Silicon Valley (HBO comedy)

I'm still enjoying it, but it's blander than it used to be. However, this week's episode was probably the best-written one in a long while.

"You look like a fish-man."

 

I thought the previous episode was much better where it felt like old times. This one I liked less and matches the underwhelming tone of the season as a whole.

What's missing is a central narrative, the corporate scheming, wheeling and dealing, the intrigue, the clever solutions to setbacks, the follow-ups, etc. We now have established characters going through the motions, responding to random developments of the week.

 

Yup, I'm slightly bummed that this show has fallen victim to '5th Season Sitcom Syndrome'. The characters react exactly the way you expect them to react, the 'work' they're doing is far more abstract or less defined than it once was. All they need is some dating drama to turn into The Office or another vague workplace show. You think that with any number of cable shows planning full multi-season arcs (beginning/middle/end) this show would follow that model, but it sure isn't looking that way.

 

My wife figured out that guy who was the gay christian was the guy from "Role Models" who says,
"Paul McCartney's got nothing on me! "LOVE take me DOWN to the STREETS!"

 

A.D Miles - he's been in a bunch of stuff/comedy writer/etc...

 

The wife and I spend the last two weeks trying to pull it out of our heads WITHOUT the help of the internet.
She got it before me!
We think it's a way we're gonna avoid losing our memory.... and, our minds!

 

I lost it at Guilfoyle's reaction to Jared's lips.

 

So, with episode 6 we have seen the worst episode of this season and the series. It was embarrassingly bad on all fronts. What's happened to this previously great show?

 

Ouch. I didn't think episode 5 was very good, either.

 

Yeah I'm kind of bummed still good compared to some sitcoms. But meh... they really should've tried to keep erlich, or at least replace him, the stripped down cast isn't really working either.

 

It's not just down to losing Erlich, the show itself has lost direction. Has there been a writing staff reshuffle?

 

I honestly think it’s a case of a show running out of steam. All scenarios have been played out. The show has run its course. It happens with sit coms.

 

I'm not so sure about that (ie, running out of scenarios). This show isn't really a traditional sitcom, it's heavily serialized, and it's this part that has been lost. We now have largely self-contained episodes (like a traditional sitcom) with only a vague overarching narrative.

Think back to earlier seasons when they had the superior compression algorithm and how the development of such permeated every episode, be it the technical angle, sourcing funding, competing groups, corporate intrigue, etc. There was a strong central narrative keeping everything together. Now we just have random Gilfoyle/Dinesh jokes that go on far too long, random developments like the robot AI thing, Gavin deciding to give it all up and open an ice cream shop, and then reverses - I mean it's just sad.

As for new scenarios, the development of a distributed web is actually a great idea. They could really have done a deep dive on this as they had previously with the compression stuff. But it's taken a backseat to the random nonsense that happens in each episode.

So I think there is still plenty of potential that could have been explored, but hasn't been for whatever reason, leading to my question about the writing staff. The writers need to know this stuff really well (they used to) and not just wing it, because it will show.

 

Agree with above, it's hard to care about their plight at this point as well, I'm not sure on writing staff, maybe judge took a step back, losing Erlich was a killer they were the two leads and without their dynamic and interplay it's like Felix without unger

 

How about an episode where they really do jump the shark? Think Jared with his puffy lips waterskiing with his leather Pied Piper jacket.

 

I liked the current season. Left me wanting more. No complaints

 

Why did they only do eight episodes this year?

 

Kiss my piss

 

I didn't. But it ended strongly. The last episode was by far the best one.

 

I thought this season was decent, but much of it has become tired. Jared stepped up to help fill the loss of Erlich, but there was only so much that could be done. If the series ended now, I’d be okay with it. It’s pretty much spent.

 

Enjoyed the season and yes, the season finale was a step above the rest!

 

it was my favorite show for three seasons but....man. the loss of Erlich affected it a lot more than I thought it would. it felt like the office without steve carell or rick gervais.
......is it too late to get him back for next season

 

I didn’t miss Erlich much myself. Couple shows were kind of boring but for the most part the series was pretty funny this year

 

Heck, a year ago, I would have said that Erlich was a supporting character (albeit a very entertaining one) whose loss would not impact the overall arc of the show. However, this season showed that the rest of the characters are far less interesting without him -- especially Richard. His schtick bordered on insufferable for most of this season. At certain points this year, I thought Gavin Belson was the more entertaining character and that's saying a lot...

 

Ottawa is far removed from Silicon Valley but has its own tech scene, and one guy I know who works in it says he doesn’t find the show that funny because it just hits too close to home.

Anyway, I’ve just got into the show and have been binge-watching over the past couple of weeks, currently starting into s4. I’m really enjoying it and its layers of humour, right down to the ever-evolving title sequence - although one does sometimes want to slap Richard upside the head sometimes and yell “this is why you should never be C.E.O.!” The constant self-sabotaging brings the show precariously close to Idiot Plot territory at times, but it has yet to cross the line...hope the rest of s4 and s5 keep this up!