Double Takes: Season 3 of ‘Silicon Valley’ returns with no shortage of laughs or conflict

Craig Wright

April 24, 2016

HBO’s ‘Silicon Valley’ returns with a complicated future for the minds behind the technology company Pied Piper.

As the conclusion of Silicon Valley’s second season, it seemed as if Pied Piper, the data compression company created by Richard Hendricks (played by Thomas Middleditch), may finally have overcome its legal troubles against the tech giant Hooli. But of course, Hendricks was far from safe as he and the company face a brand new set of issues with the blossoming tech company. Emerald writers Craig Wright and Alex Ruby share their thoughts on the show’s return.
Craig’s take:
There can be no peace for Richard Hendricks in HBO’s Silicon Valley. The comedy about David taking on Goliath in the highly competitive technology industry of California’s Silicon Valley returned with all of its characteristic blunt humor and the endless trek of setbacks for the Pied Piper CEO.
In spite of the growing stack of obstacles set against Hendricks, his ego continues to build at an alarming rate. At a time when he should be leaning on his closest companions for assistance, he instead alienates them, forcing his allies to question if their commitment lies with Hendricks or the future of Pied Piper.
After the board of directors begins its search for a new CEO to take Hendricks’s place, he is forced to either swallow his pride and accept the role of Chief Technology Officer at Pied Piper, or give up his chance to work with the industry changing company he created.
T.J. Miller remains the comedic highlight as the foul-mouthed, bong-toting Erlich Bachman. In every scene at his “incubator” home, he appears with a different bong, at one point forcing Jared (Zach Woods) to empty a fishbowl-sized bong of the remaining smoke inside by using a quick puff-and release strategy.
The rest of the core cast returns with Dinesh (Kumail Nanjiani) and Gilfoyle (Martin Starr) as the bickering programmers who are debating whether or not to support the egotistical Hendricks. Their mutual deprecation counterintuitively continues to push the pair to an inseparable degree of dependency.
Silicon Valley continues to take standard comedy and phrase it slightly differently than expected to hilarious effect. It balances subtle humor with over-the-top visual gags, such as Bachman kicking a “Bambot” robotic deer, cursing its names as the shocked team of Stanford engineers watch in horror.
Surely, this season will provide many more beatdowns, both physical and digital, as Pied Piper continues to try to make its mark in the industry. The results will undoubtedly continue to be painfully hilarious and embarrassing for all parties involved.
Follow Craig on Twitter @wgwcraig
Alex’s take:

As someone who grew up in the Silicon Valley, HBO’s Silicon Valley really hits home. There are tech giants next to small startups everywhere. Teslas and self-driving cars roam the streets. This is what initially drew me to the show, the fact that it took place in an area that I was so familiar with, and a culture that I was basically born into.

What kept me watching was the awkward yet vulgar humor and the characters’ rich personalities. Each of Pied Piper’s employees are distinct and have their own kinds of humor. They each play off of each other extremely well. However, the only unenjoyable character is the (now fired) CEO of Pied Piper, Richard Hendricks, and season three’s premiere explained the reasoning rather well. In one scene, Dinesh and Gilfoyle have to decide if they’ll stay with Pied Piper after Richard’s been fired or if they’ll leave in solidarity with their former CEO. In order to get their frustrations out, the two come up with an acronym to describe their feelings about Richard: “RIGBY,” which means “Richard Is Great, But, Y’know…” It’s a really great description of Richard because at heart he is a good guy, but really he’s out for himself and too smart for his own good.

Besides Richard, Silicon Valley is still a great show coming into its third year. Its storyline has shifted from a startup struggling to survive to a real company with investors making decisions on behalf of the employees. It still has great jokes, relevant references to life in the Silicon Valley, and authentic character interactions. However, the season three premiere just felt like an episode in the middle of the season. It continues right where last season left off and there really aren’t any big surprises except for *spoilers* Big Head getting a hefty severance package from Hooli. I still want to see where the characters and the company go from here but it didn’t leave me sweating in anticipation for next week’s episode like so many episodes in the past have. Sure, the jokes landed in all the right places, but the plot is the show’s driving force, and it seemed this episode just stopped at a yellow light.

Follow Alex on Twitter @arubyrubrub

Watch the trailer for season three of Silicon Valley below: