As someone who's loved the show from the start, Season 2 & 3 are also really good. I must admit, while I still love the comedy in Season 4, the overall/overarching plot is starting to lose me a little & I find myself enjoying the show a little less this season than I did with previous ones.
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Silicon Valley - S4 OT - The Venture Continues - Sundays on HBO
- Thread starter Cornballer
- Start date
As someone who's loved the show from the start, Season 2 & 3 are also really good. I must admit, while I still love the comedy in Season 4, the overall/overarching plot is starting to lose me a little & I find myself enjoying the show a little less this season than I did with previous ones.
Consistent. Marginal improvement perhaps, but generally it maintains the same quality. Stick with it!
I felt for the guy at first. But 5 seasons in he's absolutely annoying.
Why do I like Jared so much?
illiniguy05
Member
Because Jared FUCKS
Give him success and shift him to antagonist imo.
Yeahhh, that was really awkward. And there is no way TJ wanted out of the show. HBO fired him/let him go. TJ barely held it together during that part of interview, his eyes and body language telling the real truth.
Ghost_Messiah
Member
Would love to know the real story with Erlich. You'd think given he's such a staple of the show he'd be around for the show's entire run and the production team would move heaven and earth to keep him in. So his exit is just shocking and completely bewildering.
Hope the show doesn't suffer with his absence. He brings a lot to the show. Great character.
Looking forward to the Hooli-con episode on Sunday.
Hope the show doesn't suffer with his absence. He brings a lot to the show. Great character.
Looking forward to the Hooli-con episode on Sunday.
Sapiens
Member
My baseless speculation? His agents really fucked up negotiating his pay and HBO cut the cord sooner rather than later.Just watched this. Really bummed me out
I'm with Larry; I have no idea--based on T.J.'s explanation here--why he'd be leaving, especially given how much he praises the show.
mambadragon
Banned
Adam_Vania
Banned
this season is really losing me. nothing has any consequence. Richard sleeps w an investor's wife and 5 minutes later it doesn't matter at all. they get bought for $25 mil and then 5 minutes later oops yeah that's not happening.
really feels like they are rushing through plots, that some of these could be multi-episode arcs that are condensed into 20 minutes where they are introduced and fully resolved by episode end. nothing changes. nothing matters. these people aren't in any danger of losing anything.
it still has lots of funny lines but the characters themselves are suffering and becoming more 2d. maybe TJ leaving will shake things up but he was a major draw for me, they are going to have to really turn things around.
really feels like they are rushing through plots, that some of these could be multi-episode arcs that are condensed into 20 minutes where they are introduced and fully resolved by episode end. nothing changes. nothing matters. these people aren't in any danger of losing anything.
it still has lots of funny lines but the characters themselves are suffering and becoming more 2d. maybe TJ leaving will shake things up but he was a major draw for me, they are going to have to really turn things around.
Be aware that the show just spins its wheels -- nothing of consequence really ever happens, to the point where you could jump ahead to the most recent episode without being lost. That's understandable for a comedy, although most comedies don't pretend to have overarching narratives. Perhaps worse is that none of the episodes are particularly laudable, either, which is not as forgivable. That said, the show is pretty consistent and will continue to provide you with more of the same if that's what you're looking for.
I know I'm out at the end of the season. I should have dropped the show at the end of S1 or S2, to be honest.
Ghost_Messiah
Member
I here you man, and do agree to a certain extent. It does feel like this season is a complete narrative rush, covering multiple episode arcs in single episodes which is kind of a double edged sword. The pace keeps things fresh and interesting, but they're losing the potential for more comedy and great moments by burning through so much narrative so quickly. For example, Dinesh as CEO. That could have easily spanned a couple of episodes and would have been hilarious, but instead we only got a couple of jokes out of it.
After having re-watched seasons 1 to 3 recently and watching 4 now it does feel like the show has lost some of the magic, which is particularly distressing with TJ leaving too. I thought the most recent episode was fucking great, but it was a dire run of episodes that preceded it.
