After spending some quality time with dramatic shows and movies, I’ve decided there are still so many excellent comedies out there that I’ve never had time to dedicate to! In that case, I made the executive decision to start an HBO classic, Silicon Valley. A good friend of mine recommended this to me a while back, and she clearly knows me well, because I found this first season pretty darn hilarious.
Silicon Valley focuses on a odd bunch of friends who are working at what I would consider a rival of Google called Hooli, but they are really just biding their time as they try to get Pied Piper off the ground. Pied Piper, in the least techy terms I can manage, is a file compressing algorithm, which apparently in it’s speed and lack of data loss is quite revolutionary. At the start of the season, Richard, who came up with the algorithm, gets the idea in front of tech billionaire, Peter Gregory. However, once Hooli’s CEO Gavin Benson gets wind of Pied Piper, it’s a bit of a bidding war. Only, Benson is offering 10 million, while Gregory is offering 200 thousand and autonomy. In the end, still owning the algorithm is more important to Richard.
From there though, all hell breaks loose. Gavin Benson is trying to race Richard to releasing the same product, only better. Along the way, Richard, Dinesh, Gilfoyle, Erlich, and the perfectly awkward Jared try to come up with a successful business plan and try to actually execute their algorithm for text, video, and the cloud. Have I mentioned I’m not really that great with technology? I’m truly surprised this blog exists at all. Anyways, perhaps if I had more of a handle on coding some of their jokes would be even funnier, but a truly good comedy doesn’t need you be an expert on their subject matter. So, just like Ted Lasso, I don’t need to be knowledgeable about coding for me to appreciate this gem.
Every one of our main characters brings a unique comedy to the table, so it’s really hard for me to pick out a favorite performance, although Zach Woods as Jared might just edge out the rest. This poor guy is very business and tech savvy, but he is so timid and just uncomfortable with life, that he seems to be either taken advantage of or just completely ignored. TJ Miller as Erlich is probably my second favorite mainly because I’ve always been a fan of his comedy. While he understands coding as well as Richard, Dinesh, and Gilfoyle, he also has pretty decent people skills, so he tries to be the face of Pied Piper. I love how Kumail Nanjiani and Martin Starr’s characters play off of each other in such a degrading manner, but you can tell that is just how their friendship is. And finally, Thomas Middleditch’s Richard is the glue that holds everyone together. His anxiousness is somewhat debilitating, but eventually, in the moment where it counts, he has enough confidence in his coding to help Pied Piper really succeed.
The season ends with Pied Piper getting a ton of investment offers, so that will be a new and unique challenge this random bunch will have to face in the next season. I also can’t wait to see how the relationships between everyone changes or grows. Overall, I found myself laughing pretty hard at most of the episodes this season, and probably nothing was funnier than the two-part season finale. Go watch it. You’re welcome.