Silicon Valley - Season 4 (HBO) (1 Viewer)

[joshEH]

First trailer for the new season just dropped today:



Premieres April 4th.

Fuckin' Jared. He makes this show for me. If that car is anything to go by, they may be looking through Peter Gregory's former belongings at the end (R.I.P.).

 

[joshEH]

New trailer:



This is the magic of grown-up Haley Joel Osment. So happy this show's back in my life.

...OMG, Erlich mansplaining "mansplaining" to Laurie Bream and Monica:

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

A-fucking-mazing.

 

[TravisR]

"We are essentially a, a criminal operation whose only real product is large scale fraud... I see your fluent in Japanese."


They got comic book legend Daniel Clowes to do a poster for the new season.

 

[joshEH]

I think I officially lost it when Jared seemed genuinely hurt that they weren't doing the drumroll. Zach Woods embodies sadness so well, I often wonder if random people just hug him on the street.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

I think I officially lost it when Jared seemed genuinely hurt that they weren't doing the drumroll. Zach Woods embodies sadness so well, I often wonder if random people just hug him on the street.

It's like "The Office" originated this persona as a rough lump of coal, and then "Silicon Valley" squeezed it until only a shimmering diamond of earnest, melancholy loyalty remained.

 

[joshEH]

If you took out the comedy, then this show would seem more emotionally-abusive than Game of Thrones. The comedy is the only thing that keeps the sight of these guys constantly fucking themselves even remotely bearable.

Sometimes when I think about this show, I almost think of it as a drama. I think about the tension, the suspense, the trauma of constant struggle, and then I remember that it's really goddamn funny, as well. It's actually comparable to Breaking Bad in how they write their characters into corners that are so tense, and then perform legitimate, organic narrative-miracles to get them out.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

It's definitely one of the few half-hour comedies where I'm at least as invested in the "sit" as I am in the "com".

 

[Aaron Silverman]

And those of you who don't work in tech don't even realize just how true to life this show actually is. It's like the Spinal Tap of computers.

 

[joshEH]

Russ Hanneman:

"It could be any dude, as long as you really wanna fuck him! It could be...a Twink, a Bear, an Otter, a Circuit Queen, a Chub, a Pup, a Hipster, a Daddy-Chaser, a Leatherman, a Ladyboy, a Donald Duck! A..."Donald Duck" is a gay guy who's been kicked out of the Navy."

Also, Russ speeding off listening to Papa Roach.

Also-Also: "I'm at the wrong fucking school."

 

[joshEH]

Looks like Cheetos, tastes like asshole!

Some other thoughts on the episode:

- That HBO logo-bit before the episode started was terrific. (Erlich petting Jian Yang on the head...)
- Monica and Jack both have nice new offices with fantastic views.
- LOL @ Gilfoyle fucking up the Uber-pitch on purpose. ("You're not even my driver -- this says 'Sandeep, in an Escalade'.")
- Gilfoyle calling Dinesh "The Karachi Kid."
- Gilfoyle's racist "BLACK COFFEE" mug.
- Jared: "When I was on the street, it was a means of survival."

And also, Jared: "I've always been very adept at taking on the shape of whatever shoe was pressed down upon me..." Poor Jared is like the dog that the kid in a movie makes run away.

Jared is Lassie, basically.

 

[TravisR]

Russ Hanneman:

"It could be any dude, as long as you really wanna fuck him! It could be...a Twink, a Bear, an Otter, a Circuit Queen, a Chub, a Pup, a Hipster, a Daddy-Chaser, a Leatherman, a Ladyboy, a Donald Duck! A..."Donald Duck" is a gay guy who's been kicked out of the Navy."

Also, Russ speeding off listening to Papa Roach.

Also-Also: "I'm at the wrong fucking school."

All that stuff was a highlight. I'm glad they explained what a Donald Duck is.

It looks Chris Diamantopoulos is a cast member so Hanneman will be in alot more episodes this year. Same with the great Stephen Tobolowsky.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

The best part of the Russ Hanneman scene was that there were small children in the frame for a good 70-80 percent of the profanity/explicit sexual references.

