‘Halt and Catch Fire’ episode 7 preview: Is Joe MacMillan officially crazy?

To be fair, the sneak peek below from Sunday night’s new episode of “Halt and Catch Fire” is not the first time (at all) that we have pondered this question out loud. As a matter of fact, there have been many times when we have started to wonder whether or not Lee Pace’s character has got it all together. He’s brilliant, but in a way completely detached socially save for the few moments where he really puts some effort into it.

In the sneak peek below, he seems to be fully entranced with the idea of basically electrocuting himself, and all for the purpose of “turning on” Cameron. We guess if he’s really into that sort of thing, then go for it … but why really do this? Why string Cameron along in this way when we’ve seen very little evidence that you actually love her? We’ve already seen that she may be even more socially detached than Joe, and while she is brilliant, she does not have a whole lot of self-control, maturity, or confidence at her disposal.

If we were to theorize heavily here, we would say that Joe’s movements here are a means to ensure that Cameron, whether she wants to admit it or not, remains fascinated by Joe. Playing on her emotions is a great way for him to get just what he wants out of her, which is her continuing to do what she does best. Given that there are few others within the world of Cardiff that seem firmly encouraging of her in anything, she needs to have someone in her corner. For Joe, it’s important that this someone is him, and he doesn’t mind getting occasionally electrocuted for her to feel that way.

Have any specific expectations for Sunday night’s “Halt and Catch Fire” episode? Let us know in the comments.