TV Review: Silicon Valley 1×02, “The Cap Table” and 1×03, “Articles of Incorporation”

Episode 2: “The Cap Table”

Silicon Valley’s first episode was a great introduction and showed off the great potential of the show. Not coincidentally that first episode is all about potential as well. Gavin Belson and Peter Gregory literally fought over the potential of Pied Piper and Richard’s compression algorithm. The story told in the pilot is one we’ve seen before and ended on a triumphant note with Richard ready to seize his opportunity to make something of his own. This episode deals with the reality of that decision. Richard and Erlich show up to collect a check from Peter Gregory and Richard realizes that he has no idea how to run a company and that Gregory won’t hold his hand. With Erlich offering him no help beyond telling him that he needs to learn to be an asshole, Richard is forced to bring in former Hooli employee Jared Dunn for his business expertise. In order to set up his company Richard must decide how to structure his company and how big a share each member of Pied Piper should receive.

The central conflict of the episode is established quickly easy to understand. Unfortunately the whole thing feels really by the numbers. From the moment Richard starts to debate whether or not to keep Big Head on at Pied Piper, I knew he would eventually stand up for his best friend. Richard’s big “asshole” moment is robbed of most of it’s impact because the we see it coming from a mile away. The fact that the moment was designed to be immediately deflated by Big Head’s promotion softens the blow but the whole episode felt very familiar. If it wasn’t for the comedy being executed so well this would have been a seriously boring half hour of TV. Luckily, the jokes continue to land well. If Silicon Valley continues to tell familiar stories with a solid layer of comedy on top that’s fine and it will be a fine TV show. It would just be a disappointment to waste all of the potential that was on display in the pilot.

Episode 3: “Articles of Incorporation”

The end of the second episode introduced the overarching problem that Richard and Pied Pier will be dealing with. When Richard gave the Hooli “brogrammers” access to a version of his algorithm he gave Hooli a chance to compete directly with Pied Pier. Now the guys really need to get their ducks in row if they want to beat Hooli to market and have a chance to be successful. Richard naively believes that Pied Pier will succeed because it is a legitimately better product but, as Dinesh reminds us, inferior products win out all the time (poor betamax). This episode once again deals with the complications of running a startup and the almost mundane details that must be taken care of. Richard spends the entire episode trying to negotiate a deal to use the Pied Piper name when Jared discovers there is already a company in California operating as Pied Piper Incorporated.

This episode is a return to form after a mildly disappointing second episode. When Silicon Valley taps into specific issues in the tech and business world it makes the sitcom trappings fade into the background. Last week’s episode dealt with a situation we’ve seen on tv countless times and didn’t really do anything to put a new spin on it or defy our expectations. I can’t say that I’ve ever seen an episode of tv about the specific situation present in “Articles of Incorporation” and although the broad strokes might feel familiar the specificity of the issue makes it feel fresh. I also had a lot of fun with the side plots this episode of Erlich’s failed vision quest and Dinesh and Gilfoyle bickering about Gilfoyle’s status as an illegal Canadian immigrant. The immigration leads a genuinely funny resolution with the writers taking a small jab at the lopsided citizenship requirements for people from different countries. Even though I know that it would still take a Canadian immigrant longer than five minutes to obtain citizenship or a visa, I have seen personally how complicated the process can be for people of color.

The name plot also allows the show to continue to mock the way Silicon Valley operates. The opening video tease of Hooli’s upcoming Nucleus project feels like something a real tech giant would release, only with the ridiculousness dialed up to 11. Gavin Belson’s promise that making files smaller could make AIDS smaller was hilarious.  It was also great to see the search for a new name lead to Erlich having an seriously bad trip. Surrounding him with software icons as he spews random names and tech jargon was a genuinely funny image. With the icons mutating and the desert surroundings it was almost a modern day parody of a Salvador Dali piece. His return to the house with a small Hispanic child he seemingly abducted from a gas station certainly strains credulity but it was the perfect way to top off seriously funny episode.

Patch Notes

• It seems I must apologize again for falling behind. I dealt with a nasty case of food poisoning the weekend of episode 2 and have been usually busy in my  regular 9 to 5 gig. This has lead me fall woefully behind on the show. Going forward these reviews should be up in a much more timely manner.

• I neglected to comment on Peter Gregory’s plot from episode 3 because although I enjoyed it, it felt disconnected from the rest of the episode. It seemed designed to showcase how Gregory has become so successful and to provide a few laughs. On those terms I thought it was successful enough.

• Where’s Big Head?! Having him at Hooli seems like an easy to check in on what’s happening there but I understand he’s no longer a part of the team so he won’t be around as much. That being said I’m really enjoying Zach Woods as Jared Dunn and his addition to the group. I loved his revelation that Jared isn’t even his real name.