Halt and Catch Fire

Previously, on AMC's Halt and Catch Fire

We can't afford to pay your salaries.

We're offering you shares of the company.

It's been a week. I love you. Call me back.

I'm scared. Like really scared.

Maybe I can find some wiggle room on the price,

if Mutiny met a few strategic bench marks.

I have to tell you something.

You couldn't do it.

Oh it's not that we couldn't do it, we just thought it was a waste of time.

So what's your point, Joe?

I think we should acquire them.

I spoke with a doctor.

And he's a really, really good doctor.

And he assured me this is not something to worry about.

This is not a death sentence.

I'm okay.

This is a complication, that's it.

Lord knows we've overcome our fair share of those, right?

Yeah. I can... I can leave work.

I can quit and stay and make sure you're all right.

Donna, this cannot, will not derail anything.

Your work... everything that you're doing.

That would break my heart. I feel fine.

Yes, my hands are a little weak,

and, yes, there are small things, tiny things here and there,

but I feel good, okay?

I'm gonna live my life.

I'm moving forward with the company.

Gordon, how?

My office is 23 steps from the bedroom.

There's no driving, no commute,

my engineers are my most trusted friends.

And worst-case scenario, you're here.

We're gonna be okay, okay?

I'm sorry you felt like you couldn't tell me.

I was... I was scared. I didn't know.

I'm here now, okay? I'm here.

Wait, wait. No, it's okay. Um, can we just, uh...

Yeah. Yeah.

Let's just...

What do you think about 10,000 square feet of office space?

We'll do it gratis and off-site.

Nowhere near the stench of the oil business.

I think they'll love it.

They'll never have to see a suit and tie.

Do you have the zoning records on Mutiny's current address?

Just to take that further for a second,

where they are now, east side, neighborhood's a little rough,

house itself hasn't seen a coat of paint since the invention of the Model A,

but the heart of the company is sewn up into its walls.

We could save some coin and embrace that motley spirit.

There's nothing stopping us from buying up the house, the entire block.

We could turn the place into a mini campus.

Let them design it, grow it as they see fit.

Change as little as possible.

Then they could pepper the place

with Foosball tables and arcade cabinets.

That would certainly win more votes

than our 401 and platinum dental.

Drop in a grid of IBM 4361 Superminis,

300 dedicated phone lines,

give them direct admin access to the mainframe,

I think we got 'em.

That's brilliant.

Great work, Joe.

Give 'em a call. Let's get this thing done.

Three bucks and my Doctor Doom says red all the way.

I'll bet Kang on blue.

Kang? Dude, everyone has Kang.

I have five Kangs. Arki has 11 Kangs.

Kang is like the John Q. Public of action figures.

Fine, my black Spider-Man.

- Yeah! - Oh!

One, two, three.

Guys! Whoa, why is no one working?

- Is something wrong with the network? - Not yet.

Unless Joe MacMillan's morning coffee tastes bad.

Okay, well, shh.

Hi, sorry about that.

Oh, please, I raised three rambunctious boys.

The place feels like home.

What was Tom like as a kid?

- Oh, God. - I'll try not to embarrass him too much.

Oh, you say that 10 minutes after

telling her about the time that I wet your bed.

But little Tommy was the golden child,

even if he was more of an indoor boy than his brothers.

Every day after school, he got a cupcake and a Kayo just for keeping me company.

- Oh, spoiled. - Always.

Oh, I gotta get to the depot.

Yeah, okay.

Oh, yeah.

Cameron, thank you so much for lunch.

It was great meeting you.

No, it was great to meet you.

I haven't seen Tom this happy in a while.

Thank you for giving him such a wonderful opportunity here.

We're glad to have him.

This is a very, very special place.

And I know you're bound to have tremendous success.

Thanks.

- Bye, baby. - Okay, I'll see you at home.

- Bye. - All right. Okay.

Um, chicken Parmesan, is that okay?

And he can cook, too.

- Can you beat that? - No.

Okay.

- Bye. - Bye.

Little Tommy.

Thank you.

I know she can be intense.

I liked meeting her.

Mutiny.

- Cameron, it's Joe. - Who is it?

Westgroup wants to buy you.

Is it him? Is he cutting us off?

I'm coming over with an official acquisition offer tomorrow.

Cameron?

Cameron, this is good news.

I swear.

Hey.

Okay, Joe's gonna be here any minute.

So, I'm thinking that we'll listen to him, hear him out,

and then act professional and then just let him down easy, right?

- I'm gonna need some time off. - Now?

Starting after the meeting, a few days, at least.

Is everything okay?

It's, uh...

We ready to talk?

Jesus.

- So that's it, huh? - No.

Those are just the numbers.

Here are some others.

Inventory: 31 Commodore 64 machines,

each with a 1541 peripheral floppy,

12 recently purchased ST-412 10-meg hard drives for backup,

22 employees burning on average 3,000 kilowatt hours per month,

1,284 paying subscribers,

and one coffee machine using Maxwell filters.

My point is, you don't care about numbers.

You shouldn't.

What makes this place special is people sharing recipes, advice,

human experiences, connection

over the speed of a phone line.

Mutiny's killer app isn't games, it's people.

And when you sign with us, you won't have to worry about numbers anymore.

You can let us handle that part

so you can focus on what you love,

which is bringing people together.

- We're not interested in minimizing games. - Neither am I.

Games are the innovative lifeblood of this company.

Vital for technological breakthrough.

Essential for bringing users into the door.

But once they've arrived, connection trumps content.

Starting day one, Westgroup will begin

a global expansion of your network.

That means reaching thousands and thousands

of isolated users all over the world

and suddenly making them feel less alone.

Uh, just to talk specifics,

what exactly would global expansion look like?

We're not interested.

I think... I think we should take a minute with this.

I have.

Maybe I'm crazy, but it sounds to me

like Westgroup wants the exact same things that we do.

I'm not sold yet either,

but I think we should hear this out.

Let's leave the past where it is

and build something truly special together.

No, scratch that.

You build it.

I'll get out of the way this time.

You'll get out of the way?

Hey!

Everybody, listen up.

- Cameron, come on. - Here's what's going on.

Joe MacMillan and Westgroup Energy want to buy us up.

You hear that? Yeah.

We can all go work for a bunch of oil company suits downtown.

- How's that sound to you guys? - Boo.

Oh, what, does it sound like selling out?

- Yeah. - 'Cause that's what it sounds like to me.

Yeah, instead of building kick-ass games,

they want to turn this into a place

- where housewives can share their recipes. - That's bullshit!

What? Oh, wait, you don't want to wear a tie to work?

You don't want to clock in and out?

- No. Hell, no. - So you'd rather be equal partners

in a thing that you created

with your own blood and sweat and tears

than mindless stooges in a corporate food chain?

Yeah!

Mutiny! Mutiny! Mutiny!

- Great! All right. - Let's do it!

All right, first off, I wanna thank you guys

for knocking off a few days' vacation time

so we can try this thing out, all right?

I'm not asking for full buy-in now.