"Previously, on AMC's "Halt and Catch Fire"..." "Congrats." "You made it on the train." "Yeah!" "I think it's a good time to consider an IPO." "I'm not chopping my company up so that you can ring a bell on Wall Street." "Cam." "Oh, my God." "I got married." "To Tom back in Texas." "Why don't you come back to the house." " You're done." " Ken." "We voted to remove your executive authority." "Gordon!" "I, Joe MacMillan stole the code to the security software from Gordon Clark." "Hi, hi." "Welcome to California." " Friendly state." " Yeah." "Hey... we're married." "Hmm." "All right." "No, no, no, no." "No, wait." "I want to do this right, okay?" " So..." " Oh, no!" " You gotta be kidding me." " Yes, yes!" " Okay." " Don't." "Put me down." "Okay." "I'm trying to be romantic, okay?" "Just... just for the record, this is my house, you're unemployed, and this is an absurd, sexist tradition." " Ouch." " What?" "I was just kidding about that employed thing." "I know, I know." "I think I..." "I think I pulled something." "Can we cross the threshold together like not crazy people?" " Okay." " Okay." " That was easier." " Mmm." "Good call..." "Mrs. Rendon." "You're welcome, Mr. Howe." " It's me." " Hey, Joe, I got the login set up." "It just leads to a blank directory, but our network is officially live." " Ryan, I'm out." " Wait, out?" "Out of what?" "MacMillan Utility." "Which means NSFNET is paused." "How... how... how is that even possible?" "It's..." "I'll explain later." "What I need is for you to go in tomorrow like nothing happened because you're gonna be fired." "The less you know, the better, and if anyone asks, we never talked." "Ah, Mr. Ray." "Let's chat." "Hey, Bruce." "It's Gordon." "What is this?" "Bootleg "Top Gun"?" "Better." "Just watch." "I want to hear you watch it." "...founding CEO of MacMillan..." "Oh, jeez." "These things are bad enough when I'm there." "What am I watching' this for?" "I don't wanna spoil it." " Watch." " No." "Never." " What?" " Turn it off." "Don't." "I, Joe MacMillan, stole the code to the security software from Gordon Clark." "Everything this company is built on is his." "Holy shit." "That's what I wanted to hear." "I talked to the partners, and we think this is worth at least 25 mil." "You hear me?" "Gordon?" "Y-yeah." "Yeah." "Gordon, we're gonna be late." "Is everything okay?" "Yeah, everything's great." "I was thinking of adding a wedding ring customization." "Heard your avatar could maybe use one." "Hmm." "Well, that took Gordon longer than I thought." "Is it okay for me to say I'm happy for you?" "You can say that." "This is silly." "We should celebrate." "When does Tom get here?" "Uh, um... he got here this morning." "Well, then... what are you doin' tonight?" "* HALT AND CATCH FIRE * Season 03 Episode 07  "The Threshold" Precisely Synchronized by srjanapala" "So, how bad is it?" ""Mr. MacMillan knew from the start the Citadel software would never remain free." "He wanted to reap the PR benefits and worry about the fallout from the lie later."" " Jesus." " It's the first shot in what's gonna be a very ugly war." "I just have to return volley." "What happened with Ken when you went in?" "I want the blow-by-blow." " I did what you told me..." " Mm-hmm." "which was to say nothing, which was easy because I know nothing." "Good." "Now that you're out of there, we can..." "But Ken didn't fire me." "What?" "Why not?" "What did he offer you?" "He didn't offer me anything." "Not yet." "It's probably best if we don't talk or see each other until this is over." "Okay." "Look, Ryan, you're the weak link in all this." "He knows the only way to get to me is through you." "So, I'm 10 minutes away from going bowling... and I don't even like bowling... but... anyway, there's a knock at the door." "And I..." "I open it." "I'm thinking it's that weird neighbor asking if his Burmese python is loose in my yard again." "But, no, it's Cameron, and... she has this look on her face." "I'll never forget it." "Ah!" "What happened next?" "Okay, so you had the honeymoon before the wedding." " Mm-hmm." " Ha!" "And, uh, how did you propose?" " Technically, I didn't." " Yeah, I proposed to him." " Mmm, no." " Mm-hmm?" "Technically, you didn't either." " Yes, I did." " No." "Yeah, at some point, Cam said..." ""I wish it could be like this forever."" "And I said, "Uh, it could be."" "And she said, "But you won't move to California."" "And, um, yeah." "And then he said," ""I won't move to California for a girlfriend, but I would move there for my wife."" "And the next day we found a Justice of the Peace." "Oh, my God." "Gordon, isn't that romantic?" "What?" "Tom and Cameron's