“Halt and Catch Fire” is about a tech team’s efforts to reverse engineer an IBM PC. The lead girl looks like she belongs in “Some Kind of Wonderful” while Scott McNairy is a high functioning alcoholic. Somehow, they hold it together and make it just a slight clone of “Mad Men”. That’s not the worst thing, but I’m waiting for the second season to develop a unique personality. After all, it took “Better Call Saul” a full season to escape from underneath the weight of “Breaking Bad”.
The Silicon Prairie of Texas is a unique place that only holds reverent status for the oldest of tech geeks. The impact of the area on tech developments has been played down due to advancements in San Francisco and Cupertino. But, this show isn’t concerned with tech history outside of some minor set pieces and visual panache. This is a series about deranged, broken and fringe characters finding a way to make a new family unit. Especially, when they skirt business ethics and legality with their work.
The Blu-Ray comes with a Digital HD copy and featurettes as the special features. The A/V Quality is astonishing for a basic cable show. The 1080p transfer pops throughout the series with its vintage look. I do enjoy the Dolby TrueHD 5.1 track as it puts more emphasis on the dialogue. In the end, it’s worth a purchase to fans.
Release Date: 05/05/15