[rating=7.00] “To Build a Better Beta”
It’s always nice when a good television show takes a swing and breaks into a new level of humanity. This week’s Silicon Valley proved to acknowledge a lack of depth with the addition of real live feelings. Rather than feed off insecurity and pride, as the show has done this season, we were privy to a nice moment between Monica and Richard, and Erlich momentarily lapsing to do the right thing.
In what would prove to be an exciting moment for the dudes, Richard’s back and forth about sending out a beta of Pied Piper was quickly resolved for him when Gilfoyle prematurely sends it out to his girlfriend. The lapse in Gilfoyle’s judgement turns out to be for the best as it pushes the dudes to approach the whole patching and debugging process in a new light. After sending it out to a chosen few, rave reviews begin to pour in, kicking Richard into overdrive as he attempts to successfully launch his life’s work.
I was expecting some sort of obstacle to drag them back into the underbelly of underdeveloped storylines, when I realized there was no obstacle. Even the breech by Hooli into their beta program ended up working out well for them. Instead we saw an honest Monica comment on the interface while hiding her true feelings in order to keep the working relationship with the dudes. Monica’s habitual uplifting of the company she believes in has been a nice constant to the neurosis that runs rampant through the ensemble cast. And just as her undercurrent of positive energy is welcomed, so too was her honest response to the platform. While Richard is not entirely receptive to her criticism, he’s eventually accepting of the idea that she’s not invested in the product, but the people. Cue a morbid Jared comment here, as even in the tenderest of moments he’s able to conjure up something up about dead baby birds with a hapless grin.
While humanity took hold of Richard’s life, so too did it creep into Erlich’s as he dealt with the aftermath of going bankrupt. It turned out Big Head’s business manager screwed them, but after an attempt to take the crime to court leads to a vague threat by an ADA we see Erlich backed into a corner. Due to the lack of funds, his one-time big blowout is still not entirely paid for, leading to angry staffers going to the press. Unlike Monica’s tense and honest look at what should happen next, Erlich acts in the interest of his own dignity. He has to pay his debts in order to not be made a fool of in the long run, so he sells his shares in Pied Piper to Laurie the day before it launches and potentially becomes worth more money than he can count. While Erlich will be picking up the pieces of his life choices, keep an eye out for the bumbling Big Head. If history has taught us anything it’s that Big Head can’t be brought down for long.
In both cases we see these characters weighing the pros and cons of each side of the self-preservation scale. The thoughtfulness showed through. Now as we are confronted with these new problems we’re left with the launch of Pied Piper. Hooli is currently nowhere near being a threat as their top engineers take a stand against Gavin’s stupidity and leave the company. Not only is Gavin incompetent, but he (like Richard) allows himself to get caught up in his own shortcomings, a trait that constantly leads to conflict and failing. While Pied Piper is on the precipice of success, Gavin is crying for a Hail Mary to an empty bench. It was pretty great to watch his personal hard-drive and cellphone fry; shitty actions lead to shitty consequences after all.
At this point it would be disingenuous to the show for the writers to take a step back from the broken mold they’ve been working with. Another self-sabotage moment by the dudes will likely result in a mass breakdown of any storyline build this season, so let’s hope they’re able to keep on this run of self-awareness. The dawn of this new chapter opens up endless possibility for fuckery, fingers crossed they’re able to carry the show over that threshold.
