Few names strike up as much confidence with me as Mike Judge. From his early, crude series Beavis and Butt-head to his iconic films including Office Space, the multi-hyphenate creator knows how to appeal to the working class. He doesn't so much build a story as he allows everything to move at its own pace. While this can prove evident problems when faced with poor subject matter (nobody likes The Goode Family), it does allow for the average episode to be more reliant on characters. In the case of Silicon Valley, there is a joy in watching a show that at times feels like The Social Network with more dick jokes. Over the course of its brief seven episodes, not a whole lot happens, but in true Judge form, we laughed a whole lot along the way.
The premise is simple. Richard (Thomas Middleditch) and his band of programmers try to create a viable product to compete with the super successful Hooli company that he left. It is a mission to prove their worth in a place where the biggest bully is computers and people with finances. They are the underdogs living out of Erlich's (T.J. Miller) house. They pass the time by making crass jokes and finding new ways to prove how they're not racist. It isn't a whole lot, but when several episodes are based around figuring out a brand name, the anticlimactic nature of the series makes it particularly exciting.
In reality, this may be the slowest that a Judge series has taken to appeal to me. The characters didn't change over the time, but their early stories didn't build confidence. Even if not a whole lot happened, the progression of events were at times dull and the exchanges didn't click. They felt like caricatures which eventually went away. However, for a series that only had seven episodes to impress, it did waste a lot of time trying to justify its existence. By establishing the laws and brief rivalry with Peter Gregory (due largely to the unfortunate passing of Christopher Evan Welch), it felt like it was hitting familiar beats. It was nerds fighting for top nerdom.
Then something began to click around the fourth episode. They had established their cadence and the limitations of their humor. Each performer no longer felt like a caricature and instead began to formulate into something original. Where everyone felt gawky at first, they were now confident in their absurdity and willing to take computer programming down a peg. Whether it was making a highly crass garage door painting or calculating the most effective way to do hand jobs, the series embraced its crass nature and used it as a plus. It wasn't so much that the humor was gross, but when applied to computer mechanics, it took on new, inspired levels that allowed its faults to be replaced with ingenuity.
By the two part ending involving a session at Tech Crunch, where the final product (now known as Pied Piper) was competing for financing, there was a sense of growth. Not necessarily in that we understood what these computers did. In fact, a lot of the terminology is isolating to those that don't know computer code. It was always about these characters' obsessions with making a product and making money, even if they lost faith. With Erlich being the vocal, ribald lunatic leader, the gang began to feel reluctant to embrace upper class behavior. In that way, Silicon Valley was a delight.
In fact, the continuity was rather impressive on the grounds that some of the most ridiculous moments impacted characters. Where ideas like Jared (Zach Woods) being transported to a remote island while encapsulated in a freight (long story) could have been a simple gag, it ended up making his character something unique. In the finale when Pied Piper is looking for their advantage over the competition, Jared suggests "pivoting," or changing approach. What starts off as a simple idea quickly leads to him heading to the streets and spouting nonsense about the company to strangers. In this case, continuity helped to build one of the series' best gags. Jared was always a neurotic genius in that way, but by somehow isolating him from the group during formative moments, it allowed this universe to seem bizarre. We knew what dedication went into it, but we also knew how crazy it all really was.
It is highly quotable and most of all an effective show when it comes to riffing. If for no other reason, the cast knows how to pass time by making jokes. With T.J. Miller, Martin Starr and Kumail Nanjiani being the major performers, they bring a cynical laziness to the series that attempts to argue what the merits of computer coding really is. There's truth in it, but there's also a lot of greed that comes with it. By the end, the gang gets their day, but it isn't the moment that the series wants to end on. It would rather see Richard vomit in a garbage can minutes after getting a big deal. It is a reflection of the series having a triumph, but being more invested in the characters and their many follies.
If there is one flaw to the series, it is the brevity. Right as the series understood itself, it ended. It is one of the unfortunate side effects of HBO programming. Even then, seven episodes is relatively brief. Judge has proven to be best as slow builds here and with a great cast, it is unfortunate that very few moments between them exist. The only question now is if the series will return and where they could possibly go. Silicon Valley has a lot of potential to skewer the programmer generation for years to come. Then again, much like the last time one of my favorite auteurs came to HBO (Christopher Guest's Family Tree), I ended up having to bid a farewell prematurely. If there is one thing to look forward to going ahead with Silicon Valley, it is the hope that now that it knows what its potential is that it will exceed it and become something greater.
Rating: 3.5 out of 5
Comments
Post a Comment