Warning: Spoilers

As AMC’s “Mad Men” has come to an end, and AMC’s other hit show “Hell On Wheels” enters what many expect to be its final season, the network needs to have another solid show behind its flagship programs “Walking Dead” and “Better Call Saul” in order to draw more viewers in.

“Halt and Catch Fire” appears to be AMC’s next giant show, and it has grown massively while in the shadow of the aforementioned programs. Now in its second season, the show has established and developed a cast of characters and has managed to keep its plot fresh.

The first season of “Halt and Catch Fire” chronicles a small Texas electric company’s attempt to challenge corporate giant IBM in the world of technology development. Joe MacMillan (Lee Pace) is a charming salesman who manipulates the electric company, by any means necessary, to build the world’s first portable personal computer (PC) in order to revolutionize the industry and compete with IBM’s PC.

The show’s a period piece set in the early 1980s and the main character’s a slick-talking salesman, which inevitably draws a comparison to AMC’s hit show “Mad Men” but that’s where the comparisons stop. After the first few episodes, it’s obvious AMC isn’t just recycling the format of “Mad Men” and hoping to strike gold twice; “Halt and Catch Fire” has its own merit.

Joe MacMillan may draw comparisons to “Mad Men’s” Don Draper character, but MacMillan is more than just a carbon copy of Draper. He’s Draper, Patrick Bateman from “American Psycho,” and Lou Bloom from “Nightcrawler” all rolled into one fascinating character that’s able to capture and hold the viewer’s attention.

Not only do his mysterious ways and background cause intrigue, but they also drive the plot of the first season. As the first season progresses, the show reveals the people behind the portable PC project, which in turn drives the plot and sets the show up well to expand on multiple plot lines in the second season.

While the first season focuses on the portable PC project and the quest to complete it, the second season explores life after the project for many of the characters. The main plot of the second season thus far (the 8th episode airs this weekend) has been driven by two of the main female characters on the show, Cameron Howe and Donna Clark.

Howe and Clark are attempting to get Howe’s video game service off the ground by finding a way to connect people over the internet via phone lines, a revolutionary idea at the time. Other story lines in the second season include Joe MacMillan’s newest technology project at his new father-in-law’s oil business, as well as the struggle that MacMillan’s business partner Gordon Clark goes through after the portable PC project is over.

“Halt and Catch Fire” has continually found ways to keep expanding on its plot lines, and has consistently developed its characters so that viewers feel invested in the other plot lines as well. This show seems to just be finding its stride as its second season concludes, so don’t miss out on what should be an excellent last couple of seasons for the show, watch now!

“Halt and Catch Fire” airs Sunday nights on AMC.