Silicon Valley: Optimal Tip-to-Tip Efficiency
June 2, 2014 6:29 AM - Season 1, Episode 8 - Subscribe

Data is discussed. Erlich is revoltingly awesome. Jared comes (further) undone. Season finale, but the show is renewed for a second short season.

Collider's recap and AV Club's recap.
posted by viggorlijah (30 comments total) 3 users marked this as a favorite
 
I'm really glad they didn't push Monica and Richard together in a romantic sense. My husband and I were watching it with my mom*, and he described Monica's role as the love interest for Richard (rather than as a lackey for Peter Gregory). I disagreed strongly with this assertion because Monica and Richard have no chemistry, first of all, and second Monica already is too much of a token that any romantic angle would just be an insult.

*I credit the writers for making the lengthy dick-jerking discussion funny enough that I wasn't embarrassed to be watching it with my mother.
posted by aabbbiee at 7:26 AM on June 2, 2014


Hahaha, I ALSO watched this with my husband and my mom and also agree that the extended dick joke was so damn funny that it didn't bother me that she was there. (The same cannot be said for the end of Game of Thrones; I desperately wished she'd missed that scene.)

I thought this episode was hysterical and I really, really enjoyed it. I have no idea how they'll get around the death of Christopher Evan Welch, though. Killing off Peter Gregory doesn't seem like it would fit with the show's ethos, but having him disappear doesn't gibe with what Monica said about how he wants to be more involved.
posted by devinemissk at 8:01 AM on June 2, 2014


I would be very happy if instead of replacing Peter Gregory, they had Monica-centered scenes, referring to him. The actress has a nice sense of poise and competence without being corporate - she comes across as intelligent and capable. What Jared wishes he was.

Jared's pivot questions tied back to the dreadful name, and I loved his polite declining of the cop's "kind invitation".
posted by viggorlijah at 8:04 AM on June 2, 2014 [2 favorites]


The Hooli presentation was hilarious, but it warmed my heart that the contest rewarded merit over showmanship (despite ostensibly including ability to bring the product to market as a criteria) and that the judges pushed past Richard's stumbling delivery to demand proof, even if the intent was to dismiss Pied Piper.
posted by carmicha at 8:18 AM on June 2, 2014


The "dick-jerking" discussion made me stand up and clap in front of my television. Just a perfect combination of nerdery, beanplating, and just the right kind of randomness that can lead to breakthroughs. Loved it.
posted by ColdChef at 8:18 AM on June 2, 2014 [11 favorites]


I read on Kumail Nanjiani's Twitter before the episode played that we were being set up for "the most elaborate dick joke ever on TV" and I seriously doubted it, but man was that epic, and hilarious, and I think he was right.
posted by mathowie at 8:43 AM on June 2, 2014 [9 favorites]


When the dick joke started, I was a little worried -- this is a sausagefest of a show with and at that point in the episode they were in the midst of creating Monica as a love interest.

But the execution was just fabulous. I'm a little sad that that was the season finale (at least it won't be the series finale, though!)

I think that an off-screen Peter Gregory could be pretty fun. Especially since his character was established as over-the-top eccentric. Having him decide to move to his oil rig permanently or something would be perfect.
posted by sparklemotion at 8:58 AM on June 2, 2014 [1 favorite]


I don't see any problem with recasting his role. I can imagine it being too cumbersome to think of ways to avoid showing that character, especially if he's investing more and more time into the company now.

I feel like the show definitely pairs Monica with Richard in a romantic way. Fortunately, it's not the character's sole purpose. They hinted heavily to an eventual hook-up, though one that will be delayed by the fact that Pied Piper is back in the fold now.

The handjob algorithm had everyone I was watching with howling.
posted by GrapeApiary at 1:02 PM on June 2, 2014


> it's not the character's sole purpose

Yeah, the fact that she's actually better at her job than Jared is a nice touch.
posted by morganw at 1:08 PM on June 2, 2014 [2 favorites]


It will be interesting to see where SV goes. Unfortunately, I think the writing collapsed once the Peter Gregory / Richard interaction had to be sidelined. Everyone loves a good dirty joke, and Richard's inspiration was interesting, but it definitely seems to be a half firing engine.
posted by R. Mutt at 1:48 PM on June 2, 2014


"I'm gonna Disrupt this bathroom."

There were a lot of good bits in this finale, and honestly I feel like the show was written just for me. I get ALL the nerdy web jokes!

And honestly, the "dick jerking discussion" may have been the funniest thing I've seen in a few years, I was belly laughing. Especially when it actually turned into an aha! moment. Brilliant satire!
posted by pwally at 3:09 PM on June 2, 2014 [3 favorites]


I think that's one thing this show has over the vaguely similar — although not really a comedy — Betas is that Silicon Valley has torpedoed the romantic relationship between the two leads.
posted by ob1quixote at 7:47 PM on June 2, 2014


Erlich is just so pleased that he knows how long it would take to jerk off everybody in the room.
posted by Pope Guilty at 8:13 PM on June 2, 2014


I love this show. I was falling out of my chair at the jerk off segment. I'm glad it was renewed because I really want to see what happens next to these characters. Peter Gregory needs to be recast, they can't keep him as this cartoonish recluse.
posted by Slarty Bartfast at 11:08 PM on June 2, 2014 [1 favorite]


The "dick-jerking" discussion made me stand up and clap in front of my television. Just a perfect combination of nerdery, beanplating, and just the right kind of randomness that can lead to breakthroughs. Loved it.

