Mike Judge's "Silicon Valley" (HBO Show)

should i watch this season? last season was pretty poor and repetitive

I think this season has been great. Last night's, episode 4, was the weakest one of the bunch, but otherwise I think I've laughed harder this season already than I did the entirety of last season. Jared is killing this season.

it's an improvement over last season but I truly hope they kill Richard by the end of this thing

gay dating site on the... chinese new internet? sure, why not

Michael - this season is much better, it’s just a funny comforting serialized show now

Yeah, the latest ep was a bit less funny but so far, and to my surprise considering the previous season, this is very good !
That said, I don't really like the evolution of Jian Yang into some evil guy against them (although the copying of US apps was fun).
The being christian as being gay issue was nice (but Richard initial fuck up for no reason reminded the worst moments of this show)

This show is still so funny

I liked the last episode. The second episode was the laugh vacuum for me. The third episode was one of the best episodes ever, maybe

yeah that third episode won't leave my head... show is best when it does social comedy over tech comedy

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I liked that episode.

eheh. yeah, it was a bit dark/creepy (Jared' lips, The robot and her abuser...) but I had some big laughs.
Not too glad about Denpok coming back, though.

Todd Louiso!

I liked the school visit. Knowing the show and richard I figured it was a set-up for a humiliating disaster, but he was totally comfortable and owned the room and kids were impressed. Fun.

yeah and so far, he still hasn't fucked up big time so it's fine with me. fingers crossed !
I find the show more balanced somehow.
It's maybe less hysterical/crazy than the best seasons but it's more likeable as a whole + nothing has made me want to smash the tv (yet).
Also Jared takes more and more space (deservedly so) whereas Big Head has almost completely disappeared (I was watching some of the first eps of s1 and it's quite impressive how his character was more important and less unidimensional).

That was the most enjoyable Denpok content to me

also fucking lol at him being a realtor

It was alright but I really can't stand him in general (except the time when he was trying to lie about hearing a conversation with Jack).
I much prefer Hoover.
The realtor reorientation was fun though.

can't sell ice cream on mars, elon's on his way there

todd loiuso was great casting

Realtor things otm ime - my best friend growing up is a tech guru that jumped ship on the dwindling returns from software in recent years to a lucrative real estate business. He even ended up on a reality show which was weird af

there's a certain personality overlap between a realtor archetype and a guru/cult leader one imo

Haven't searched Twitter yet to see if there are any "Kanye is Gavin Belson" takes.

They really need to pull back on Dinesh being such an insufferable asshole .

I vomited into my shirt

i ate two egg whites and a green bean.

They really need to pull back on Dinesh being such an insufferable asshole.

Remember when he was briefly CEO? It's a feature, not a bug.

yeah i get it but they totally drained the guy of any likeability at this point.

Dinesh's angst and pettiness doesn't feel like it's at 100% like it might have been if this were Halt and Catch Fire. This seems to be consistent with Mike Judge live action (but weirdly not animation) where everyone's performance is marked by a lack of affect, and I'm wondering if the opportunity to have so many characters where a lack of affect is built-in played into him developing the show.

As much as Gilfoyle still brings the lols, I think the writers have been struggling what to do with both of them as this arc plays out.

What if they marry each other?

ok?

Dinesh's asymmetrical relationship with the (former) mole makes me think he really needs a buddy

I think the writers have been struggling what to do with both of them as this arc plays out

a lot of the humor in this iteration of the show is too "sitcomy" for my taste but in general the Dinesh/Gilfoyle B-plots have been particularly painful.

aren't the A-stories equally hacky?

I came to a point after watching several seasons of The Apprentice - the UK version - where I just thought "wouldn't this be more interesting if they dropped the buffoons and had a season with actual smart people"? And Silicon Valley is kind of the same. If the characters were less grotesque, they might be funnier. I love Martin Starr but his character is basically Garfield at this point.

The strengths of this show are definitely not realistic or consistent characters

that ep was subpar and maybe the worst of this season.
most of (actually ALL) the plots were not very interesting/funny (the new china/jian yang, the robot, the gay subtext of richard/jared's relationship, the richard/laurie relationship fail, the dinesh/gilfoyle terrible competition...).
hopefully it's just a one-off in an otherwise mostly great season !

It was a surprise to see Big Head though !

man they really seemed to be going hard on the assholish entitlement angle + the direct equation of Tesla with a pyramid scheme + the literal idiot hunting through mountains of garbage + the bitcoin rhapsodizing... everyone is getting pretty fucking unlikable.

Still some quality lolz though - Bighead w the Rubik's cube, the whole scene with Monica + Gilfoyle + Richard in the office

This show has made me realize that my generation finally has its own stock villain: the tech billionaire. First yr the hero, then yr the monster (if you live long enough)

even Jared's been getting his turn as a bit of a monster

Happy that they didn't do a full episode about Bitcoin - seems a bit too obvious and Gilfoyle's alert was the only joke they needed

welp...

bighead and the Rubik’s cube was my fave, too

he can’t even cheat right

dinesh has completely worn out his welcome. whoever said they no longer know what to do with him is correct.

it's weird bc arguably (unless i'm forgetting someone?) he is having the best career of the ensemble

maybe middleditch if u weigh phone commercial $$$ against oscar noms

i know we never could have, but if we had had david gregory and laurie bream on this show at the same time it would have been so, so great

I think it makes more sense, you can write off a character with a bad trajectory more easily than one that's integral to the plot. Dinesh ends up ditching, and Kumail is free to go make movies and other shows, maybe pop in for a cameo

his character could even be wildly successful after pied piper and it'd be him returning to rub salt in wounds

they've already set up a possibly lethal comeuppance for betraying hacker girlfriend.