The characters that we've come to know, have matured as the years go by - some more quickly than others, though they've not grown so rapidly as to be totally unrecognizable. Previously, they've always been the underdog, scrambling to survive and always on the backfoot. The team's only saving grace was that they had genuinely talented people who cared about their mission.Now we're seeing them in a habitat of success, how far can they take their skills?
Warning - crude tech humor ahead
Silicon Valley is as loud and rude as ever, but it's (spoiler alert!) also pretty sad at the end.The Premise
On the back of their success, all eyes are now on Pied Piper as they aim for the next rung in that ladder. After the usual suspects throwing roadblocks into the works, the team meets with unprecedented success - but the cost of that success is terrible to bear. The team has to make a heart-breaking decision right there, and there ends the struggle of six years of work.The Characters
Thomas Middleditch is Pied Piper CEO Richard Hendricks. We've seen Richard at his most awkward and bumbling, but we've also seen him at his most brilliant. This Season, we get to see it all over again. The earnest tech wizard, who, at his very core, sincerely does wants to make the world a better place. The guy who tells nerdy jokes that nobody gets, and even those who do get it, don't find funny. The guy who's prone to the odd body spasm as his emotions get ahead of his brain. Middleditch delivers, and we really feel him.How Richard discovers the growing danger that is the Pied Piper creation, is nothing short of brilliant. It really showcases Richard's pedant and attention to detail.
Zach Woods as Jared Dunn. Is it my imagination or has Woods gotten a little pudgy? Woods is equal parts nurturing and neurotic as Pied Piper's resident walking conscience. Jared starts off lost as Pied Piper has grown to the point where he doesn't think he's needed anymore. We're treated to a little subplot where he finally meets his birth parents and finds out just how unwanted he really is by his actual family. It's all really sad.
Woods puts up a great performance as always. While Jared gets many moments, he feels severely underused this Season, which is a great pity.
Kumail Nanjiani as Dinesh Chugtai. Dinesh has become increasingly unlikeable with each Season due to his pettiness, vanity and vindictiveness - traits he shares with Gavin Belson. And the thing is, he knows it. Dinesh shows remarkable self-awareness in the finale, and it's largely down to him that the day is saved.
Nanjiani carries this role with amazing skill. Ever since the departure of Erlich, it's hard to find a character we hate and love in almost equal measure... unless we count Jian Yang.
Martin Starr plays the anti-social tech whiz Bertram Gilfoyle. This Season sees him create an A.I, battle with HR, and almost make a new friend. All with the same trademark unflappability. Starr is superb, and the platonic chemistry he shares with Amanda Crew's Monica Hall has to be seen to be believed.
Amanda Crew as Monica Hall. Monica has been increasingly fun to watch the past Season, and she continues this pattern here with very well-timed facial expressions and sage business advice. And when she's really stressed...
Matt Ross as Gavin Belson, the fallen CEO of Hooli. Gavin is on his way down, and his ill-fated schemes to regain his power and prestige are at least partially what drives the show.
Gavin isn't the main villain this time; arguably he has very little to do with the trouble the Pied Piper team find themselves in at the end of the Season. By the end, he's become little more than a slapstick figure who's all but thrown his toys out of the pram.
Comedian Jimmy O. Yang as Jian Yang. This guy is incredibly talented. Jian Yang can go from ingratiating to coldly dangerous in a heartbeat. That baleful glare we've come to know takes on new levels of menace this Season as he plots to further his place in this world. Unfortunately, most of his schemes, while dastardly, are impractical in nature and all too easy to foil. He's come a long way since that stuttering Chinese stereotype in earlier Seasons.
Helen Hong plays Tracy Robertson, Pied Piper's HR. Her interplay with Gilfoyle is amazing. That upbeat chippy psychoanalyzation of Gilfoyle against his cold deadpan snarkiness, is a joy to watch.
Craig Frank as Michael Eisenberg. He's Richard's liaison at AT&T. He's only in a few scenes, but I like that character. His candor is refreshing in Silicon Valley.
Tyler Jeffrey Smith as Nathan, a tech in Pied Piper. He's there in one scene, but damn if he isn't Gilfoyle without the beard.
Aristotle Athiras as Gabe. Awkward and nerdy, and really good at (unintentionally) getting under Dinesh's skin, with his wearable chair.
Nandini Bapat as Gwart. Doesn't say a word the entire Season, and her expression is mostly bland.
George Basil as Ethan. He comes across as helpful and eager to be useful, at first, then quickly becomes insufferable as he displays an appalling lack of respect for Richard who is now his CEO. Gets put in his place quite soon, though. By Holden, of all people.
Neil Casey is Colin, K-Hole boss. He's an asshole, but boy his level of douchebaggery really lampshades that of Facebook and Google.
"But going forward, maybe stop saying, Pied Piper won't mine user data... or do say it. I don’t care. Maybe it'll be like Google saying, Don't be evil, or Facebook saying, I'm sorry. We'll do better."
Ben Feldman plays smarmy lawyer Ron LaFlamme. What can I say? This guy is good, and Feldman's standards haven't flagged since the first Season. The easygoing yet savvy lawyer gimmick just never gets old.
Josh Brener as Nelson "Big Head" Bighetti. I've become increasingly irritated with this character. I swear, this guy seems to become dumber with each Season. I have nothing against Josh Brener, but what value does his character bring to the show now?
Suzanne Cryer plays Laurie Bream with the usual robotic mannerisms. Ruthless, pragmatic and almost totally expressionless, Cryer pulls it off as well as ever. Even when she's in flirt mode.
