Blu-ray Review: 'Silicon Valley - The Complete Second Season'

Article first published as Blu-ray Review: 'Silicon Valley - The Complete Second Season' on Blogcritics.

HBO’s Silicon Valley is releasing The Complete Second Season next week, just before the third run begins. Although not a novel approach to home video, it is certainly appreciated, as Silicon Valley is a hilarious comedy ripe for binge-watching, and had I not already seen all of the episodes on this release, I would likely be plowing through them. As it is, I am tempted to watch again anyway because the show is particularly good.

If you’re not familiar with Silicon Valley, it takes place in the tech mecca mentioned in the title, and follows a small group of programmers and their start-up company. Richard Hendricks (Thomas Middleditch) is the brains, developing a compression algorithm better than anyone else ever has before. Along with his pals, Gilfoyle (Martin Starr) and Dinesh (Kumail Nanjiani), landlord and loudmouth Erlich (T.J. Miller), organized support man Jared (Zach Woods), and the advice of Monica (Amanda Crew), who works for their first investor, Richard founded a company called Pied Piper to sell his creation.

Season two begins with the Pied Piper team shopping around for new investors, wanting to scale up their product. At first, they’re riding high from a big win at the close of the freshman year. But then Gavin Belson (Matt Ross), the villain of the piece, CEO of huge corporation Hooli (think Google), shows back up and sues Pied Piper, claiming it was developed on his computers. Belson also has Richard’s friend Big Head (Josh Brener) in his employ, a useful pawn in the competition.

The rest of the second year becomes a back-and-forth struggle as Richard and company try to keep control of their invention, while those with a lot more money than they have try to wrest it from their grasp. It’s a classic David-versus-Goliath battle in the world of geeks, and only one of them can win. Will it be our heroes? Or will Silicon Valley show them struggle through defeat and have to come up with something else to rise from the ashes? Honestly, it’s quite uncertain through most of the ten episodes.

Complicating matters are two new faces for the sophomore season. Suzanne Cryer’s (Two Guys, a Girl, and a Pizza Place) Laurie takes over Peter Gregory’s company. Gregory’s portrayer, Christopher Evan Welch, sadly passed away last year, and his character is similarly written out. Cryer does a good job, but definitely brings a different energy than Welch had. Chris Diamantopoulos (About a Boy, The Office) enters as eccentric rich man Russ Hanneman, who soon involves himself in Pied Piper’s affairs, both as a help and a hindrance. 

Silicon Valley is a geeky look at a niche subculture that everyone knows about, but few venture into. The actual Silicon Valley is a world unto itself, and it’s great to get a sneak peek inside, especially with this very talented cast of humorous performers, who make dark situations look fun; there are laughs to be found in their misery. I cannot recommend the show enough.

As far as extras go, there are six audio commentaries that are very welcome, featuring creator Mike Judge (Office Space), the hilarious T.J. Miller, and others. There are also the obligatory deleted scenes, and a brief featurette about “The Art & Science Behind Silicon Valley.” In all, not a lot, and I couldn’t help but wish for more. But at least what is present is solid.

I can’t say there are strong, specific reasons for choosing Blu-ray over DVD. There aren’t a lot of special effects, outside of the very cool theme song, and the soundtrack is pretty basic, as it usually is for most sitcoms. But things just look so much better in HD, why would you want an inferior quality if given a choice?

Silicon Valley: The Complete Second Season will be available next Tuesday, April 19, at retailers everywhere.

SILICON VALLEY a Place of Geeky Good Fun

Article first written for Seat42F.

The title of HBO’s SILICON VALLEY pilot is “Minimum Viable Product,” but the series is more than minimally viable. Tackling the world of computer programming in a high brow manner, the show (from Beavis & Butt-head creator / Office Space director Mike Judge, among others) follows a group of intelligent, nerdy guys who find themselves both in and other of their element while pursuing their careers and dreams. It’s funny and authentic.

The main character, at least in the first episode, is Richard Hendrix (Thomas Middleditch, CollegeHumor.com, The Wolf of Wall Street). Richard creates a website he’s passionate about where people can check their music to see if it infringes on any copyrights. This may sound like a narrow pet project that would be hard to garner interest in, and it is. But while some bullying co-workers are checking it out to find fodder to pick on Richard for, they discover his search algorithm is revolutionary and could change the entire internet landscape.

Richard is such an interesting character, and surely one familiar to most people. He is very focused on his passion, not even realizing the true implications of his creation. Even when he does, he’s mild-mannered enough to waffle on making any decisions. But he’s also got enough spine to distance himself from the competing voices and consider what he really wants, and that’s what he goes with. It makes him complex and different from most people on TV.

Even though it’s hard to see Richard get knocked down by his peers, it does feel realistic that the valley would have a high school-esque hierarchy. True, even the “cool” kids in this environment were probably geeks growing up, but with a lack of maturity, meaningful female partners, and discipline, the employers being lax to encourage creativity, it makes sense that base human nature would flourish.

This continues even in Richard’s home. His best friend, Big Head (Josh Brener, Glory Daze), is a true pal, but leader of the house, Erlich (T.J. Miller, The Goodwin Games), is more interested in using Richard to get his piece of the pie, demanding a 10% cut of whatever is created while living in his “incubator.” Another roommate, Gilfoyle (Martin Starr, NTSF:SD:SUV, Veronica Mars), also seems disinterested until Richard offers to let him work on the site, and then he comes around.

The house itself generates most of my favorite scenes in the first episode. It’s like a clubhouse, boys living like they would without parents, a free-wheeling place for guys to just hang out with guys. It may get more serious soon, as Richard’s baby is nurtured into a full-scale business, but hopefully the dynamic of the residents, meaning the four listed in the preceding paragraph plus Dinesh (Kumail Nanjiani, Franklin & Bash, Portlandia), the token Indian, will stay intact because it is fantastic.

Even outside the dwelling, the world is fully fleshed out and interesting. From buses owned by, and playing ads for, the business the employees riding it work for, to the boss’s observation that all the dorks move in basic sets of five, to the guy arguing that no one should go to college at a TED talk, this is a vision whose every detail has been considered and executed well. It’s a place that makes fun of itself.

The TED talk guy, Peter Gregory (Christopher Evan Welch, Rubicon), is Richard’s first investor, allowing Richard to keep ownership while growing the brand. He has a pretty assistant, Monica (Amanda Crew, Whistler), whom, of course, Richard is smitten with, providing the romantic pairing of the show. And there’s Richard’s boss, Galvin Belson (Matt Ross, Big Love), and his assistant, Jared (Zach Woods, The Office), who represent the corporate types, looking to buy out Richard and reap the rewards of his work. So the outside influences are firmly established, too.

HBO’s half hour series tend not to last long and have very niche viewership. Yet, I can’t help but think that SILICON VALLEY, perhaps because of the age in which it airs, provides enough connections to the world to bring in the viewers. Considering it follows Game of Thrones, which will have the nerds already on the right channel, it’s got a plumb viewing spot, too. I have high hopes for this to succeed.

SILICON VALLEY airs Sundays at 10 p.m. ET on HBO.