Reminded me very much of any number of late nights at the l0pht or Caezar's Challenge parties at DefCon. Very authentic.
posted by scalefree at 11:29 PM on June 2, 2014 [1 favorite]


Aside from the epic dick joke, my favorite line(s):

Gilfoyle: "Every day I feel like I've died and gone to hell."
[pause]
Dinesh: "He's a Satanist, so that would be a good thing."
posted by doctornecessiter at 3:54 AM on June 3, 2014 [12 favorites]


I'm rapt I discovered this series, especially since it will probably never come to NZ (if it does, it will be buried as Episodes was) and is so much what TBBT could have been but never will be. The lack of canned laughter makes me realise how unfunny shows that have it really are.

I was concerned about what the jerk-off routine was leading up to until I noticed Richard and then it just got betterer.
posted by arzakh at 6:01 AM on June 3, 2014 [1 favorite]


And honestly, the "dick jerking discussion" may have been the funniest thing I've seen in a few years, I was belly laughing. Especially when it actually turned into an aha! moment. Brilliant satire!

I'm the adult supervison in a pod of young analysts and if I tell you that at least once a day we have a discussion that is pretty much exactly this, I'm not exaggerating.

I made Husbunny watch it just to give him an idea of what my life in the cube farm is like.

If anyone in that room has a brain in their head, they'd take pictures of those whiteboards because it's crap like that, that proves that it was your idea.

I've now got to figure out how to use D2F Ratio as a euphemism for something because MAN, that is some funny shit!
posted by Ruthless Bunny at 10:54 AM on June 3, 2014 [1 favorite]


Elrich's non-declaration declarations to the press surrounding Gavin Belson were pretty great too. I was thinking that he might actually destroy Belson with about two minutes of carefully-worded nonsense!
posted by doctornecessiter at 11:28 AM on June 3, 2014 [4 favorites]


Again good jokes, but overall, it felt to me like the end of a Harry Potter movie. "600 points to Pied Piper house! Richard, once again, you are the greatest wizard!"

I'd like to think Mike Judge would veto dramatic technical instabreakthroughs and so was a bit disappointed.
posted by ignignokt at 9:41 PM on June 3, 2014 [1 favorite]


Heh, I wonder how confident he was at being picked up for another season. Maybe he wanted a quick n' easy wrapup in case they weren't renewed.
posted by tracicle at 10:45 PM on June 3, 2014 [2 favorites]


Aside from the epic dick joke, my favorite line(s):

Gilfoyle: "Every day I feel like I've died and gone to hell."
[pause]
Dinesh: "He's a Satanist, so that would be a good thing."


I literally sold someone on the show today by explaining that line. The pacing/setup/delivery of that scene and line was just perfect. It was absolute top-of-his-game mike judge stuff right up there with some of the best lines in king of the hill or beavis and butthead.

It also felt like it was strongly channeling b&b with the whole dick jerking thing, if only just for a second.

This is probably the best episode of the show so far, closely followed by "third party insourcing"/s01e06
posted by emptythought at 2:03 AM on June 4, 2014 [3 favorites]


One question I had -- why was Hooli presenting at a startup conference? I thought there was already controversy over Pied Piper being there since they were funded. I'm sure I missed something. Great episode and great show -- TJ Miller is a former Denver guy so that's always nice to see.
posted by Clustercuss at 9:25 AM on June 4, 2014


why was Hooli presenting at a startup conference?

In the episode where PP was notified that they were accepted for the conference, there was an exchange about Gavin assuming that Peter Gregory had put Pied Piper up to it in order to somehow get the drop on Nucleus/Hooli. So Gavin decided to enter to make Peter Gregory look bad, and then Pied Piper couldn't drop out because it would look like Peter Gregory was scared.

I think this was the lead up to the "we are all pawns to these billionaires" conversation between Richard and Monica.
posted by sparklemotion at 9:54 AM on June 4, 2014 [1 favorite]


That makes sense, thanks, but it seems like a big company like Hooli wouldn't even be allowed to present at something like that -- though maybe it was more of a demo thing than an actual pitch?
posted by Clustercuss at 10:20 AM on June 4, 2014


Yeah, isn't Disrupt for startups?
posted by Pope Guilty at 7:12 PM on June 4, 2014


I think they mentioned a few episodes ago that Gavin was giving the keynote, not competing.
posted by condour75 at 7:59 PM on June 12, 2014




Just finished season one and can't wait for season two. I hope they keep Peter Gregory as an off screen character for a little while, but I do hope they can work in an ersatz Peter Gregory, because it's such an awesome character that isn't really found in other shows.
posted by drezdn at 9:30 AM on September 8, 2014 [1 favorite]


i guess i'm a little late to this, but... that was a pretty decent dick joke.
posted by logicpunk at 3:40 PM on August 13, 2015 [2 favorites]


« Older Game of Thrones: The Mountain ...   |  Last Week Tonight with John Ol... Newer »

You are not logged in, either login or create an account to post comments

poster