story." "Right." "Um, congratulations." " Okay." " Thanks." "Cheers." "So, um, you gonna come work at Mutiny?" "Uh, actually, no." "We decided that's what killed things last time, so... you know, mixing a relationship with work." "Really?" "And by that, I mean... that lots of couples do that, and it's great." "It's just..." "it's just really not for us." "But I'm gonna swing by on Wednesday to say hi to the guys." "I cannot wait to see the looks on their faces when they hear." " They're gonna be shocked." " Mm-hmm." "You know, Bos has really kept this under his hat." "Hmm." "Ahem." "Bos." "Look, I know full well I should've come in last night." "I'm listening." "Have you heard of the Midas Touch?" "Well, I got the... opposite of that." "I'm on the outs with my ex-wife and my son... hell, practically everybody I did business with back in Texas." "And to top it all off," "I did 14 months in a federal prison." "I thought you should know that... before I cross this threshold." "La Tuna, right?" "Outside El Paso, medium security?" "You really think I'd go into business with a company and not do background checks on all of its key players?" "So, you think of me as a "key player"?" "Just give me the damn flowers and stop making problems where there aren't any." "Look, I just..." "I wanted to..." "Donna, look, we weren't keeping it just from you, okay?" "Tom's mom only found out last Friday." "Oh." "No, I get it." "It must have been fun having a secret nobody knew about." "Yeah, a little." "Would have been nice to get a heads up you were moving out, though." " The girls really miss you." " Yeah, I regret that." "Look, it's just..." "I... haven't had the easiest time trusting you lately." "No, I know." "I think that's... probably because I lied to you." "I hate it." "It's been... uncomfortable and... awful, and I just..." "I hate it." "Na..." "Aah!" "." "I wanna trust you again." "I do." "I..." "I..." "I want things to go back the way they used to be between us." "I miss it." "I miss it, too." "So, where does that leave us?" "Can we... just start over?" "Ah!" "..." "Yeah." "Yeah, let's just... have a fresh start." " A fresh start." " Yeah.Yeah." "So, in the spirit of complete honesty," "I've been giving it a lot of thought, and..." "I really think we should go public." "Okay." "Well, I'm not completely opposed to it." " You're not?" " No." "I mean, we're in the land of the IPO." "If I wasn't open to it, I would've just stayed in Texas." "Imagine having the resources to take the company wherever we wanna go." "Yeah, I have a pretty big imagination." "I'm counting on it." "Donna, you're here." "So, after last night," "I haven't been able to stop thinking about all the things we can do to upgrade Mutiny before the IPO." "I wrote down some ideas, and I think we should get started right away." " Oh, wow." "There's a lot here." " Yeah, I know, I know." "It's like once I started, the floodgates opened." "Well, you've obviously put a lot of thought and effort into this." "I did, yeah." "It totally reconfigures Mutiny and SwapMeet while returning them to their roots, excising everything that's bad and keeping what's good." "Oh, and, yeah, it takes us beyond the Commodore onto other platforms which we have to do." "That became obvious around 5:00 a.m." "Other platforms, right." "How long do you see that taking?" "A year." "Maybe two." "But the goal is to do it right." "Right?" "I'm sure everything that you've outlined here is great." "I am." "But we can't afford to wait two years." "Sure we can." "The time frame for the IPO is three months." "Three months?" "No one ever said anything about three months." "Why is that suddenly the magic number?" "Because we have an acquisition offer in hand." "People are paying attention to us right now." "But what we have right now is broken." "What we have right now, CompuServe thinks is worth $20 million." "Yes, but if we make the improvements the way I know we can, we'll be worth $100 million." "I thought we were in agreement on this." "We still can be." "Okay, look, I really hate to play this card, but... as head of the company, I'm saying that we'll need to put the brakes on any IPO until we get our house in order." "Okay, how about this?" "I will read this more closely to get a better understanding of what you have in mind..." "Great." "Okay." "And if there's anything you don't understand, just ask me." "Um..." "I promise, this is the way to go." "I just got off the phone with "Forbes"" "and it doesn't sound like a generous piece." "They're asking me questions about WestGroup, questions about Cardiff, questions about IBM." "Listen, they've clearly got an