| FUD | |
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| Episode Information | |
| Air Date | June 8, 2014 |
| Run Time | 43 Minutes |
| Written by | Christopher Cantwell Christopher C. Rogers |
| Directed by | Juan Campanella |
| U.S. Rating | 0.97 Million |
| Chronology | |
| Previous | Next |
| I/O | High Plains Hardware |
"FUD" is the second episode of Season 1 of Halt and Catch Fire, and the second episode of the series overall. It originally aired on June 8th, 2014 on AMC.
Synopsis[]
Joe, Gordon, and Cameron must deal with legal threats from IBM before starting their work on a better PC. Even after their apparent success, the team faces another crisis that could prematurely end their pursuit.
Episode Overview[]
Gordon is getting grilled by IBM executives in what appears to be a legal deposition, where he "claims" when the project started on a certain date, but Gordon appears to be struggling to remember the story he was coached - not the one he lived.
Cameron insults the poor quality of the IBM BIOS code in a response explanation why she hasn't, and won't look at Joe and Gordon's reverse engineered binder. IBM suggests that Cameron will be fired as soon as the BIOS is complete.
Meanwhile, John and Joe debate the lies strategy in the bathroom, and John is still mad at being coerced to the PC business to avoid lawsuit and ruin.
Sr. Executive Bill meets with Joe - no lawyers - to talk about "clean room" and other development strategies. Bill asks Joe where he has been the previous year, what happened the day he left and why Joe left IBM in such a hurry.
The talk becomes strained and bill threatens to drown Cardiff with hundreds of lawyers, Joe counters with "we have Barry for $55,000 dollars and no matter how many hundreds of lawyers you drop from the sky, we will use ONLY Barry. We will ruin his life and in the end you will lose because you HAVE NOTHING on us."
Gordon meets in the hall and says "You were good" but Joe replies with "perfect". Cameron interrupts with "I write the bios code, then what, what exactly are we building?"
Shortly after the IBM executives leave, Joe Macmillan, Gordon Clark, and Cameron Howe meet to discuss how to go to work.
Joe tells them the goal is a machine that is twice as fast for half the price. They are quickly told that Gordon and Cameron cannot be in the same room together. Debbie is assigned to escort Cameron to the "clean room", and along the way Debbie is characterized as a computer airhead, but in a parting shot, Debbie tells Cameron where she can go to buy some nice clothes to replace a wardrobe that obviously displeased Debbie. Cameron goes to work trying to write the computer code to make the machine work with Barry the Attorney mounted as guard to keep Gordon away.
Gordon goes home happy and tells Donna that "everything is going to be all right." In a relaxed moment, romance blossoms again for the Clarks.
We see Cameron sleeping in the office - without being told why.
John is unable to get a friendly conversation going with a current customer while exercising -- even a free tech visit returns a scorn as if the customer has taken his business elsewhere. John is confused.
Cameron sneaks off the property after disfiguring a sleeping Barry with a pen. Joe has strong words about the incident and appoints himself as her guard. Cameron struggles to write the BIOS, gives up and seduces Joe. Right afterwards Gordon Clark expresses his distrust of Cameron Howe to Joe Macmillan, and agree she needs to leave - SOON.
Donna meets Cameron in the ladies room and realizes new things about her husband's project partner that seem to make her uncomfortable. Later Gordon admits Cameron is a girl, Donna tells him that she met her and the sparks of jealousy begin to flare again between husband and wife.
Joe tries to shortcut the "clean room" project and force Cameron to read the reverse engineered code - she refuses and blows off the "Product manager, whatever they do." Cameron tries to take Debbie's rude advice to buy new clothes, ends up shoplifting and then is accosted by a team of suited men, who turn out to be IBM recruiters, NOT Store security. They pitch her a job at IBM.
Cardiff Electric falls under attack as various businesses pull their accounts while IBM also recruits some of the Cardiff Electric employees. The company's sudden loss of business threatens the company's survival, as 3 companies representing 68% of their income suddenly cancels contracts. Many people are quick to blame Joe Macmillan for his ideas setting off this chain of events.
Cameron tears apart the lab, throwing things about and then leaves Cardiff Electric upset.
Cameron is missing again, and this time the "binder" is gone too. Joe and Gordon both fear that Cameron Howe has left the project. With Cardiff Electric under attack and the team arguing with one another, it seems the entire project is doomed to fail.
Joe Macmillan receives a visit from his former boss at IBM who tries to recruit him to come back. Joe chooses not to go back to IBM. As his former boss leaves, he sees the portability of the former boss' briefcase and realizes they need to develop a portable computer.
Meanwhile, Gordon Clark has a meltdown in the Cardiff Electric parking lot. He notices Cameron Howe walking across the parking lot and gets out of the car to yell at her for stealing the binder and Cameron retorts with how long she will have a job at Cardiff? 3 weeks? Joe Macmillan shows up and tries to pitch the idea for the portable computer. However, his timing is bad with Gordon and Cameron already arguing. Gordon and Joe get in a physical fight which results in Joe's shirt being torn open. Gordon and Cameron stare in awe at a scars that Joe has. Joe tells them about his childhood and his need to make the project work. He says he thinks they have the same need and that he plans to be at work the next day to keep working on the project.
Gordon and Cameron do show up for work the next day. Gordon doesn't want to talk and shuts his office door. Cameron appears to open up to Joe, but as the episode ends she points out the details about Joe's childhood story of how he got the scars, and shows that it is just another lie.
Cast & Characters[]
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Featured Music[]
- Boz Scaggs - “Lido Shuffle” - (1977)
- Bad Brains - “Pay to Cum” - (1982)
- Flint, Wozo, and the Colin Lloyd Band - “Badly Bruised, Slightly Stoned” - (1978)
- Richard Hell & The Voidoids - “Blank Generation” - (1977)
Videos[]
Trivia[]
- The episodes title, "FUD", is an abbreviation of "Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt". This is a tactic used by many companies to influence others through negative and usually false information. The term originated at IBM, making the conflicts in this episode very fitting.