[rating=7.00] “Hooli-con”
Tables turned this week as Richard’s self-sabotage finally works out in his favor. After trying to play off his betrayal of the dudes, Richard looks like he’s about to get off scot-free from the Keenan deal, and instead build up his user base and acquire the funds from Laurie and Monica. It’s the perfect crime, trading in one unsteady deal for another lesser, though solid deal. With his eyes on the prize, Richard’s selfish ways crack the foundation of the company, and get us closer to the season finale, and the eventual dissolution of Silicon Valley as we know it.
The dudes embark on their Hooli-con adventure, where acting CEO Jack Barker is having a hard time with the garbage company he’s acquired from Keenan. Knowing full and well he’s in a position where he has to lie, Barker ostracizes and punishes those around him for breathing too loudly, and does his best to fake it until he makes it in place of Gavin.
While Hooli-con is in full swing and Richard and the dudes are well into their Ocean’s Eleven-esque light crime, Erlich finds his path intertwining with Gavin as he takes the steps to do something new with his life. It’s the beginning of the end for Erlich, and suddenly he finds himself in a Buddhist monastery with nothing left to lose. We can only hope that his final episode will somewhat fill the gaping Erlich shaped hole in our hearts that’s about to take place.
The worst part about Richard’s deception during Hooli-con is how it affects Jared. This entire series we’ve seen nothing but loyalty from Jared. As a friend, as an ally, and as a co-worker, Jared has always been the reason they’ve been able to somehow get by. As a running joke there’s always been some questions concerning his mental state, but as he takes in the wreckage that is his relationship with Richard, there’s a genuine look of anguish on his face. It’s heartbreaking, and one of the first moments in the show where the dynamisms of the actors are allowed to show through.
As Jared crumbles, so too does Richard. Without his foundation, he doesn’t have the capacity to get through a day. After successfully infiltrating Hooli-con, Richard once again self-sabotages in a jealous fit of rage and childish prank. While Dinesh and Gilfoyle plant the “pineapples” around the con, Richard is busy freaking out about a girl he had a crush on for a short period of time and her programmer boyfriend. There’s been very few times Richard has let a romance get in the way of his work, and somehow this season it’s happened twice. This is the turning point we’ve been waiting for; if everyone hits rock bottom then there’s nowhere to go but up.
Dinesh finally put the nail in his coffin with his lady love as she gets closer to finding out the identity of her whistleblower. Since she’s been in prison, Gilfoyle’s description of her has gone from vitriolic to almost enamored. There’s still time for the two to team up, and with Dinesh unable to stop implicating himself, it almost seems inevitable.
The big moment of the episode came when Keenan’s VR loaded up and all the Hooli phones began exploding. Of course, down on his life in general, Jared immediately assumes the problem stems from the intermediary program they installed on everyone’s phones. While that could be the problem, there’s also the chance that Dinesh’s hacker girlfriend found out the truth. And of course, the phones could have gotten overloaded by the hacked together program Barker came up with in order to make Keenan’s VR work.
If history tells us anything about Silicon Valley, it’s that the season finale is always worth whatever dip or twist the showrunners throw at us. We’re losing Erlich, and we’ve now hit a point where everything is about to change. The dudes still need more downloads to make their program work, and with the clock ticking on their means and patience, we’re in for something big.
