The first season of AMC’s 1980s-set drama Halt and Catch Fire focused on the personal computer revolution. The second season picks up 20 months later, in March 1985 as Nathan Cardiff has decided to sell Cardiff Electric to an overseas corporation. Over the past 20 months, Gordon Clark (Scoot McNairy) had served as the company’s president and had helped to develop a second Giant Pro PC, but with his $838K check from the acquisition deal, Gordon decides it’s time for him to move on. However, he doesn’t know what to do with all of his free time, or what venture he wants to take on next.

Joe McMillan (Lee Pace) had taken a less active role in Cardiff Electric after he burned a truckload of PCs. His relationship with Cameron (Mackenzie Davis) had also ended abruptly—and on bad terms—shortly afterwards. While it seems like Joe never fully got over Cameron, he has been in a relationship with Sara Wheeler (Aleksa Palladino) for the past year. Joe hasn’t really been in touch with anyone from Cardiff Electric in the past year, and when he goes to pick up his dividend check, he discovers that Nathan still holds a grudge for his destruction of company property and that fact that Joe got his friend sent to jail. So Nathan refuses to give Joe his dividend check and challenges him to try to do something about it. Sara Wheeler’s father Jacob (James Cromwell), a rich oil magnate, offers Joe a job at his Westgroup Energy company, which Joe reluctantly accepts. However, he quickly discovers that the job is a low-level data entry position that is way beneath his qualifications.

Meanwhile, Cameron’s online startup, Mutiny, appears to be off to a good, but rocky, start. She already has 15 employees, including Gordon’s wife Donna (Kerry Bishé), but the company is having trouble scaling alongside its customer base. They are running into power consumption issues, running out of phone lines and server space, and there are some bugs in the games. Donna and Cameron are at odds with how the company should be run—both have ideas, but neither wants to be in charge. Cameron has been hiring people without talking with Donna, including former customer/hacker Tom Rendon (Mark O’Brien) and ex-con John Bosworth (Toby Huss). Meanwhile Donna wants the company to focus less on games and more on social features like chat rooms and messaging. Plus, her husband Gordon is constantly trying to fill his newfound free time by meddling in Mutiny’s affairs, which leads to some disastrous results, and a partnership with Joe that sets Cameron on tilt.

While I really enjoyed the first season of Halt and Catch Fire, I think the second season is even better as the series reinvents itself, focusing more on the female characters. The second season explores the startup culture and the rise of online services in the mid 80s, both for socializing and for gaming. As the women try to run their business, Cameron and Donna find themselves dealing with the biases towards females in the workplace—when they go seeking for VC funding, they are questioned about whether they can put the needs of the business over the needs of their families. They must also deal with all kinds of threats—both internal and external—that threaten the future of the company they’ve worked hard to build. And it seems like just when they overcome one obstacle, another one pops up to take its place—Whether it be hackers, resource limitations, greedy corporations, viruses or even personal or emotional issues.

In the second season the series really allows all of the characters to develop. Cameron is still feeling the aftershocks of her unhealthy relationship with Joe and is trying to avoid going down that road again. She loves her company and enjoys her work, but doesn’t necessarily want to step into the leadership role. However, she is constantly trying to put out fires caused by others. At the same time, Donna is trying to make her own voice and ideas be heard in the company, and in the process she allows the job to take over her life, often ignoring her husband Gordon and their daughters in the process. Meanwhile, Gordon seems to be a bit scatter-brained, trying to figure out what to do with his life, and a trip to the doctor just makes things worse, sending him spiraling deeper with thoughts of mortality and addiction. And Joe is also having a bit of a midlife crisis as he struggles to become a better person, regain his morals and be a more trustworthy, reliable person. However, this is often at odds with his constant drive for power, innovation and desire to be the best. And Joe’s deep-seeded feelings for Cameron are always looming, ready to destroy his new relationship with Sara.

This time around, Anchor Bay has decided to only release the second season of Halt and Catch Fire on DVD. While the picture looks quite good for a DVD, it is definitely missing some of the crispness and sharpness of the original AMC HD airing. The audio track is really well done—dialogue is clear, and the surround channels are utilized regularly to add ambiance in scenes or to enhance the show’s great 80s soundtrack. When we first enter the Mutiny headquarters, the surround sound brings the bustle of the startup to life, putting the viewer right in the middle of the chaos. And in another scene, a character enters a bar and the music and ambiance envelops the viewer.

