak to.
Hey, it's a party. Try and have fun.
# If there's reason #
# To feel all the hard times #
# To lay down the hard lines #
# It's absolutely true #
# Halt & Catch Fire 3x03 #
Flipping the Switch
Original Air Date on August 30, 2016
What are you doing up?
Joe MacMillan?
Really?
Do you have any idea what
you're getting yourself into?
Well, I was hoping to learn something--
Look, I know you must be feeling
real special right about now.
Joe's great at that, but trust me,
he will burn you.
Look, I know I should have
probably talked to you about it--
He did it to me. He did it to Gordon.
Even Donna, the nicest
woman on the planet,
doesn't speak to him anymore.
You think you're gonna be any different?
I don't know, Cameron.
Listen, I get it.
Really, I do.
And I'm willing to give you
a pass just this once.
Come back to Mutiny.
Be a part of something real.
I don't even think
the guys would have me back.
Well, the guys will deal
if I tell them to.
What do you say?
Okay.
You just made a really dumb call.
I told her you weren't home.
She wouldn't leave.
She was here for like an hour
just staring.
Dude, where've you been?
I got hammered and passed out at Joe's.
Oh, wow. Hey, was that fun?
I don't know what the hell it was.
Okay, that makes absolutely zero sense.
Well, we thought it made a lot of sense.
Well, you guys are
the heads of the company.
Of course you should be the ones
to bring the offer over to SwapMeet.
Gordon, it's a formality. Bos can do it.
It's not a formality.
It's about perception.
And the people that
you're buying, especially
since they're coming to work here,
need to view you and Donna
as the ones in charge.
Gordon, we've already met with
them a gazillion times, okay?
We've had lunch. We've had drinks.
They know we're in charge.
God, if I had it my way,
they'd just send us the disks
and we could call it a day.
Okay, look, it's dropping off an envelope.
You don't mind doing it, do you?
Do you want to make it
sound any less important?
- I would be happy to do it.
- Thank you.
Okay, so the whole company
is gonna bend over backwards
because she can't get over herself.
No, I don't think it's a good
idea for us to go either.
The heads of the company
don't tender the initial offer.
We wait for the counter
and only get involved
when the real negotiations begin.
That's how you show them who's in charge.
Mm, okay.
Okay, up next,
how are we doing on the speed
of the background graphics?
Well, we'll never get under
half a second at 2,400 baud.
We're gonna need to use Huffman,
or even better, Lempel-Ziv compressions
so we're not sending all the bits through.
Okay, since when are
we doing a graduate seminar
on information theory?
Our guys can't handle that.
No, no, no. That's smart not
sending all the bits through.
We preload the most common backgrounds
on the diskettes users already have
and just send the catalog numbers.
Okay, so just send the index to the scene.
Okay, that's good. I see that.
That's good, right? No complex coding.
Well, you'll have a limited set of images
and the user will get tired of
waiting for the same-old same-old,
but, yeah, it's great if that's
what you guys want to do. Great.
- Great.
- Great.
So we will preload the data. Thank you.
And now for what I thought was going to be
the only unpleasant topic
for this meeting--
evidently I was wrong--
replacing Ryan.
Oh, I went by his house this morning.
He is not open to coming back.
What?
You didn't harm him in any way, did you?
No, he was fine when I left.
I mean, he's a moron,
but he was ambulatory.
You know, I want you looking for
people at that class tonight.
Oh, God.
Hey, look, I'm already covering
for you at this lunch.
And don't complain about
being asked for by name
by the next generation of coding talent.
You should be very flattered.
Even if I find someone, it's gonna
take forever to catch them up.
Ryan really understood the guts
of the neighborhood code.
And if we're gonna build out
SwapMeet alongside it,
we need someone who really gets it.
Well, uh, who wrote the
original code for that section?
- Tom did.
- Great, which one is Tom?
None of them. He didn't make the trip.
- Why not?
- He just didn't.
- Okay, was it a money thing or...
- No.
- Well, then get him back.
- No.
If you can't get Ryan,
getting the programmer
who originated the code
makes the most sense.
Look, Gordon, I said no.
Can we just drop it, please?
Why am I even in this meeting
if no one's gonna listen
to a word I have to say?
We are listening.
We're simply disagreeing.
No, Donna, you're disagreeing.
Because you are opining on subjects
about which you do not have
all the information.
I am opining on subjects
on which I am fully informed.
No, Gordon, you really aren't.
A lot happened while you
were off doing other things.
Oh, damn it, Donna.
You know what? I screwed
her once, okay? Jesus.
Excuse me.
What the hell was that?
Please, like Cameron doesn't already know.
The walls in our place
are so goddamn thin,
she can hear it every time I take a shit.
I invite you to a meeting and
this is the way you behave?
- What is wrong with you?
- I am sick and tired of being punished.