angle and it is not one that is favorable to me." "I'm calling you back." "I guess you talked to your lawyers." "Wow." "This is... not what I expected." "I sure do love that couch." "I take it you used a designer?" "And, hey, me and Donna have this same vase." " Pier 1, right?" " It's not a vase." "I commissioned that from Kayako Sakaniwa, a Tokyo artist." " Hmm." " She calls it "Serenity."" "Gordon, I imagine you have some questions..." " beyond the decor." " Not really." "You obviously wanted to get fired." "I've seen that move before." "It's, uh... it's more complicated than that." "Yeah?" "Shocker." "Man, this is one kick-ass view." "You can see the bridge from here." "I'll bet you get back every dollar you put into this place." "Hell, I might even buy it from you... the furniture, the Serenity vase... the whole kit and caboodle." "I never wanted you not to profit." ""I, Joe MacMillan, stole the code to our security software from Gordon Clark of Clark Computers." "Everything I've earned is his."" "It's the most truthful thing you've ever said." "Honestly..." "I was moved." "I never figured you for a sore winner." "Me, either, but it's nice to know we can still surprise ourselves." "So, what do you say we cut through the bullshit and you just tell me what your angle is in all this?" "The truth is... and this is the truth..." "I have come across something that I am convinced is... well... it's something that I really believe in, and we'll leave it at that." "But I couldn't convince my board of its value, so I ignored them, I moved forward, and just like that, I lost my company." "I was out of moves, and then it occurred to me, what if it wasn't my company?" "So, you screw over your evil corporate overlord by parachuting your stake out to me." "Okay, I get that... sort of." "How do you come out on top in this scenario?" "I don't." "Everything I had is yours." "If you feel like I deserve a percentage, well, that is entirely up to you." "So, your plan was for me to just give you the money?" "After you stole everything from me?" "You wrote the code, agreed, but I offered you partnership twice, and you turned me down twice." "I have to think that you're not so myopic that you can't see that I might be entitled to a little return for turning it into what I've turned it into." "This is an interesting piece." "And whose work is this?" "Mine." "Gordon, to be clear, you don't have to give me anything." "Thanks for making that clear." "But I built an entire company and I've just handed you everything." "All I am asking for is basically a finder's fee." "Joe, I really do like this piece." "What do you call it?" "It's an abstract." "Yeah?" "'Cause it seems to me like... one of those paintings that... the more you look at it, the more it seems to come into focus." "Gordon, I know this is a leap of faith on my part, but faith is somethin' I'm workin' on." "Faith is a... faith is a valuable thing." "I'd just look for somewhere else to place it." "Thanks for the company, Joe." "Donna." "Is everything okay?" "Cameron's gone off the deep end and I don't know what to do." "She came in today with this Mutiny manifesto that will kill the IPO." "And she's committed to it." "She did everything but nail it to my forehead." "Maybe I should take the night to read this over." "Why wait?" "Why not read it now?" "I can wait." "Because I think she's tryin' to stop you from figuring' out I'm here." "Oh!" "..." "Bos!" "I... hi." "Oh, hi." "It's a relatively recent development." "But if you're worried about Cameron finding out," "I haven't talked to her in over a month." "So, say what you came to say." " This is a lot." " Yeah." " How long to implement?" " A year." "Maybe two." "That's a long time to wait." "Why is she against the IPO?" "She's not, and that's what makes it so frustrating, but... it's what happens with Cameron... and, Bos, you can back me up... she gets in her own way." "It's a little more complicated than that, but I suppose that's part of it." "So, what do you want to do?" "I don't know." "Cameron acts like she's majority shareholder, but she's not." "She's got more votes than anyone, but not more votes than everyone." "I'd prefer you to find common ground." "Are you sure you can't?" "Just this morning you were telling me what a wonderful time you had celebrating her marriage, how you were excited to start a new chapter." "Right, and then she comes in and dumps this on me." "Back up a beat." "Cameron got married?" "Oh, Bos, I assumed you knew." " I'm sorry." " Don't be." "Wasn't your news to tell." "Love what you've done with the place." "Drinks with Diane?" "Diane, no drinks." "It's