As for Richard sleeping with Liz, I do think we'll see a pay off at some point. It'd be a travesty if they abandon it and would suggest a decline in the writing so I'm confident we'll see something before the season's end.
Just hope the show's still good next season, with TJ gone and everything.
Diprosalic
Banned
this show lost me.
i can't stand it anymore.
i can't stand it anymore.
I keep thinking this is what they're going to do and they veer into it sometimes but always pull back a bit so that he basically just remains an asshole.
LoserMakesGood
Member
I agree with most here that this season has been the worst by far. Still enjoying the show and really bummed to see TJ go.
But I know who we need to save the show
,,,
But I know who we need to save the show
,,,
Bitanator
Member
I would not mind this show ending next season, with TJ leaving and the crew just kind of going through the motions still, I feel like it can end nicely with five seasons and be one of my favorite comedies I have watched.
Jack Barker is hilarious this season, I hope Gavin comes back and fucks with him again, the interplay between the two was great.
Jack Barker is hilarious this season, I hope Gavin comes back and fucks with him again, the interplay between the two was great.
Watched the first two episodes and felt kind of not interested in the show anymore, so I stopped watching. Then I caught up with the rest of the episodes just out of curiosity and I have to say that this season is great.
Plot wise it has the same issues of being just bad news after bad news, but I can't really complain because it's been hilarious. "Why would I have that information?" has made me laugh more than it should, can't wait for the next episode.
I really thought that the fire was going to be Erlich's end. It's going weird to see S5 without him.
Plot wise it has the same issues of being just bad news after bad news, but I can't really complain because it's been hilarious. "Why would I have that information?" has made me laugh more than it should, can't wait for the next episode.
I really thought that the fire was going to be Erlich's end. It's going weird to see S5 without him.
ZackieChan
Member
I'm torn. Moment to moment, the jokes are funny, and the show is entertaining. But Richard is insufferable at this point, needlessly creating drama. TJ will be missed, but aside from showing up and being funny, he doesn't really contribute much. On a meta level the show is boring and uneventful. But I'll still watch, because I still find it hilarious.
Cornballer
Member
New episode tonight:
Seems like they're resisting letting the guys have their success because at that point the show basically becomes The OC: Silicon Valley Edition.
I guess I could see them spending a season on letting the guys muck through the current SV hot button issues from the perspective of successful executives. Company culture, sexual harassment, employee diversity, H1N1 visas, bad acquisitions, the compression algorithm being used to enable Fake News, etc.
Maybe he'll buy the house. He already owns the fridge.
NYR
Member
Oh man. It was awful. I honestly felt bad for him, I worry about his long term prospects.
That actually could've been pretty cool and groundbreaking. Keep the same cast but shuffle their roles around and have them do a different venture each season. Some win some lose, some end up in between.
Damn, this is painful to watch. You can really tell he was trying to make this sound amicable, but it was totally one sided with HBO.
I actually feel bad, even though he did a really stupid and despicable thing with that Uber driver.
tearsintherain
Member
Thats the really sad thing, some of the funniest things in (the real) Silicon Valley is what happens when successful people fail miserably on their second, third, and fourth tries. Russ is a great example of that. Veep wasn't afraid to explore what happens to the characters in natural, organic ways but its too bad Silicon Valley is afraid to get out of its bubble.
It woulda been great if the crew had hit it big in season 3 or 4, then they could have followed the inevitable buyout from Hooli, becoming millionaires, getting layed off in a nice way, and each of them deciding they were the ones who were the reason for success and trying to do it all again, with money this time, and failing miserably. Or investing in random ass startups like Russ. Or buying sports teams, TV networks, e-sport leagues, brick & mortar companies, newspapers, etc.
It might not be. This show is all about taking things in unexpected directions, even if we know in this case where it's gonna end up.
I liked seeing Jared's meltdown. Wish they would've followed through on that more, but maybe we'll get something. Richard definitely deserved it for his idiocy there.
Nice to see that Richard's kindness in dealing with Gavin Belson is what got them out of a pickle this time, but now they're in a whole new mess.
