Halt and Catch Fire S1E5 - "Adventure" Recap

After all the hard work that's been done, our team of not-quite-heroes gets some important parts of the computer working. There's still much to be done, including finding a screen. But then Joe gets a message from his father asking to meet with him. Joe makes plans to meet him at his hotel bar. But when Joe arrives, he hesitates, opting to look at him from outside through a window. For reasons as to yet be explained, he doesn't go in.

Joe's father later shows up at Joe's apartment. Joe isn't in, so he meets Cameron instead. In a surprising turn of event, Joe's father has actually heard of Cameron, as she's developing a bit of a reputation for her programming skills. She agrees to have a drink with him and they chat a bit. Since Joe's father can't seem to get Joe to meet with him, he's content to spend time with his prodigy "girlfriend."

Donna's boss calls to apologise for taking out his work stress on her. They have a history and end up talking about the pie she's making. He shares an old family recipe and tells her to feel free to save him a slice. She ends up using his tip after the call ends.

Meanwhile, Joe's father tells Cameron that Joe got all his promotions at IBM by simply taking them. Cameron eventually becomes fed up, telling Joe's father that she's not going to simply roll over and tell Joe what a great guy his father is. He warns her that Joe thinks everything belongs to him and that it's only a matter of time before he blows everything up. He leaves, but not without giving her his card.

Cameron has some sort of breakthrough and instructs the other programmers on what to do, threatening those who don't do what she has said. She tells Joe that to cheat, one needs to be able to crack code and find back doors. But Joe and Gordon aren't on the greatest of terms, following a business deal going less than well. Joe also becomes further tensed when he learns that Cameron met with his father and takes it out at a local fair, where people can pay to smash a car with a sledgehammer.

Halt and Catch Fire airs on Sundays on AMC at 10PM.