[rating=7.00] “Keenan Vortex”
With two episodes left in the season, things are starting to move quickly for Richard and co. Now that the weirdly lucky Keenan has signed on to Bream/Hall, there’s a world of possibilities open to everyone at Pied Piper. Richard being the spineless little creature he is has doubts when it comes to Keenan. But just as Erlich got sucked up into the “Keenan Vortex,” Richard quickly gets pulled into the idea of easy money.
As things are slowly progressing with Richard’s new internet, the company is constantly on the verge of falling apart or taking off. We already know the stakes; if Richard isn’t able to make his algorithm accessible and user friendly, then it’s not going to work on the mass market. Things are going well with the insurance firm, but with a cold front hitting the city, their server is stretched to their max. Since they can’t afford to pay the high bill that comes with the server space, there’s the distinct possibility they’ll get booted off and eventually sued for losing data.
Now, on the one hand this was a ballsy move to begin with. Richard sold the idea of the company before it’s fully functioning, allowing for the self-funding he had searched for as Gavin left the picture. On the other, things have gotten a little careless. Over all it’s a good thing; there’s only so many times we can watch Richard and the boys take the safe route. But in the larger sense, it almost feels like their self-sabotage is part of a strategy—at the very least, an unconscious one.
In an effort to keep their butts very much not sued, the dudes appeal to Keenan for his business. If they have another customer (i.e., unknowing investor) then they’ll be able to bankroll the space they’re already using. The dynamic that quickly springs up is fascinating, painting Keenan as the bro of the tech world because of his interest in VR and inability to fail. Everything he touches seems to turn to gold, and his laidback ways ring odd to Richard’s uptight sensibility. As the deal is closed, Dinesh and Gilfoyle get a little too chummy with Keenan, and plug in Richard’s algorithm into his VR program, quickly kicking off the spiral that is the Keenan vortex.
After signing on with Keenan, then having a sit down with Monica and changing his mind, Richard gears up to once again be the bearer of bad news for the dudes, only to be hit with counter news that Keenan has screwed them all over. While Richard is relieved, Erlich is effectively broken.
With Keenan now working with Hooli, this is their moment. This is the time where they can finally come out from the under the relative anonymity that comes with obscurity. In season one it was TechCrunch, and now we’ve essentially come full circle. If the dudes are able to pull off this heist like caper while crashing Hooli-Con then they will be sitting pretty. Just as we’ve seen this, and the last two seasons, there’s only so many time we can ride around in circles before we stop tuning in. This is the moment we’ve been waiting for, and this is where it will all change.
With Erlich beat down by the loss of his partnership with Keenan, we can start to see the transition of his character into the void. What’s interesting is this was a decision made after the season had already wrapped, so does this mean the showrunners had already planned on writing him off the show in the first place? Or did TJ Miller and the series have a disagreement that would warrant an offscreen exit of the beloved character? Ideally, we’ll get a swan song from Erlich, and as he’s been relatively tame this season it would come as a welcome shake up.
We haven’t heard from Big Head for a while, so chances are there’s something big coming our way concerning the world’s biggest fuck up. With his students dutifully at his side, Big Head could easily come in from left field at Hooli-Con and blow everyone away with tech that he somehow lucked in to. He’s one of Richard’s most important tools, and yet remains severely underutilized. Not that you can blame anyone; Big Head is effectively a loose cannon as he seems to have no control over his life. It’s like going on an adventure tour and wandering off the path into the jungle, but not realizing that you were almost murdered by a python in your sleep before a tiger dragged it away into the woods.
There’s the still the opportunity for Gavin to dip back in this season, but it wouldn’t be surprising to not hear from him until mid-season 5. With the time to regroup, Gavin can come back as the perfect ally, or a devious villain. Either way it will be endlessly entertaining and play well to Richard’s static fumbling.
