Halt and Catch Fire

• It is fantastically cast, fantastically acted, fantastically designed, fantastically edited, and fantastically lit. There is simply nothing preventing anyone from calling it what it truly is: AMC's next stunning triumph, a 'worthy successor' to 'Breaking Bad'.

• Finally, a screen portrayal of computers that avoids nonsensical pseudo-IT techno-babble. The earliest concepts and breakthroughs—from which titans like AOL (is that still around?) or Acer eventually emerged—are utterly fascinating. Hardware, software, and everything around them are still in their infancy: an ideal playground for nerds and visionaries alike, and a market where true innovation could yield immense fortunes.

• The chemistry between the various actors is among the show's greatest strengths. Amid ups and downs, economic rivalries, and conflicts of interest, MacMillan finds his accomplices in a brilliant engineer, skillfully portrayed by Scoot McNairy, his wife, Kerry Bishé working at Texas Instruments, Cardiff's president, Toby Huss, and a brilliant yet abrasive programmer played by Mackenzie Davis.

• Subdued, but magnificent from beginning to end. It all comes down to the prowess of the actors. Not needlessly inflating the cast was highly effective in preserving the unwavering core of the story. I felt as if the show were cheering me on, whispering that it's okay to fail. I'm so glad I watched it.

• A charismatic businessman driven by ambition and the colleagues swept up and tossed about in his wake. Yet none of them can let go of that ambition, depicted as they struggle and risk everything to place their bets. The timeline begins in the 1980s, tracing a path from early PC manufacturing to game development, bulletin boards, the Internet, web browsers, and portal sites. Many real-life tech companies appear along the way, making it thoroughly enjoyable as a journey through tech history.

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