Okay? I agreed to the move.
I bought the mainframe.
I fixed the mainframe.
I've let her live with us.
Everything I've been asked
to do, I've done.
I shut you down because Tom
is Cameron's ex-boyfriend.
So what?
So it's obviously a sensitive subject
and I was trying to steer you away from it.
So you thought my infidelity
would be a wonderful topic?
You brought that up.
While I was off doing other things.
Like everybody in this room
doesn't know what that means.
- I was talking about the mainframe.
- No, you weren't.
No, you weren't and don't
pretend that you were.
It's always there, Donna. Every time
I look at you, it's always there.
This is not something to discuss here.
We'll talk about it at home.
What's the difference?
Hello?
Greetings from the ether.
Is anybody there?
I'm right here. Can you hear me?
I'm right here. This is KC4L, over.
Hello?
I'm right here. Can you hear me?
Right this way.
First time dining with us?
No. I wish.
- Oh, hello there.
- No, don't get up.
Sorry.
Where's Cameron?
Oh, she is preparing a guest
lecture she is giving tonight.
She's so sorry that she couldn't make it.
We'll have to soldier on without her.
May I get you something from the bar?
You know what? I will have
a gin and tonic, please.
- Very well.
- Thank you.
Nice choice.
And what's your excuse?
I just like drinking at lunch.
So, the official SwapMeet
offer is happening today?
Yes, John Bosworth is taking
it over later this afternoon.
- Exciting.
- Yeah.
Will he go over with you and Cameron?
No, he's our advance man.
He's taking care of it.
- Whenever the ladies are ready.
- The usual, Jason.
Chicken paillard.
It's thin, crispy, and somehow still juicy.
I don't know how they do it.
Uh, you know, I will try the...
mushroom ris-- risotto.
You still wear your ring, huh?
- For work.
- Mmm.
Men can't seem to handle the
idea that sexual availability
and business acumen
can exist in the same body.
It simplifies things.
So when you say John Bosworth
is your advance man,
what exactly do you mean?
# I like new fashion #
# I like old stories #
# Like my sister used to tell #
# This is the voice #
# This is the picture #
# I like romantics,
but I don't like Steven #
# Old men... #
Whatcha doing?
Oh, I'm just working on 2.0 with Brent.
I figured it was all hands on deck,
so I would jump in and help out.
Don't do that. I've already got a Brent.
That's not what I hired you for.
Hey! Excuse me.
Excuse me. Wait.
Hey, man, why did you hire me, then?
I'm beginning to wonder that myself.
# Old men love war songs #
# Love Vera Lynn... #
You know, I just--
I didn't know what
I was getting myself into.
You know, and I wanted
to fix things so bad,
but, I don't know,
she just doesn't seem to want me there.
I mean, she says she does,
but that's what she thinks I want to hear.
Oh, wait.
- Donna?
That's my wife. This is KC4L signing off.
Hey, Donna.
- Oh, hey.
- Hey.
I, uh, finally got the ham working.
You know I was always planning
on moving out, right?
Like, this is not exactly
an ideal setup for me either.
It's not like I like listening
to you take a dump.
You know, just for the record,
Donna never said anything to me
about whatever problems
you guys were having.
She would never do that.
I have the letters of transit.
A very important document.
- It's the SwapMeet offer.
- Oh.
And Godspeed to you, sir.
How was lunch?
Extremely delightful.
I had risotto,
which is rice, but not.
What else did you have?
I had a few-- several gin and tonics.
- You okay?
- Yes, I'm great.
Fine.
You know, my ex worked
those long-haul flights
and I was away on business half the month.
We barely spent any time together.
Still managed to get
on each other's last nerve.
I don't know how you and Gordon do it.
Well, apparently, not so well.
I think your husband's all kind of tricky,
but, by God, I know he cares.
I can feel it from 50 paces.
There are men out there who've
done a lot worse, Donna.
Yeah.
But it's hard to turn that into good news.
I want you to come to this meeting.
- Right now?
- Right now.
You must be John Bosworth.
Diane Gould. I'll be your
backup this afternoon.
Oh, pleasure to meet you.
Didn't know I needed backup.
Well, you don't, of course.
I just knew you'd be here and I thought
it would be a nice way for us to meet.
Sure.
Seems a little quiet.
Yeah, I noticed that.
And the parking lot seemed empty.
Yeah, I noticed that, too.
Maybe we should get a tour.
We're giving them 600,000
of my hard-earned dollars
and a piece of your company.
That earns us a poke around.
Doug Sheridan. So nice to meet you.
- Hey.
- This is my partner Craig Bausch.
Craig, John Bosworth.
Nice to finally put
some faces to the names.
This here is Diane Gould, our partner.
Of course. Pleasure to finally meet you.
This is quite the delivery committee.
While we're here, we thought
we should have a look around.
