Silicon Valley: Fifty-One Percent

June 29, 2018 11:36 AM - Season 5, Episode 8

In the season five finale, Monica is suspicious of PiperNet's early success. The team races against the clock when their future is threatened. Richard makes a surprising move.
posted by Tevin (7 comments total)

I just finished this season and noticed the last two episodes hadn't been posted yet.

This finale was...fine, I guess? I'm having a hard time getting any strong feelings about this season overall. I think I'm mostly dissatisfied with the half-assed nature of the story-telling. Be episodic. Be serialized. Or be a combination, but know what you want to be before you start a story (two episodes of Fiona and then ... ?).

One other note: Richard and Gavin need to be on screen or going at each other as much as possible. I think their dynamic is the best the show has going for it at this point.
posted by Tevin at 11:38 AM on June 29, 2018 [2 favorites]

I think this season should have ended with Gilfoyle as CEO.
posted by Catblack at 11:43 AM on June 29, 2018

Speaking of Gilfoyle: he and Monica have good chemistry and I hope Monica is allowed to be an actual goddamn regular. The show did a better job at giving women screen time this season but I'd like for her to be part of Pied Piper full time.
posted by Tevin at 11:53 AM on June 29, 2018 [1 favorite]

Did... did we just end a season with a victory? What the fuck is this show?
posted by Etrigan at 12:20 PM on June 29, 2018 [1 favorite]

I like how the beginning and end of the season were bookended with them going through the side doors into their new digs. I knew it wasn't going to be the tripping hazard that the first episode had, but it was nice to see it as a "victory".

Personally, I cackled through the whole "Gavin's box made in the USA" storyline, as being someone on the team of local red carpet receiving lines (it's very embarrassing!) and as someone who is hoping our community hasn't sold the farm to get HQ2.
posted by Hermeowne Grangepurr at 12:58 PM on June 29, 2018

Finally got around to wrapping this season and it was completely meh for me.

Sometime in the thick of this season, though, I started viewing this more like a cartoon where there were no real consequences and everything got reset in some way – very Simpsons-esque. No one learns, no one grows; they're just the same characters going through some things. While there are some light arcs here and there, there aren't enough for the payoffs to be really satisfying.

I'm also very bored with the characters. Bring in Monica, focus on her, let's see how that changes things. But no real hopes for next season here, and basically no reasons to continue watching. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
posted by hijinx at 6:28 AM on September 27, 2018

Richard's last minute plea to Gavin seemed very Richard-authentic to me so I was thrilled by the ending. Although at one point I was sure Jian Yang was going to end up as CEO of Hooli.
posted by TWinbrook8 at 4:48 PM on September 14, 2019