Silicon Valley: Signaling Risk
May 8, 2014 1:41 PM - Season 1, Episode 5 - Subscribe
The pursuit of a new logo takes precedence.
A great episode all around as the gang tries to get a new logo, works on becoming more of a company, and eventually gets a shocking result on their garage.
A great episode all around as the gang tries to get a new logo, works on becoming more of a company, and eventually gets a shocking result on their garage.
I thought this episode was the best yet. Of course, it seems almost inevitable that Monica will become Richard's love interest (and/or vice versa) but I would be fascinated and heartened if the show found another use for its only woman other than as someone's girlfriend.
As for Peter Gregory (RIP) I'm guessing there will be a funding upset (TechCrunch related?) and Pied Piper will be handed off to new overlords. Or there's always the TeleHuman...
posted by Aubergine at 2:07 PM on May 8, 2014 [1 favorite]
As for Peter Gregory (RIP) I'm guessing there will be a funding upset (TechCrunch related?) and Pied Piper will be handed off to new overlords. Or there's always the TeleHuman...
posted by Aubergine at 2:07 PM on May 8, 2014 [1 favorite]
I would be fascinated and heartened if the show found another use for its only woman other than as someone's girlfriend.
Yeah, that was the only thing I hated about this episode. I hope to god they're not going to do the most predictable thing and make her into a love interest. I would really be pissed if that were to happen, it's just so lame and cliché.
posted by mathowie at 2:35 PM on May 8, 2014 [1 favorite]
Yeah, that was the only thing I hated about this episode. I hope to god they're not going to do the most predictable thing and make her into a love interest. I would really be pissed if that were to happen, it's just so lame and cliché.
posted by mathowie at 2:35 PM on May 8, 2014 [1 favorite]
I'm of two minds about the Monica thing now that I think about it. Either
a) She does predictably become Richard's girlfriend/joins the Pied Piper team as a PR girl or something equally un-techie as whatever she does now (exec assistant? PR?) BUT Mike Judge in his Mike Judge-way somehow skewers the predictability of this very scenario in carrying it out; OR
b) She grows into an important character in her own right via some as of yet unexplained characteristics/abilities/deus ex machina, thereby also subverting our idea of the usual narrative.
Obviously there's also c) where scenario A happens without any skewering whatsoever and is simply a continuation of every other show where it's practically a law of physics that the pretty girl and the main character will get together...
I'm kind of betting on scenario a) however, because the show has so far been all about holding the mirror up; it's not about shattering stereotypes so much as gleefully exposing the absurdity of the world in which these stereotypes can flourish. I would be surprised if the show failed to recognize the satiric potential offered by this very common trope.
posted by Aubergine at 3:45 PM on May 8, 2014
a) She does predictably become Richard's girlfriend/joins the Pied Piper team as a PR girl or something equally un-techie as whatever she does now (exec assistant? PR?) BUT Mike Judge in his Mike Judge-way somehow skewers the predictability of this very scenario in carrying it out; OR
b) She grows into an important character in her own right via some as of yet unexplained characteristics/abilities/deus ex machina, thereby also subverting our idea of the usual narrative.
Obviously there's also c) where scenario A happens without any skewering whatsoever and is simply a continuation of every other show where it's practically a law of physics that the pretty girl and the main character will get together...
I'm kind of betting on scenario a) however, because the show has so far been all about holding the mirror up; it's not about shattering stereotypes so much as gleefully exposing the absurdity of the world in which these stereotypes can flourish. I would be surprised if the show failed to recognize the satiric potential offered by this very common trope.
posted by Aubergine at 3:45 PM on May 8, 2014
I'll be honest and say that if this show wasn't on immediately after Game of Thrones I would have given up on it already. But this past episode was great!
I'm sad about the Peter Gregory news. He was a fun character and I was hoping to see more Peter v. Gavin awkward hatred stuff.
posted by sparklemotion at 4:49 PM on May 8, 2014
I'm sad about the Peter Gregory news. He was a fun character and I was hoping to see more Peter v. Gavin awkward hatred stuff.
posted by sparklemotion at 4:49 PM on May 8, 2014
Damnit, I didn't realise this was the episode I'd already watched and was looking frantically for a new one.
My favourite line so far has been Monica explaining to Richard that Peter and Gavin sincerely don't care: "These are billionaires, Richard. Humiliating each other is worth more to them than we'll make in a lifetime."