I still think they need to move Monica out of Raviga. If she had been CEO instead of Richard, at least half of their crises would have been avoided.

 

[joshEH]

Well, *that* was fast -- Smellson and Hooli are FUCKED.

It's so crazy how quickly they made me hate Dinesh so much. And then they made me feel bad again.

The thing is that Dinesh never actually sold Piper Chat -- Belson just flat-out demanded he hand it over, or else he was going to sue the crap out of him for what he said on-air about "stealing from Hooli Chat." So by demanding them to just hand it over, Gavin's lawyers didn't go through due diligence and discover the big COPPA secret that would destroy him.

And Dinesh can now personally claim in court that he was strong-armed into the turnover, since no actual money ever changed hands, and Pied Piper's lawyers can play the whole incident up as extortion. Neither Dinesh personally nor Pied Piper as a company will likely be held liable, given these facts.

Other great moments in the episode:

- "Octopus. It is a water animal."

- "You can't just wiggle your little tush and expect every investor in the Valley to get hards-on!"

- Bighead giving Richard Skyrim cheat-codes.

- "Have you seen the latest Sports Illustrated swimsuit-issue? The cover model had the most lovely, enigmatic expression..."

- Matt McCoy's big return: "Perfect timing. I've just completed the detailing on this Kia."
(Also: "My shame will linger long after my voting rights are restored.")

- Erlich screaming to Jian Yang will never not be gold.

 

[Sam Posten]

This might have been one of my favorite episodes in seasons.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

"I hope you have a good lawyer."
"He works at the car wash down the street."
"What?"

The focus group at the end just about killed me. "Now, Carl, you said the new sign-in page made you nervous" directed at the lone pedophile in a room full of young children, as the reflective side of the two-way mirror pulsed with the fury of Gavin's pounding fists.

 

[TravisR]

- "Octopus. It is a water animal."

God, that was funny.

 

[joshEH]

Man, Jared was absolutely on fire last night:

- "Richard...you were inside us?!?"

- "Richard entered us without consent."

- "First of all, EVERYONE reads the Terms of Service..."

- "We can talk about sports teams...and their scores...a-and.....pussy......but we CANNOT talk about business!!"

- "And there's also the moral-quandary -- even if he could get away with it, could Dinesh really sell the company, knowing it's basically a Sizzler buffet for the sexually-deranged?"

(Also loved how the total COPPA penalty-numbers didn't completely hit home until Jared finally tilted his phone sideways.)

 

[joshEH]

DISTANCE TO DESTINATION: 4126 MILES
ENJOY YOUR RIDE!

WHY AM I FEELING BAD FOR GAVIN BELSON'S CRIPPLING LONELINESS

Not as laugh-out-loud as last week's episode, but as table-setters go, this one was great. Lots of really interesting directions this season could go, and I'm pretty jazzed that they're finally going to explore the connection between Gavin Belson and Peter Gregory that we lost out on when Christopher Welch died.

Other great stuff from the episode:

"Hey, y'know, they said that after Alan Turing got chemically castrated, he got a lot less annoying."

- "...Oh, right, 'cuz of Chinese."

- Erlich clutching his head in despair during Jian Yang's "octopus"-pitch.

- Laurie being absolutely indifferent to her pregnancy. Holy shit. (Is Russ Hanneman the father? Wait...it's probably Erlich.)

- "Being a Satanist just means you're ugly, and you're leaning into it."

- "I did sex on her."

- Bighead had a Slurpee-top on his Double Gulp. The tiny little details in this show are hilarious.

"Erlich, do you know how much Ed Chen just fucked me with Laurie??"
"Listen, a threesome is always awkward, especially your first one. Laurie being a little bit older--"

 

[TravisR]

"Erlich, do you know how much Ed Chen just fucked me with Laurie??"

I guess it's because she's already on thin ice with Laurie but how does this not end up looking worse for Ed than Monica?