Cameron." "She changed her mind about the IPO." "What?" "She wants to kill it?" "That is not her intent, but if she has her way, it will be the result." "Well, sorry to hear that." "Nothing's settled yet, but moving forward means getting all the equity owners to overrule her." "We've got 35%, and then there's Diane and Bos and Doug and Craig." "And Cameron has no idea this is happening?" "Nothing is happening." "It's all talk at the moment, but I..." "I have to explore every option." "We don't own 35% of the company." " Yeah, sure we do." " No, you own 25% and Clark Computers owns 10% for buying the mainframe." "And Clark Computers, i.e., me, doesn't like the idea of blindsiding Cameron and shoving this IPO down her throat." "That's... that is..." "Aah!" "... just... a gross mischaracterization." "I..." "Donna, if you pull this move," "I guarantee you she'll see it as an act of war." "And you will cross a line that you cannot uncross." "So, don't kid yourself." "It's been a long day." "I'm going to bed." "Did you ever witness Mr. MacMillan talking to Gordon Clark?" "Nope." "Did Mr. MacMillan ever confide any plans he had with Gordon Clark?" "No." "Don't you find it odd... the day we eighty-sixed NSFNET and we shit-canned Joe he finds religion..." "and says Gordon invented the software this company's built on, giving his ex-partner, the one suing him... everything?" "Or maybe you didn't know." "Maybe Joe didn't tell you that part." "And I always assumed that you were involved." "They didn't cut you out of the deal, did they?" "Ah, no need to answer." "Look, I'm sorry, kid." "It's bigger than you." "You're just a pawn that Joe sacrificed in the end game, which means that you're useless to us." "You're probably useless to him, too." "So... that's it." "It's time for you to go." " So, I'm fired?" " Uh, yes." "Good." "Mr. Clark?" "They're ready for you." "Gordon, what are you doing here?" "Hey, Ryan." "You were right." "That thing that you and Joe were working on?" "It's gonna be huge." "So, Mr. Clark, regardless of what Mr. MacMillan thinks he got away with, we plan to fully challenge the veracity of his confession." "Hey, listen, I think we can speed things up without the lawyers." "I mean, I don't have mine." "What do we say you lose yours?" "You're not really gonna try to convince me that you and Joe didn't talk about this, right?" "I'm not gonna try and convince you of anything." "I'm here to offer you a deal that will make that question irrelevant." "Now, my lawyers say I'm looking at a floor of 25 million." " Your lawyers are dreaming." " I'm willing to take 10% of that, along with the equipment that Joe bought and the deals that he made for NSFNET." "Even if I wanted to make that deal," "I can't just hand you a government contract." "I mean, I could trade you the infrastructure, but you would have to chase that bid." "No..." "I think for 20 million, you can make a call to the sector chief and make that happen." "Or I could just sue you and keep it all." "Yeah, you could, but you'll lose, and I think you know that." "We do it my way, I'm giving you everything that you want in exchange for nothing you care about." "Hmm." "One thing sticks in my craw." "We make this deal, you turn around and give Joe everything he wants and that son of a bitch wins again." "And what makes you think you're the only one in this room that wants to stick it to Joe MacMillan?" "Okay, let's get this over with." "Remember to detach Arki from me when he uses this as an excuse to hug me past a socially acceptable amount of time." "I got it, all right?" "Let's go fry some coders' circuits, Mrs. Howe-Rendon." " No." " Rendon-Howe?" " We'll figure it out." " Okay." "Ahem." " Tom?" " Rendon!" " Dude!" " What are you doin' here?" " Whoa!" " Hey, man!" "The prodigal son returns." "Tom the Bomb!" "Finally, a real coding lead." "How long you here for, Rendon?" "Uh, kind of indefinitely." " No." " Wait a minute." "What?" " Yeah, we got married!" " When did this happen?" "A couple weeks ago in Texas." " You're not pregnant, are you?" " Do I look pregnant?" "Why wasn't I invited?" " Come here, you." " Oh, God." "Come on." " So happy for you." " Okay, all right." " Thank you." " You're a very lucky man." "Here's to Mutiny's first official marriage!" "May it a be long and happy one." "Okay, who wants some of that?" "Oh, yeah." "This looks great." "Bodie, would you stop drinking out of the bottle, dude?" "Just stop drinking out of the bottle." "Come on, man." " I bet I can finish it." " You have to leave room for cake." " No..." " Look it." "What, dude?" "Hey." " Hi." " Congratulations." "Have some cake." "It's supermarket