And the nice swings in perspective that going from struggling over a few thousand to the multiplying of millions and billions does to people, not just in the chase but the massive insignificance of other people fading away into a tiny tiny world.
posted by viggorlijah at 9:14 PM on May 8, 2014
My favourite line so far has been Monica explaining to Richard that Peter and Gavin sincerely don't care: "These are billionaires, Richard. Humiliating each other is worth more to them than we'll make in a lifetime."
And the nice swings in perspective that going from struggling over a few thousand to the multiplying of millions and billions does to people, not just in the chase but the massive insignificance of other people fading away into a tiny tiny world.
posted by viggorlijah at 9:14 PM on May 8, 2014
I'm loving this show! The satire's fun enough, but the friend/rival relationship between Gilfoyle and Dinesh is endlessly entertaining.
posted by Pope Guilty at 1:48 AM on May 9, 2014 [2 favorites]
posted by Pope Guilty at 1:48 AM on May 9, 2014 [2 favorites]
I would be fascinated and heartened if the show found another use for its only woman other than as someone's girlfriend.
I've been pleased with the role of the Monica character so far, as a non-love-interest woman, and I didn't consider her and Richard's interaction at the conclusion of this episode to indicate anything other than sympathy and remorse on her part for having played him earlier in the series. Neither of them is behaving as if they're attracted to the other in that way...yet. And I hope it remains that way, since there are so many other directions that they could take her character.
Hell, even Erlich, the token blowhard in the "How To Meet Ladies" t-shirt, seems to have been resisting objectifying her, even though come on, she's pretty hot.
posted by doctornecessiter at 5:16 AM on May 9, 2014
I've been pleased with the role of the Monica character so far, as a non-love-interest woman, and I didn't consider her and Richard's interaction at the conclusion of this episode to indicate anything other than sympathy and remorse on her part for having played him earlier in the series. Neither of them is behaving as if they're attracted to the other in that way...yet. And I hope it remains that way, since there are so many other directions that they could take her character.
Hell, even Erlich, the token blowhard in the "How To Meet Ladies" t-shirt, seems to have been resisting objectifying her, even though come on, she's pretty hot.
posted by doctornecessiter at 5:16 AM on May 9, 2014
Just speculating - did her reveal that she invested 10% of her salary set up her taking on an investor role in Peter Gregory's absence? (I hope his family is doing okay. I can't imagine.)
posted by michaelh at 7:01 AM on May 9, 2014
posted by michaelh at 7:01 AM on May 9, 2014
Sadly, this was the Peter Gregory actor's last show, as his cancer spread after the taping of the series and he died a few months later. It'll be interesting to see how they write around this major problem in the show. Will they just continue to refer to him off-camera and just never show face to face meetings? Or will they have to have some other investment group come in to take over the role as the hard-to-read funders?
Mike Judge was interviewed by Howard Stern this week and tells a different story from what seems to be in the news. He said that the actor who played Peter Gregory was in remission from cancer. He said they finished filming episode 5 on a Thursday and on Sunday he died very unexpectedly from a heart attack. Judge's hypothesis was that the chemo had weakened his heart.
He indicated that they did a bit of reworking of episode 5 after his death. Now that I've seen it, I suspect Monica's role in that episode became larger after his death, in preparation for however they are going to explain his absence in the future.
posted by amro at 4:26 AM on May 10, 2014 [2 favorites]
Mike Judge was interviewed by Howard Stern this week and tells a different story from what seems to be in the news. He said that the actor who played Peter Gregory was in remission from cancer. He said they finished filming episode 5 on a Thursday and on Sunday he died very unexpectedly from a heart attack. Judge's hypothesis was that the chemo had weakened his heart.
He indicated that they did a bit of reworking of episode 5 after his death. Now that I've seen it, I suspect Monica's role in that episode became larger after his death, in preparation for however they are going to explain his absence in the future.
posted by amro at 4:26 AM on May 10, 2014 [2 favorites]
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Sadly, this was the Peter Gregory actor's last show, as his cancer spread after the taping of the series and he died a few months later. It'll be interesting to see how they write around this major problem in the show. Will they just continue to refer to him off-camera and just never show face to face meetings? Or will they have to have some other investment group come in to take over the role as the hard-to-read funders?
posted by mathowie at 1:48 PM on May 8, 2014 [1 favorite]