Just as a public announcement, there is a high-quality, big-budget, cult-following television show that premiers on HBO Sunday night that ISN’T "Game of Thrones." This gem isn’t so much hidden as it is overshadowed, and the name of that shadowed gem is "Silicon Valley". A vulgar following of a group of uncoordinated and introverted software engineers building a compression platform by the name of Pied Piper. Despite the fact that it is a comedy, the plot twists and turns revolving around the very survival of the company makes for captivating viewing.
Although, the most memorable moments of the show are a product of the chemistry between the actors on the show. The biggest laughs usually come from perfect delivery of punchlines and banter. In summation of the main characters, Richard is the CEO of his startup, Pied Piper. Erlich Bachman’s residence was the incubator and investor in Pied Piper along with Gilfoyle and Dinesh, who are both software engineers. Donald (who is known by his more affectionate nickname, Jared) joins the party late but eventually blends in and oversees the business side of things.
Erlich and Richard face conflict here and there through business disagreements. With Richard being the anxious tech-obsessed nerd he is and Erlich’s narcissistic entrepreneurial personality, they portray completely different characters but some of the most hilarious moments come when they are on-screen together. Dinesh and Gilfoyle deliver sarcasm in two distinct ways and their frequent battles of one-upping each other are a welcome meander from the main plot. Despite the stark differences, the dialogue is well-written and the jabs characters take at each other feel very organic. This is down to the cast as a whole really and it’s no surprise that they know each other well enough to play certain inappropriate groping games amongst themselves.
Three seasons in and Silicon Valley is still going strong with the most recent episode, “Building A Better Beta” fast-forwarding the timeline to Pied Piper’s beta launch. Erlich faces bankruptcy while the members of Pied Piper stress about whether or not the beta is ready for launch. On the side, Dinesh and Gilfoyle have a classic standoff as they attack each other’s lack of a social life and Richard receives some negative feedback from an investor. A slight gripe this week, would be the resolution of Richard dealing with the investor’s criticism.
A few cliché lines and some twinkly music later, and it’s resolved. Perhaps the tension had no time to build in just one episode. Although, I am more than prepared for a scenario whereby the investor’s grievances were serious enough to cause a negative response to the beta, and hopefully, the twinkly music dialogue bit was just a smokescreen. With only three episodes left this season, it’s no wonder the writers have resolved characters’ issues in “To Build A Better Beta,” and laid the foundation for all sorts of possibilities with a typically momentous cliffhanger.
Three seasons in and "Silicon Valley" is still going strong, boasting an 84 percent rating on Metacritic, an 8.5/10 on IMDb and a whopping 98 percent on Rotten Tomatoes. Comedies aren’t often acclaimed as this one and there’s still plenty of time to catch up in time for the season three finale, so don’t risk missing out on this gem!
P.S: It makes processing the feels of "Game of Thrones" easier.
