Erlich’s End Begins on ‘Silicon Valley’ (TV REVIEW)

[rating=7.00] “Customer Service”

On the heels of the news that our beloved Erlich Bachman will not be returning next season, we finally have movement from the dudes. Rather than sit stagnant and wait for someone to fund their idea, Jared gives Richard the inspired idea to essentially fund his new internet by selling it to users before the platform is built. It’s basically high stakes crowdfunding. While all the possible issues they could run into are peeking over the horizon, the possibility of the series wrapping up next season leaves us with equal feelings of hope and anxiety.

The main plot point we need to pay credence to this week was Richard getting laid. It shouldn’t be that surprising, but we really haven’t encountered Richard as a sexual being during the course of the series. On the search for new users, Richard and Erlich approach insurance firm Fiduciated where they attempt to sell their product to the compliance officer, Liz (Leisha Hailey, The L Word). While she, like the rest, is disappointed in the sudden departure of Gavin, she hears them out. Bringing in her CTO, we come face to face with Dan Melcher, the man Erlich cuckolded twice. Of course it would be Erlich who ruined the potential deal just by being himself, could we expect anything else?

Richard, doing his best to salvage the situation, appeals to Liz, who is currently engaged to Dan. Unbeknownst to Richard, there’s only one thing he can offer her to seal the deal, and it has nothing to do with his product. The subsequent mediocre sex leads to Liz pushing for the deal, on the stipulation that Richard stays away from her. Little do we know, apparently Richard was approached twice during this time, leading to the revelation that Richard acted as the third to Dan and Liz’s relationship with Dan asking Richard to not mention their tryst to Liz.

The casual dropping of Richard sleeping with both of them is both hilarious and makes strides in the casualization of fluid sexuality. Richard literally goes from not getting any ever, to delving nose deep into two gender’s worth of sex. If ever there were a time to picture a slow clap, now would be it. The best part is, we’ll likely never talk about it again, which will 100% lead to wild speculation concerning Richard’s sexuality for the rest of the series. But HBO being the cable giant it is, doesn’t have to address the matter, making for a perfect stance on solidarity with those who don’t quite fit into labels dictated by popular society.

Adding to the shake-up of cultural norms, Laurie and Monica are on the precipice of opening their new firm together. In light of no longer being needed by the dudes at his incubator, Erlich sees this as an opportunity to hitch his trailer to their horse. Unfortunately for him, they’ve worked with him for too long. He’s got nothing to bring to the table aside from sass and really good weed. This propensity for sass leads him to his meal ticket, VR specialist Keenan (Haley Joel Osment).

By bringing Keenan to Bream/Hall (Monica has a last name, and she’s a partner!) Erlich is effectively selling himself as a headhunter. If he can seal the deal with Keenan, he could possibly stumble into something he’d be really good at. This could be the beginning of the end for Erlich, sending him out as an independent contractor for different firms, eventually leading to his exit from the series.

The one piece of the puzzle that didn’t get solved this week was Gilfoyle’s extreme reticence in allowing Dinesh to see the content from his phone. Could this be the validation that Gilfoyle was/is screwing around with Dinesh’s hacker girlfriend? Or is there something nefarious afoot? It could be anything with Gilfoyle. He would probably rather die than allow Dinesh to see him be nice to anyone, so maybe he just told his mother he loved her once or something.

The season has hit its stride, and with Richard now pursuing funding outside of investors we shouldn’t run into the same mundane issues that tend to envelope the storyline. While nothing will ever be as good as the dick math episode, if they keep down this path then they’ll satisfy even the most stringent of viewers.

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