Cast: Lee Pace, Scoot McNairy, Mackenzie Davis, Kerry Bische, Toby Huss, Bianca Malinowski, Scott Michael Foster
It’s been on for a few weeks, but I’m just now getting around to tackling past pilots I’ve missed. There’s been a lot of press about the failure of Halt and Catch Fire, and honestly… that’s a terrible title. Even if it makes sense to those who watch the show, or to geeky computer types, it doesn’t make sense to the general public who need to be drawn in to watch the show.
For a network that just lost Breaking Bad, and is about to lose Mad Men, it is riding basically 100% on The Walking Dead right now. AMC is so desperate that it gave a 2nd season order to Better Call Saul before it even premieres… in 2015. Lee Pace is pretty terrific in his part, super confident and super smart. Scoot McNairy is good as a nerdy sad sack, I wouldn’t say that McNairy’s character is particularly likeable, which can be a problem. He’s just such a loser that clearly needs to be more open to transformation from Pace’s character.
His wife… needs to leave him. Kerry Bishe is a decent actress, but her character becomes less likeable when you realize she’s putting up with her completely unmotivated loser husband, who just mopes around all the time. Mackenzie Davis is wasted, spending far too much time of the episode off screen. Her character essentially represents the future of technology, a computer technology student an a prodigy, and instead we see Pace pursuing McNairy for half the episode.
I’m mildly interested in the future of the series just because I want to see where Pace’s character goes. He has the potential to be as dynamic of a lead character as Don Draper. But quickly, we realized that Mad Men wasn’t just Don Draper, it was his ensemble as much as it was him. Halt and Catch Fire has maybe one good supporting character right now, and if it doesn’t change that, it’ll be quickly forgotten. It’s already a struggling show, and it needs all the viewer support it can muster. Davis is an undervalued supporting player, but McNairy needs stronger writing.
If this was debuting in the fall season, I’d give up after the pilot. But in a more spread out summer, and with the advent of on demand, I might be willing to give this a second shot.
FINAL GRADE: B-