bought, but that's the best kind." "Chemical goodness." "Hey, uh..." "I need to talk to you." " Okay." " Not here." "Yeah." "Donna wants to move forward with the IPO... with or without you." "Oh." "Okay." "Tough titties." "I don't want to, and it's my company." "You're the plurality shareholder." "You own the most." "But if she gets everyone else with a stake in this company to side with her, she can overrule you." "Okay." "Um, Doug and Craig will obviously jump at the chance to screw me." "But even if she manages to convince Diane, that's still leaves you and Bos." "Game over." "It leaves Bos." "My vote's gotta be with her... even if I'm against it." "I'm sorry." "She's out there throwing me a party." "And you're gonna side with that lying, two-faced, bi..." "Careful, okay?" "That's my wife." "Lucky you." "Cam." " Yeah, there's just..." " Cameron!" "Congratulations." "I'm so happy for the two of you." "Yeah, thanks." "Can I borrow you?" "Hello?" "I have to ask you something, and I need you to be completely honest with me, because I don't know what to believe anymore." "So, don't lie to me, okay?" "What do you want to ask me?" "Did you plan this whole thing with Gordon?" "Are you moving forward with NSFNET" " and cutting me out?" " No, of course not." "Where did you get an idea like this?" "I need something from you, and I know things have been super awkward between us since we got back from Texas." "I should have said something, but I didn't." "I mean, you didn't either, but that's not the point right now." "The point is, I know it's not cool to ask for something when there's this other thing between us, but I really, really need your help right now." "When were you gonna tell me?" "Bos, I just found out myself." "I didn't know Donna was gonna try an end run around me." "About your marriage." " Oh." " Look, Cam," "I know you don't think of me as a father." "You made that clear." "That's okay." "You're gonna feel the way you wanna feel." "But it won't stop me thinkin' of you as a daughter." "So, tell me what to do." "First off, don't make this thing with Donna any bigger than it is." "You two have a difference of opinion, that's all." "The only reason I'm here in the first place is because of you." "I love you and I owe you." "But it's not just your company." "Not anymore." "You got... you got a special kind of talent, sweetheart." "But when you march to the beat of your own drum, you risk losing' the band." "Lay out your vision." "Find a way to work with her." "You two need each other." " Hey, Bos?" " Hmm?" "I got married." "Congratulations." "Whew." "You do realize you have a party going on?" "This can't wait?" "No." "Please sit down." "Ahem." "I've had... some concerns about Mutiny's direction, concerns I haven't effectively expressed." "That's on me." "Things are moving fast, faster than I ever imagined they would." "It's an exciting time." "But we are at a crossroads and we have a decision to make... together." "I know you all want to move forward on the IPO." "I do, too." "But I don't think rushing into it is in our best interests." " Can I say a quick word?" " Mm-hmm." "The company is valued for what it is and does right now." "The market likes Mutiny, but in a year or two, or however long it takes to implement the changes you have in mind, who knows?" "We can't count on tomorrow's landscape looking like today's." "Mutiny isn't sustainable as it exists now." "Our whole user base is tied to the Commodore 64." "We need to diversify to other platforms in order to grow." "And isn't that what Wall Street likes?" "Growth?" "The kind of investment that I'm talking about in time and money will pay off and smart investors will see that." "Your ideas are good, Cameron, and some of them are even great." "And I want to explore them with you, all of them." " Mm-hmm." " But why can't we do that after we've gone public?" "We don't have to wait to try and make something perfect." "Perfect is the enemy of good, and Mutiny is very, very good right now as it is." "Donna, have you been on SwapMeet lately?" "It's like an 8-bit mall." "It's lost what made it a community." "We need to make it feel alive again or people are going to leave and we'll just be hosting a bunch of tacky businesses" " selling junk to nobody." " But..." "Please." "We can't afford to be naive here." "If we put off these changes, we won't be able to make them the right way." "You mean your way." "I mean, we'll be so focused on PE ratios and shareholder value, that we won't be able to innovate and respond quickly." " Mutiny won't..." " be Mutiny anymore." "We'll lose the company's soul." "Say we do it your way." "What