Halt and Catch Fire
Character studyInterior life matters more than plot.This show: 9/10Slow burnDeliberate pacing where the payoffs are earned over long stretches.This show: 8/10BittersweetJoy and loss mixed so thoroughly they can't be separated.This show: 8/10Period pieceSet meaningfully in a past era.This show: 8/10SerializedContinuous arcs where every episode builds on the last.This show: 8/10WorkplaceThe job and its social ecosystem as the stage.This show: 7/10MelancholicA wistful sadness woven through the story, even in its lighter moments.This show: 7/10NostalgicTrades on longing for a past era, in the story or around it.This show: 7/10
Rate this series
Starring
Lee PaceScoot McNairyMackenzie DavisKerry BishéToby HussAugust Emerson
Written by
Christopher CantwellChristopher C. Rogers
Starring
Lee PaceScoot McNairyMackenzie DavisKerry BishéToby HussAugust Emerson
Written by
Christopher CantwellChristopher C. Rogers
Ratings per Episode
Votes per Episode
Halt and Catch Fire Episode Ratings Heatmap
| Avg | E1 | E2 | E3 | E4 | E5 | E6 | E7 | E8 | E9 | E10 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| S1 | 8.1 | 8.0 | 7.9 | 7.5 | 8.1 | 8.1 | 8.0 | 7.7 | 8.7 | 8.9 | 8.0 | |
| S2 | 8.1 | 7.8 | 7.7 | 7.9 | 8.1 | 7.9 | 8.1 | 8.2 | 8.2 | 8.4 | 8.5 | |
| S3 | 8.2 | 7.7 | 8.0 | 7.9 | 7.6 | 7.7 | 8.3 | 8.9 | 8.8 | 8.5 | 8.7 | |
| S4 | 8.6 | 7.9 | 8.2 | 8.2 | 7.9 | 8.1 | 8.2 | 9.4 | 9.1 | 8.4 | 9.0 |
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About
"A quiet slow burn about reinvention and ambition"
Set in 1983 Texas, this drama follows a visionary huckster, a brilliant engineer, and a self-taught coder as they try to build a cloned IBM PC, then ride the wave of innovation through online services and the early internet. It starts as a moody, Mad Men-esque workplace drama and steadily deepens into something more personal and emotional, tracking ambition, friendship, and reinvention across a decade. The pace is patient and character-driven rather than plot-twisty, and it rewards viewers who stick with a slow-burn first season.
Watch it for
the way its four leads and their messy friendships deepen into one of TV's most emotionally rewarding arcs.
Maybe skip if
you need immediate hooks, since the first season is a slower, more conventional setup.
Written by our AI editor to help you decide, spoiler-free by design.
All Seasons
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Season 12014
8.110K107h 15m
In 1983, personal computing was anyone's game. Navigating the thin line between visionary and fraud, genius and delusion, an unlikely trio - a visionary, an engineer, and a prodigy - take personal and professional risks in the race to build a computer that will change the world as they know it. The battle for CTRL begins.
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Season 22015
8.17K107h 17m
Joe, Gordon, and Bosworth are caught up in their own "online" wave while attempting to heal old wounds. This season explores the thin line that separates genius from self-delusion and the desire to leave a meaningful mark on the world.
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Season 32016
8.26K107h 23m
Season 3 returns six months after the move from Texas as each character faces new challenges trying to find their place in this new environment. Cameron and Donna hunt for an idea that will launch Mutiny as a key player. Gordon struggles to find a place within his wife's company. Joe continues to build upon his empire, reinventing himself which ultimately sends him back into the lives of his old partners.
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Season 42017
8.67K107h 52m
The final season chronicles the tech industry and the birth of the Internet in the 1980s and early 1990s and sees each character navigate the early days of the Internet as they search for answers, both personally and professionally, while the competitive nature of the tech world continues to grow and affect their relationships.
Full Cast & Crew
Cast
Lee Pace Joe MacMillan
Scoot McNairy Gordon Clark
Mackenzie Davis Cameron Howe, Cameron Rendon
Kerry Bishé Donna Clark, Donna Emerson
Toby Huss John Bosworth
August Emerson Malcolm Levitan
Alana Cavanaugh Haley Clark
Morgan Hinkleman Joanie Clark, Young Joanie Clark
Annabeth Gish Diane Gould
Nick Pupo Carl
Crew
Christopher Cantwell
Christopher C. Rogers
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