Chris Diamantopoulos as Russ Hannemann. A-ha! One of my favorite characters is back, and while he gets more to do than in previous Seasons, here he's a full bag of insecurities. But the stuff that made me love watching him - the crudeness, the crassness, the sheer materialism - are still present in spades.
Aaron Sanders as Holden. It turns out that Holden learned more than a little from Jared, because mid-way though the Season, the way he handled Ethan was nothing short of classic Jared understated menace. Too bad he leaves the Season halfway without anything more than a footnote. Sanders deserves a lot of credit here.
Bernard White is Denpok, Gavin's spiritual advisor. It occurs to me he's Jared's counterpart. Richard relies on Jared's moral compass to guide him and talk him out of unethical decisions. Gavin relies on Denpok to steer him in a direction he secretly wants to go, but needs a good excuse to.
Chris Williams as Hoover, Gavin's fanboyish Security Manager. He's almost in attack dog mode here, but this Season, he and Denpok work together more than against each other.
Arturo Castro as Maximo Reyes, the gangster. Shit, this is the guy who plays David Rodriguez, the psycho from Narcos. He is great at this!
Henry Philips as John the server guy. His name is John Stafford. In this Season, his deadpan demeanor turns out to be a perfect foil to Gilfoyle's, and to Gilfoyle's chagrin, he even turns out to be better at chess than him.
Chris Aquino as Danny, formerly from Sliceline. Now in a relationship with Becky.
Rachel Rosenbloom as Becky, formerly from Optimoji. In a bickering relationship with Danny, in what appears to be a running gag.
Krishna Smitha as Priyanka Singh. There's nothing very interesting about this character. They basically recycled her in a gag that turned her from Monica's scapegoat to her downfall (in a very minor way). She's basically just a plot device prop here.
The Mood
It begins in a courtroom where Richard delivers an inspiring speech, followed by a celebration - seems to be a lot of that going around - back at Pied Piper's new office. Before long, politics rears its ugly head and the team finds itself in the thick of it once again. What happens next is a frantic race against time as they struggle again and again to keep disaster from striking. It always feels as though they're barely staying afloat, forced into one bad decision after another.Finally, they triumph, but at a sad and terrible cost.
What I liked
Holy shit. The Season really starts off strong with Richard being both awkward and inspiring (in that order) on National Television. It's that speech he gives that turns disdain into admiration. It's amazing what Richard can do when he truly hits his stride."We are in the seat of the US government, a government that was founded by people who were, at one point, ruled by kings they couldn't overthrow. So, what did they do, right? They started over. They came here, to the New World. World 2.0, version 1776. And the way we win is by creating a new, democratic, decentralized Internet, one where the behavior of companies like this will be impossible, forever. One where it is the users, not the kings, who have sovereign control over their data. This, I promise to you: I will help you end this tyranny by building an Internet that is of the people, by the people, and for the people, so help me God."
Gilfoyle's A.I is awesome. And it's hilarious how Dinesh manages to screw it up.
Colin's game engine eavesdrops on users and uses the data to run ads in the game itself. Hate to say this, but that's really creative, in a sick sort of way. Just wait till you see how Dinesh inadvertedly triggers a porn overload.
OMG, just look at Gavin Belson's presentation! HooliCares! HOOLISHEETS.
The part where Hoover is conspiring with Denpok. First off, it's great to see how these two ultimately self-serving guys come together in the face of a common threat. Secondly, I love how Denpok always automatically picks the answer that makes him look good, then after a pause, gives the real answer.
The entire subplot with Pied Piper buying over Hooli is a gem. For one, we have basically the entire team working together like a well-oiled machine, which is what I watch Silicon Valley for. And for another, there are so many references to past Seasons. And thirdly, yes, this is yet another classic example of Gavin Belson fucking himself over due to pettiness.
Gilfoyle declares "I would rather do my own mother than Russfest". Which is funny if you recall that Gilfoyle despises his Mom.
Gilfoyle and John get along so well that John actually sends him a friend request through HooliSocial. And for a moment, Gilfoyle almost accepts. This is significant because it shows that Gilfoyle is not all impenetrable shell. Also, who's the "DC" he keeps slagging in the background? Dinesh Chugtai?
That visual gag of Gwart disappearing. It's kind of mean, but still funny.
While I do think the ending was a bit rushed, it was a decent ending to a wonderful series. It brought the entire arc to a close, and even perennial moral fuck-up Dinesh gets to play a part.
And all those celebrity cameos! Can't begin to name them all, but Bill Gates is a standout!
What I didn't
Richard could have kept his big mouth shut and just let Gavin hang himself using the rope produced by his own plagiarism. But damn, he has to have that satisfaction of exposition. And Gavin, being the evil genius he is, thinks on his feet and outsmarts Richard. Though it's really a Pyrrhic victory for Gavin because all he manages to do is escape. This whole scene was both funny and annoying at the same time.True to form, this is how Richard appears on Jian Yang's mobile. Dude doesn't like anybody. But Monica's mobile, too? Ouch. I mean, it's funny and all, but it just doesn't make sense for Monica.
The ending feels a bit abrupt. It all screeches to a halt and we're treated to a time skip of ten years. It's all kind of jarring.
And damn it, where's Drew Daly in this one?!
Conclusion
Despite some flaws, Silicon Valley's final Season caps off six years of work in style. It's a fitting sendoff to everything that's come before. The characterization and events are largely consistent with how they've been portrayed in the past Seasons, and every main character gets a significant amount of air-time.Silicon Valley would never have lasted forever, and it's great that it decided to quit while it was ahead.
My Rating
9.5 / 10
Time to pay the Piper!
T___T
T___T
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