happens if your ideas, good as they are, don't work or backfire?" "We risk losing our current valuation." "Going public doesn't mean we stop innovating." "We can continue to experiment and improve as we go, especially with someone as brilliant as you leading the way." " Don't patronize me." " I'm not patronizing you." "You're handling me like you always do, and I'm sick of it." "Listen, I'm trying to explain some very real risks that you're not willing to acknowledge to actual stakeholders in the company." "We can't afford to be impulsive here." "You're calling me impulsive?" "Wow." "What's that supposed to mean?" "I think people are out there celebrating what that means." "Oh, you mean that bullshit little party you threw to distract me from getting stabbed in the back?" " Hey." " Okay, ladies, we are getting off track here." "Diane, it's mostly your thoughts coming out of her mouth, so I can't imagine what you have to add to the discussion." "Jesus!" "I don't know who should be more insulted." "Trust me, if I'm expressing an opinion, it's because I believe it." "I should trust you." "Yes, of course!" "I mean, unless you're lying now, like you lied about Doug and Craig." "Did you know about that?" "That when you told her it was fine if I fired them, she told me that I had to keep them on?" "Is that the sort of person that you wanna trust with this business going forward?" "You mean the kind of person who actually tries to make things work instead of fighting with anybody who threatens her "savior complex"?" "I get along fine with people." "You alienate everybody." "Says the woman that will take any excuse not to go home to her husband." " Hey." " Why don't we see if your marriage lasts the year before you start doling out relationship advice?" " Donna?" " Enough." "Enough!" "Hey, this meeting is over, all right?" "My God!" "You two go to your corners, wipe the blood off your mouths, and we will revisit..." "This gets decided tonight." "I want a vote, and I want it clean." "If you all decide with Donna, then you can go ahead and do the IPO without me." " I quit." " Cameron, come on." "No!" "I'm... sick of this!" "Go!" "Take a hard look at this company and ask yourself who made it what it is and who's just been along for the ride!" "Cameron, please don't do this." "You want it?" "You got it." "But I will not sit by and watch this company die because it's being held hostage by a petulant child." "If we don't move forward with the IPO, then you can steer this ship into the rocks yourself, because I am outta here." "Okay, Bos is right." "Let's take a beat, cool off..." "Show of hands." "Who's in favor of doing the IPO now with all that that entails?" "You're breaking my goddamn heart." "Oh." "Joe?" "What are you doin' here?" "Someone had to drop off the keys." "Welcome to your empire." "And thus concludes the grand tour." "All right, pay attention." "This is... this is complicated." "Okay, this one... this key's for the building." "This key is for the ladies' room, for the men's bathroom, and those two are for the front door." "Thanks." "If it wasn't gonna be me," "I'm glad it was you." "Write me from the future." " 49 percent." " What?" "Come run it with me... and 49 percent of the company's yours." "That's a cruel joke, and quite frankly, beneath you." "I'm serious." "49 percent." "With how this looks, we need to be smart." "I should be a silent partner." "Even better." " Joe." " Ryan, today is a big day for us." "So, you've seen it already?" " Seen what?" " So, then you don't know." "I released the source code for MacMillan Utility's security software to the public." " What are you talking about?" " It's free, Joe." "Really free, like we always wanted." "People can tinker with it, they can make it better... or worse, that can happen, too." "The point is MacMillan Utility can no longer profit off of it." "But that's illegal." "And I released documents to the media proving that MacMillan Utility was totally on board with charging the public for 2.0 all along, and they only went after you when you tried to stop them." "Yeah, it shows that they weren't trying the protect people or... or keep them safe." "They were just going... to exploit them." "And I laid out for the media how you lost your job defending your ideals." "Do you have any idea what you've done?" "Yes!" "I returned volley just like you wanted." "It's gonna take those bastards years to recover." "They are gonna come after you." "I'm not stupid, Joe." "I covered every conceivable track." "They will never catch me." "I am that good." "Yeah, nobody's that good." "I am." "Yeah, we'll see." "Precisely Synchronized by srjanapala"