Halt and Catch Fire (TV Series) Up Helly Aa (2014) User Reviews

One of the BEST Hours of Television:

[jeremiahcamacho · 10/10 · 10 November 2016]

As far as climactic episodes go, Up Helly Aa is an absolute masterpiece. The culmination of a season's worth of strife, angst, progress, manipulations, and sacrifices. From the onset, Joe's romanticization of COMDEX -likening it to the Lerwick festival to which the episode owes its name - makes holy the efforts of our ragtag Cardiff crew, suggesting the immense stakes and immense payoff if they are to succeed. "...then what?" "Then the winners burn it to the ground." Pace's Joe "Make Millions" MacMillan is at his absolute sharpest, as is the rest of the gang, as even the likes of the usually-timid Gordon Clark step up to the plate to secure their place in computer history. Every minute filled with heart-pounding, heart-breaking revelations and twists, Up Helly Aa is the absolute apex of the creative process - one that seems innately to test each of our main characters to see how much they will destroy in the name of creation. Perhaps the most gut-wrenching is the decision to remove the soul from the machine, as Cameron's sole contribution to the Giant is removed to make a functional, play-it-safe machine. Wicked character development, spectacular writing, phenomenal performances, this is one of the finest hours of television I have ever seen. Not to mention, it has one of the most astounding final scene reveals.

Joe, eyes widened, jaw-dropped looks at the future he could have created.

"It speaks." CHILLS.

Like the subject matter, this episode is an achievement....

[A_Different_Drummer · 9/10 · 22 August 2014]

"We're married. We've already jumped" is merely one line of dialog taken from an episode that has more in common with the writing in Sorkin's THE NEWSROOM than any other series I am aware of. This extraordinary episode has more emotional highs than Rocky and, coincidentally, was rolled out just about the same time that (a) a SEASON 2 was green-lighted; and (b) the press twigged to the fact that HACF is in fact loosely based on a real story, namely, the story of how Compaq came from nowhere and "exploited" a "vulnerability" in IBMs original PC (namely that in a rush to market their skunkworks had used off the shelf, non protected, components. IBM would later try to correct the error with PS/2 but would fail to stop the compatibility revolution).

An incredible episode in a ground-breaking series. All the actors are extraordinary but the scenes between newcomer ("Lana Turner discovery") Mackenzie Davis and Lee Pace are unforgettable. Pace could read the phone book and make it interesting. Davis has an extraordinary face that the camera simply cannot get enough of -- she always seems about to burst into tears, or a smile, and the viewer never knows which.

Wow.

Enough Betrayal to Go Around!

[Hitchcoc · 9/10 · 12 August 2015]

Let's face it. There are no choir boys here. Heading off to the big computer show with hope and a load of you know what (considering they can't get GIANT to run at first, the gang uses every method of sidetracking and deception they can. It turns out that Gordon's neighbor has joined with Donna's former boss to steal their idea. This leads to an ugly scene where Donna (somewhat rightfully so) gets chewed up by her husband. The person who gets really shafted is Cameron. She has added the sparkle and the personality to GIANT but there are pressing needs and Joe and Gordon have no loyalty to her. The final scene is to die for and we can see that there is a big new player out there. This is probably the best example of the necessary co-existence of the players. It also opens up the question: "What is the future of Cameron with her new found wanderlust and her hurt feelings." One to go for the first season.

Very Amusing Episode!

[gab-14712 · 9/10 · 26 July 2020]

"Up Helly Aa" is the penultimate episode of Halt and Catch Fire's first season, and it is a beautiful episode. The main theme is "betrayal." Due to some unforeseen circumstances, Cameron's vision for the Giant has been compromised by both Joe and Gordon, which will undoubtedly lead to an interesting future for the three characters. The final scene is amazing and rather crushing. Donna played a bigger role here and Kerry Bishe did an excellent job. The scenes were Gordon chewed her out and her reactions are great. This episode is funny, moving, and entertaining from start to finish.

Joe sold his sports car for $11,000 and the gang hope that is enough money to promote the Giant at COMDEX in Las Vegas. They arrived in Gordon's station wagon. With the bad publicity Cardiff Electric received over the embezzlement scheme, Joe hopes to use it to his advantage. With the usage of smoke and mirrors, they should be able to get by. Still, the computer had trouble booting so they had to quickly think on their feet to make it work. There is one huge problem, however. Donna's former boss and Gordon's former coworker teamed up to create Slingshot, a smaller, more portable version of the Giant. Shades of Macintosh versus Apple, anyone?

I liked the episode's title. Apparently, the name comes from a Viking festival. Anyhow, great episode! When the computer struggled to properly load, I love how Joe and Cameron uses shrimp and a party to keep investors waiting as Gordon and Donna worked out the kinks. Perhaps the most amusing sequence of the entire episode.

My Grade: A

A pivotal episode for season 2 if there is a season 2 !?

[mm-39 · 8/10 · 1 August 2014]

A pivotal episode for season 2 if there is a season 2? Up Helly Aa creates three strengths for Halt and Catch Fire's story line. 1) The revelation of the Gordon/Joe relationship, which the viewer believes was Gordon being dependent on Joe, is actually a codependency relationship. Gordon has the technical, and analytically skills of computers and computer people, and is very adaptive to changes in the field which is needed by Joe. Joe's ability, to gather talent, think on the fly, motivate, and adaptation skills inspires Gordon. The computer convention and Gordon is the one who saves the day with Joe's help. 2)the unethical con Gordon plays on save Cardiff's computer displays the ruthlessness of business. Viewers learns more about Gordon's character. Maybe Gordon is learning from Joe? 3)Cardiff gets hit by similar business methods by another organization. Joe has to make a decision based on business vs relationships. The fate of the Cameron character is in the balance. A new sub story for season 2, and Joe has made a mistake or sees an opportunity. The three mentioned strengths combined with the excellent acting, and directing creates great new sub-stories if there is a season 2? A must see episode. Eight out of ten.