Silicon Valley: Success Failure

April 24, 2017 3:45 AM - Season 4, Episode 1

In the Season 4 premiere, the guys struggle to find funding for Pied Piper's video-chat app to keep up with their rapidly growing user base. Meanwhile, Erlich encounters resistance from Big Head's dad; Gavin clashes with Jack Barker at Hooli; and Richard hatches a revolutionary idea that could change his future.
posted by noneuclidean (21 comments total)

I'm glad it seems like the show is finally pivoting to providing Richard with a better storyline. Another season of him running something that could have been successful into the ground would have been too much. I really hope they go somewhere different with his new venture.

Some favorite moments:
- When Jared uses the phrase"respectable VC", and you immediately know Russ Hanneman is going to show up.
- Big Head's dad controlling 50% of the company with the sole goal of making Erlich's life hell
- Dinesh taking the call in the beginning from the bathroom
- Manicures were apparently a means of survival for Jared when he was on the streets
posted by noneuclidean at 4:51 AM on April 24, 2017 [5 favorites]

I am so in love with any scene featuring Gavin and Jack. Their ability to be catty and human while also flaunting ridiculous wealth and privilege will never be not funny to me.
posted by Tevin at 7:11 AM on April 24, 2017 [2 favorites]

As long as these characters keep being themselves I don't think I will ever get tired of this show. I don't even know which one is my favorite, they're all so great.

I wouldn't mind a Better Call Saul style prequel show all about Jared's backstory.
posted by bondcliff at 7:17 AM on April 24, 2017 [8 favorites]

I wouldn't mind a Better Call Saul style prequel show all about Jared's backstory.

If that gets in the way of my spinoff series where Jared and Richard Splett open a political consulting firm, I will murder you in the face.
posted by Etrigan at 7:28 AM on April 24, 2017 [6 favorites]

Teen acne already murdered my face pretty badly, so bring it on.
posted by bondcliff at 7:32 AM on April 24, 2017

I wouldn't mind a Better Call Saul style prequel show all about Jared's backstory.

Hopefully he'll have [e-mail] by then.
posted by bluecore at 8:12 AM on April 24, 2017

I liked Richard in this one which hasn't always been the case. He wasn't as crazy or selfish as usual and it was easier to root for him. The stuff with Big Head's dad was great. I liked that Erlich wasn't so over the top in this episode. I really like the character but a little goes a long way and often there's a lot.

My favorite line was "I've always been very adept at taking the shape of whatever shoe was pressed down upon me"

I have a feeling that at some point Mike Judge was sent into a dark sub basement with a bankers box full of his stuff because he's done that to people a few times now in almost exactly the same way.
posted by Clinging to the Wreckage at 8:45 AM on April 24, 2017 [7 favorites]

I wouldn't mind a Better Call Saul style prequel show all about Jared's backstory.

Hopefully he'll have [e-mail] by then.

Oops, I meant to quote the Richard-Jared spinoff comment before this one. Need coffee.
posted by bluecore at 9:01 AM on April 24, 2017

I have a feeling that at some point Mike Judge was sent into a dark sub basement with a bankers box full of his stuff because he's done that to people a few times now in almost exactly the same way.

I watched a big chunk of the season 3 marathon before the premiere, and I was delighted that they cast the same basement-dwelling engineer from Pied Piper's visit to the server farm to introduce Jack to his new circumstances.

I love this show so much, and I'm so happy it's back.
posted by gladly at 9:09 AM on April 24, 2017 [6 favorites]

So Jack, Claudia, and Richard all ending up in the same place is some kind of foreshadowing right?

This won't happen, probably, but I'd love to see Jack engineer a Hooli takeover using Richard's plan to build a "better Internet" with the help of Monica (somehow?). I'm not entirely thinking this through, I just really, really want Jack and Gavin to be in a season long battle with each other.
posted by Tevin at 10:50 AM on April 24, 2017 [1 favorite]

I almost died when Russ Hanneman drove away blasting Papa Roach.
posted by General Malaise at 12:47 PM on April 24, 2017 [7 favorites]

Richard running over to shield the other parent from Russ pealing out was fantastic.
posted by Uncle at 2:45 PM on April 24, 2017 [1 favorite]

And yet Russ was immediately able to see what Richard needed to do with Pied Piper, like some sort of asshole spirit guide.
posted by cardboard at 6:41 PM on April 24, 2017 [5 favorites]

The Papa Roach has to be a reference to Paul Ryan.

I love Jared's Old Yeller impression with Richard in the kitchen after the Big Talk. "Go on. Get out of here."

"So wait, I don't have to be CEO, right? Dinesh is going to do that?"

Great episode, great changes.
posted by rhizome at 9:31 PM on April 24, 2017 [1 favorite]

Like bondcliff, I'm just happy to see these characters doing their thing. It's nice to have them back.

The one time I literally guffawed was when Richard bursts into the kitchen, and then the camera follows him as he talks over his shoulder leading them back into the living room... and no one follows.

I'm particularly excited about this development for Dinesh. Last season in particular it seemed like his primary function was to be a clownish butt of jokes, so it's nice to see his character get more attention and seem less incompetent.
posted by dfan at 4:37 AM on April 25, 2017 [2 favorites]

The dynamic with Erlich, Bighead, and Bighead's dad is great.

It's interesting that it takes awful Russ being Richard's id to get him to leap, or to act. I kept saying to myself watching the episode, "Yeah, starting a company or dreaming up a big project does have to involve some ego, necessarily." Though it's not the choice I might have made, I can't blame Richard for departing from PiperChat—if it's not something he really believes in, how can he lead it?

In summation: I will never not love Jared.
posted by Zephyrial at 8:53 AM on April 25, 2017 [1 favorite]

I thought Monica had joined the Pied Piper team at the end of last season. If she had, she'd have been the best choice for CEO.

But yes: nice to see these characters again. Interesting to see them introduce a plot line that doesn't (yet) touch the main cast with the Gavin and Jack.
posted by synecdoche at 3:58 PM on April 25, 2017

The best Easter Egg: when Russ Hanneman peels out in front of the school his stereo is blasting Last Resort by Papa Roach, a la another famous douchebag.
posted by Itaxpica at 9:14 AM on April 26, 2017 [1 favorite]

Huh: ‘Silicon Valley’ And The Origin Of The ‘Driving Off Listening To Papa Roach’ Joke [uproxx]
posted by General Malaise at 6:05 AM on April 27, 2017 [2 favorites]

It really says something about the world we're living in that when the article pointed out that the Paul Ryan thing was "only" a month ago, I couldn't believe it.
posted by Etrigan at 6:10 AM on April 27, 2017 [3 favorites]

I also thought that Monica was fired from Raviga for going against Laurie and had joined Pied Piper...and Wikipedia agrees with me. Huh.
posted by radioamy at 6:48 PM on April 27, 2017 [1 favorite]