[rating=8.00] “Bachman’s Earning’s Over-Ride”
It’s good to see Silicon Valley finally moving on with their foundational story lines. After spending an entire season and half of toiling and failing, Pied Piper has finally launched to the acclaim of the viewing public. No more will we witness the same shit on our various screens as we giggle at the torment of our favorite characters! Or so we hope, at least. This week’s episode was a lesson in PR, something the dudes have not quite yet found their footing in.
Following Erlich’s decision to sell his shares in order to pay off his acquired debts we’re treated to a lesson in reading the fine print. While Pied Piper has skyrocketed as a major success in the tech industry, Erlich must deal with the pushback of “insider dumping,” a rumor that, once it hits the streets, could ruin the company. While he’s hesitant to tell Richard, a series of mishaps leads to him being outed, followed by a self-admission of incompetence to save face for the budding company.
While it falls right back into the self-sabotage category, Erlich again took steps to maintain that human aspect that we had been lacking. A show about a fictional Silicon Valley has no business being as funny as this, however a show created by Mike Judge should by all accounts have a few surprises now and then. Which leads us to Laurie’s acquisition of Erlich’s 10%. By all accounts, that piece of the company is worth at least 5 million. But once we find out Laurie only paid about 700,000 one must wondering what she’s playing at. She has basically all control of the company, leaning heavily on the shitty deal the dudes initially made with Russ Hanneman. Laurie’s smart as hell, and while she has been their savior from time to time it seems she’s the snake in the grass that perhaps we’ll only vaguely see coming.
Richard’s hiring of Erlich was a nice reminder of the loyalty he has for both his company and friends. Sure, Erlich doesn’t have much experience with PR, but he’s outgoing right? Right? Oh god. Considering his incredibly—um—creative photo shoot there’s a good chance we’re instore for some outlandish marketing tactics to top off or kick off the next season. It’s exciting to finally see the business part of the start-up finally begin. The dude’s careers have led up to this moment, and it’s the first time that they’re really faced with a brand new situation.
On the flipside Gavin’s continued anthropomorphizing of cute and cuddlies to explain his failures remains hilarious. It seems they’ve finally had enough of his shit. While Gavin’s loss of control may seem like a blow, we have to remember that Steve Jobs was also fired from his start-up, just as Richard was removed as CEO. So where does that leave Gavin? With less responsibility and more time to plot his eventual taking back of the company. Duh.
Meanwhile, Big Head has yet to pop back in, but if history tells us anything it’s just a matter of time before he’s back with a fiery (bumbling, and accidental) vengeance. Big Head is like the stand in for all that eludes the dudes in their pursuit of success. While they have the intelligence and wherewithal to get things done, there still seems to be a disconnect with actually attaining goals. One would think they would have picked him up after he was fired from Hooli, if nothing else than for his name that was suddenly everywhere.
One of the great prevailing moments was the pescetarian-pescetarian dinner option Erlich annoyingly ordered to make sure he was able to make a scene during the Vanity Fair party. Just as with many stupid trends, it took one cis white male to notice something he didn’t have for him to want it, leading to a waterfall effect of the rest of the party demanding only a pescetarian-pescetarian dinner. The stupidity of the situation was nuanced and fantastic.
From what we’ve seen so far it’s gotten to the point where the self-sabotage moments are paused, at least for the time being. At this point all the dudes can do is sit back and reap the benefits, rewards, and perhaps defeat at the hands of their adoring public. Next week’s episode promises problems concerning their platform due to the incompetence of their public. They’ve literally made a platform that’s too good. Perhaps I was too early to write off the self-sabotage plot after all.
