[rating=7.00] “Success Failure”
The re-birth of Silicon Valley has arrived, and it’s goddamn glorious. After watching Richard and co succeed and fail in what felt like one breath, we’ve finally reached the point where it was make or break for the boys. While they could have wrapped it up nicely for us in an HBO shaped package, instead we’re getting something new, something fantastic. We’re getting…a new internet?
While most episodes are loaded with quippy one liners and fulfilled expectations of what’s to come, the first foray back into the world of Pied Piper was essentially one long cold open, leading up to Richard finally resigning from the company. It wasn’t much of a surprise considering the constant “will they won’t they?” pull of last season. Richard has mostly burned bridges as he grows ever more protective of his algorithm. Nothing is good enough, nothing is sacred; his precious only deserves the best.
PiperChat is working flawlessly. After Dinesh successfully calibrated the platform to work for his own vain reasons, PiperChat is now able to launch on all digital devices. Unfortunately, Pied Piper is still untouchable. Richard’s reluctance to step away from the company after he bought new users is tanking everything. Big Head and Bachman officially own the company, and as they flounder along with Richard’s blurry vision everything begins to look less shiny in the light of day.
While Bachman knows what he has, he’s now contained by Big Head’s father. He literally has no say in any of their decisions because he so wisely spent literally all Big Head’s money (that he accidentally earned by doing nothing and being good at it). In normal circumstances, Bachman would find his way out of this by worming around until it worked for him. Unfortunately, this is it, this is his moment he finally figures out whether he can make it in the Valley. This realization leads Bachman to the point of betraying his friend, and moving to push him out of the CEO position.
Meanwhile, Richard can do nothing but think about how much he hates the idea of PiperChat. It’s not really a surprise; Richard is never happy with the platform he’s working with. In his mind, there’s always something bigger and better. And while his algorithm will no doubt continue to be in demand by the entire tech community, he’s slowly devolving into a paranoid introvert that cannot snap out of his own head. This, coupled with his awareness of the boys’ interest in getting him out of the picture pushes Richard to his breaking point. He must do something greater, thus the idea of the new internet is formed.
The end of the cold open is essentially wrapped up towards the end of the episode as Richard enters a room organized for the coup, only to get the drop on them from behind. Literally. Richard presents the idea before he can be stopped, he’s ready to step down as CEO. And with that it has happened, Silicon Valley has reinvented itself, a feat most shows are unable to achieve even with the support of the gargantuan network.
For the next season or so we’ll get the pleasure of observing new hijinks, issues, and endlessly quotable reasons for why things aren’t going Richard’s way. There was the danger of teetering into the mundane, we felt it, we lived it, we deserved it because we didn’t expect better. But here we are, on the precipice of glory with only Russ Hanneman on our side. Sounds about right.