The DVD also contains a nice selection of bonus features, many of which were originally made available on AMC.com as the season aired. The ten “Inside the Episode” featurettes provide interesting discussions on the major plot points and character moments of each episode, the two cast set tours give a fun behind-the-scenes look at the show, and the cast and creators provide a general discussion of the season in the two remaining 5-minute featurettes.

What’s Included:
Episodes: (7:13:52)

• All 10 Episodes of the Second Season:
  Disc 1: “SETI”, “New Coke”, “The Way In”, “Play with Friends”
  Disc 2: “Extract and Defend”, “10Broad36”, “Working for the Clampdown”, “Limbo”
  Disc 3: “Kali”, “Heaven Is a Place”
• 480p / Anamorphic Widescreen 1.78:1
• Audio: English Dolby Digital 5.1
• Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish

Extras:

• Inside Halt and Catch Fire (47:58)
  The cast and producers discuss the characters, the relationships, and major developments of each episode of the season. Includes clips and interviews with executive producers/co-creators Christopher Cantwell & Christopher C. Rogers, executive producers Jonathan Lisco, Mark Johnson & Melissa Bernstein, producer Zack Whedon, and stars Kerry Bishé (“Donna Clark”), Mackenzie Davis (“Cameron Howe”), Scoot McNairy (“Gordon Clark”), Lee Pace (“Joe McMillan”) & James Cromwell (“Jacob Wheeler”). These are really interesting—I wish there was a Play All option to easily view these one after another.
  • Inside Episode 201 (4:31)
  • Inside Episode 202 (4:38)
  • Inside Episode 203 (5:07)
  • Inside Episode 204 (4:38)
  • Inside Episode 205 (4:28)
  • Inside Episode 206 (5:05)
  • Inside Episode 207 (5:18)
  • Inside Episode 208 (5:06)
  • Inside Episode 209 (4:23)
  • Inside Episode 210 (4:44)
• History of Now (5:13)
  The cast and producers talk about start-up culture and the rise of Mutiny, the evolution of technology towards what we take for granted now, and focusing the second season on the relationship between Donna and Cameron. Includes clips and interviews with stars Kerry Bishé & Mackenzie Davis, executive producers/co-creators Christopher Cantwell & Christopher C. Rogers and executive producers Melissa Bernstein, Jonathan Lisco & Mark Johnson, and producer Zack Whedon.
  
  
  
• The New Joe (5:01)
  The cast and producers talk about Joe McMillan’s struggle to reinvent himself in the second season—trying to become more honest, trustworthy and grounded. Includes clips and interviews with executive producers/co-creators Christopher Cantwell & Christopher C. Rogers, executive producers Melissa Bernstein, Jonathan Lisco & Mark Johnson, and stars Lee Pace, Kerry Bishé, Scoot McNairy & Mackenzie Davis.
  
  
  
• Tour of An ‘80s Startup (3:18)
  Stars Kerry Bishé & Mackenzie Davis give viewers a fun tour of the Mutiny house set.
  
  
  
• Set Tour With Lee Pace and Scoot McNairy (3:03)
  Stars Scoot McNairy & Lee Pace give viewers an entertaining tour of some of the sets, including Jacob Wheeler’s office, Joe & Sara’s apartment, and Gordon & Donna’s house.
  
  
  

Final Thoughts:

I enjoyed the second season of Halt and Catch Fire even more than the first. I like how the show somewhat re-invents itself each year, looking at a new area of technology the characters are helping to pioneer. All of the major characters are back, and each has his or her own interesting storyline and character developments. However, I especially enjoyed how the second season focuses more on the female characters and their online service startup. There is no Blu-ray release this time around, but the DVD looks good and sounds great, and contains a nice selection of bonus features. Halt and Catch Fire recreates the 80s era wonderfully, contains some excellent performances, and introduces viewers to lots of interesting plot twists and drama. This release comes highly recommended.