Oh, of course.
Sure.
Welcome.
We pulled a pretty epic
all-nighter last night,
so we're kind of down to bare bones.
But you should be able
to get a sense of the place.
I know I speak for all the investors
when I say how delighted we are
with the growth of the
individual user base.
That tastes terrible.
- I mean, that tastes just like...
ugh.
Look, we may not have
seen it at the start,
but the people have spoken
and you truly are
the thought leader that
we always knew you were.
Huh?
So 2.0.
When are we doing this?
Well, production can have disks ready
to ship in a matter of months.
The question is, is it better to start
charging at the beginning of the year?
Or do we flip the switch in September
and hope that the charges get lost in
the list of back-to-school expenses?
What do you think?
When do you think we should start
charging for the new user version?
Well, I--
I mean, I thought
you weren't going to charge.
Hold on, I'm--
I'm sorry, what's your name again?
- Ryan.
- Ryan, right.
Of course we're gonna charge.
I mean, what's the point
of developing a user base
if we don't turn them into
paying customers at some point?
And my gut is telling me
sooner rather than later.
What a surprise.
I see a spigot and I want to turn it on.
The focus groups we've done indicate
we'll be losing 30-40% of our
users whenever we do it.
It's just a matter of how big you
want to grow the base beforehand.
And, unfortunately, people are
going to hate you for a little while.
Sorry, couldn't be helped.
Well, it's been a long time since
I cared what people thought about me.
My gut says...
September.
What's our price point?
If we can stay below the $15 threshold,
consumers seem willing to shine it on.
Oof, that sounds awfully high.
Can't we keep it under 10?
No, the fact is for a one-time
annual expense of this kind--
$14.95.
Yes. That.
That right there. That--
that has my vote. Yes, please.
What do you think?
Yeah, I-I guess
$14.95 sounds good.
Well, if Ryan's on board, huh?
So that's it.
Come September, we start charging $14.95.
- You okay?
- Yeah, of course.
Look, I know it tastes bad,
but this is the right move.
- Mmm.
- I promise you, all right?
Can I come in?
What is it?
Hey, I--
I just wanted to say that even
though it does make perfect sense
to hire the person who wrote that code,
I didn't realize that that was
someone that you had a thing with.
So if I seemed insensitive earlier today,
I'm sorry.
Okay.
And just-- Tom and I wrote
that code together.
Just, you know, FYI.
It wasn't all him.
Okay.
And I hope I didn't make you feel
like you living here is the
cause of all of our problems.
You're not gonna start talking
to me about your wife, are you?
No, I'm not.
Just 'cause I really--
I don't think I can handle that.
Look, I still don't think
that we should all be living
under the same roof,
but obviously there's
something else going on.
That's all I wanted to say.
So when are you guys moving out?
Jesus, you got every goddamn
mug in the house in here.
No, I don't.
All right. Hey, good luck tonight.
You, too.
I just don't understand how
the wind gets into Candlestick.
I mean, there are walls.
Wind's a Giants fan.
It does what it needs to do.
It beats the hell out of
sweating bullets in Arlington.
Yeah, well, that's why I'm a Houston fan.
Air conditioning like God intended it.
Where was God when Nolan Ryan
left that one hanging for
Will Clark the other day?
You want to get that?
No, it's fine.
This is more important.
Yeah, hey, we appreciate
the extra attention,
but don't you fellas have a receptionist?
Of course we do. She's at lunch.
- Late lunch.
- We do a lot of business with the East Coast.
So we work through lunch a lot and
then we, you know, have it later.
Can somebody answer the goddamn phone?
Everybody's really spent from last night.
It was a real ball-breaker.
Yeah.
Sure.
What'd you do that for?
Oh, I'm not comfortable with it.
No, it was a figure that was arrived at
when we were operating with
less than current information.
The value of our company is
in our intellectual property,
our loyal customers, it's not out there.
No, it sure as hell isn't. Come on.
Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.
Where are you going?
Oh, we need to reassess.
Mr. Bosworth, I assure you
the company you're bidding on
is a lean, mean version of itself.
Oh, I'd say it's a lean, mean
version worth about 400K.
400,000 sounds like a good place to start.
No, it sounds like a good
place to finish, son.
If you can find someone willing to pay
north of 350, you should go for it.
- Wait, he just said 400.
- Oh, I'm sorry. My mistake.
- 325, how's that sound?
We just saved you $250,000.
I'd think you'd be happier.
I am happy, very.
I'm just a little surprised
by how completely off-book you went.
I thought this was supposed to be
handshakes and how do you dos.
You see an opportunity, you take it.
That's the sport of it.
It could have gone the other way.
But it didn't.
- Mr. MacMillan?
Uh, I just wanted to say that--
that I don't think you should
charge for the user version.
Why didn't you say that in the meeting?
I've been here for, what, a week
and you plunk me down
in some senior staff meeting.
What was I supposed to say? I
just agreed with everyone else.
But that's not right because
it's not what I think.
I'm sorry you couldn't
keep up in the meeting.
You made a promise to people
that you wouldn't charge them.
I didn't promise that I
wouldn't ever charge them.
Of course you did.
You said freedom from fear is a right
and you shouldn't have to pay for it.
And in a perfect world that would be true,
but it's not the world we live in.
- Then why'd you say it?
- Because I believe it.
But I've got a board and investors
and I've got people to answer to.
But you're ruining the product.
I am the product.
I know.
# It was a slow day
and the sun was beating #
# On the soldiers
by the side of the road #
# There was a bright light #
# A shattering of shop windows #
# The bomb in the baby carriage
was wired to the radio #
# These are the days
of miracle and wonder #
# This is the long distance call #
# The way the camera follows us in slo-mo #
# The way we look to us all #
# The way we look to
a distant constellation #
# That's dying in a corner of the sky #
# These are the days
of miracle and wonder #
# And don't cry, baby,
don't cry, don't cry #
# It was dry wind #
# And it swept across the desert #
# And it curled into the circle of birth #
# And the dead sand
falling on the children... #
No, I was at Austin Tech.
I never really finished,
but then I started working
and there was just
no real time to go back.
Thanks again for coming.
Yeah.
Feel free to start.
What, no kiss this time?
What do you want?
You gonna tell me I'm a horrible person?
Go ahead.
I'd be well within my rights to want that.
What I'd really like to say is--
is thank you.
Really?
For what?
Everything, I guess.
How could I have risen from the ashes
if you hadn't burned it all to the ground?
Is that why you stole my best coder?
Who, Ryan? Come on.
The Valley is crawling with Ryans.
No, actually, he's incredibly talented.
Do you want him back?
What are you doing here?
Did you follow me here?
No, Cam, I don't have time to follow you.
I'm a--
I'm a student.
Why is that funny?
Because it's a lie.
Well, maybe I got tired of being told
I was just a salesman who couldn't code.
Okay.
I--
God, I don't know what kind of
dress-up game you're playing,
but, yes, you're a student.
I might not ever be great at it, but...
I'm not unteachable.
Joe,
I know you got this whole humble
Zen master thing working for you,
but come on.
Save it.
I'm not buying it.
You don't have to buy it, Cam.
Haven't you heard?
I'm giving it away for free.
Cam.
Cam.
How were they last night?
I didn't see them.
They were in their room when I got home
and gone before I left this morning.
It was quiet.
Yeah, that's not always a good sign.
Well, it's better than screaming.
I've heard quiet make
you beg for screaming.
Put that there.
Hey.
I want to apologize
for my outburst yesterday.
It was totally inappropriate.
And it shouldn't have happened.
So if I made anyone feel uncomfortable,
then I'm sorry.
Well, that little speech
made me very uncomfortable.
- I'm kidding.
- It never happened.
- Come on.
- What?
- It so clearly did.
- It's a thing you say.
Okay, look, we don't have
to discuss this ad nauseam,
but we thought saying nothing
seemed equally stupid.
So we're saying something.
We are aware that bringing
a marriage into the workplace
is complicated and we're
doing the best we can, okay?
Now, can we try to get
back to where we were?
Okay, great.
The big Ryan-shaped hole.
Did you find any prospects last night?
No, but I decided we don't need anyone.
- Of course we do.
- No.
Not if I do it.
Oh, I don't know. I feel like
you're already spread pretty thin.
No, he was right. Getting the
person who originated the code
makes the most sense. That's me.
Well, but you should have some help.
We just bought a company.
Maybe one of them can help.
No! Look, I'd just have to
explain everything to them.
It makes double the work for me.
All right, if you think you can handle it.
Yes, I can.
Okay, so we got a call--
You got to be kidding me.
You're moving on?
Yes. Did you have something
you wanted to say?
No. No, no, go ahead. It's your meeting.
- We got a call--
- She can't do it herself.
The company spends a third of its
time waiting for her as it is.
He's not wrong. You could
do a bit more delegating.
I do, just not when it's something
that I think is truly foundational.
But you think that
everything is foundational.
Look, if she says she can
handle it, she can handle it.
Oh, my God. Oh, my God. Oh, my God.
Gordon, what is your argument?
You're just sinking the company
by taking on all these--
- No, she's not sinking anything.
- Can we please just focus?
I want you to pack up your stuff.
Starting tomorrow, we'll be
working out of my place.
If we're not charging for 2.0,
we've got to find a new income stream.
Don't smile. We might fail.
# Ah, watch out #
# You might get what you're after #
# Cool babies #
# Strange but not a stranger #
# I'm an ordinary guy #
# Burning down the house #