Anyone notice that the floor of the presentation stage was covered in Jack Barker's conjoined triangles?
Mike Judge said they didn't follow this route early on because it's hard to make a billionaire's problems seem relatable. I get where you're coming from in that there's a good theater of the absurd quality to it, but it's hard to make a guy with a billion dollars griping about how he just lost $10 million of that on (insert crazy scheme here) sympathetic to someone like me living in a studio apartment.
Veep gets away with it because being a politician's no fun even at the highest levels. Even a wealthy president could be sympathetic because they've got a demanding day-to-day where they do a tough job and get little appreciation for it, but a billionaire who could drop what they're doing at any time and spend the rest of their life on an island somewhere doesn't get that same emotional slack.
ProjectPick
Neo Member
I think I'm done with this show after next the finale next week.
This episode was guys come up with good idea. Richard blows it because of something that happened several episodes ago. But wait they get rescued by random happenstance that was foreshadowed. And guess what that original plan still had something else wrong!!
It felt like the writers were lampooning seasons 1-3 arcs in a single episode.
This episode was guys come up with good idea. Richard blows it because of something that happened several episodes ago. But wait they get rescued by random happenstance that was foreshadowed. And guess what that original plan still had something else wrong!!
It felt like the writers were lampooning seasons 1-3 arcs in a single episode.
CocaMantis
Member
What a weird episode. It seemed like it was written and put together with duct tape in 10 minutes. As usual it had its moments but fell flat in the end.
forgeforsaken
Member
At first I thought Keenan Feldspar was just another VR guy, but this week and the posters at Hoolicon made it clear he's supposed to be a Palmer Lucky analog, interesting that the show portrays him as a total bullshit artist.
laughed a lot at the keenan feldspar photos parodying palmer luckey
but yeah, this season has been disappointing. there's no longer any tension since the main source of conflict is essentially richard being a dumbass. s1 and s2 had hooli/gavin, russ hanneman, endframe, s3 was jack barker (and to a lesser extent gavin still). s4 i thought had a good start with gavin joining up with pied piper to go against barker, but that's all been put aside for... vr?
but yeah, this season has been disappointing. there's no longer any tension since the main source of conflict is essentially richard being a dumbass. s1 and s2 had hooli/gavin, russ hanneman, endframe, s3 was jack barker (and to a lesser extent gavin still). s4 i thought had a good start with gavin joining up with pied piper to go against barker, but that's all been put aside for... vr?
Conor_Fool
Banned
Good fucking god this is depressing.
Such a good episode tonight but I'll be damned if it didn't have an underlying melancholy tone, especially knowing about TJs departure. I didn't know quite how attached I was to this show until all of this. Fuck man :/
Cornballer
Member
firehawk12
Subete no aware
Ah, so I guess this is how the status quo returns. Honestly I'm prepared to be done with Richard and hope he goes to jail, but I'm sure in season 5 he'll miraculously be free but also have to start over from zero so they can do this all over again.
Angelus Errare
Banned
Jian Yang fucking lmao!
NYR
Member
I agree whole hardly with this. It is such a basic formula, mailing it in. Richard is a horrible protaganist, I don't cheer for him at all, he is responsible for his own downfall, he is more Larry David then a likeable character.
Boombloxer
Member
He's become a smart dumbass.
Yep. I get the logic as to why they aren't having the guys actually get a win, but understanding the way SV actually works, this company wouldve been bought a while back. The adventures of the founders making it big, or a segway into lightweight Better Off Ted with crazy moonshots wouldve been more interesting.
All of this.
Pretty much. I'm just done with Richard.
I've seen nothing to indicate anything of the sort.
Rentahamster
Rodent Whores
Lotta funny moments, but I did get that "more of the same" kind of feeling.
Ghost_Messiah
Member
Loved this one. Thought it was super entertaining and hilarious with many twists and turns. TJ's exit was sad, but outside of that I thought the episode was great. Near-classic IMO. It does seem like the guys will be reset to zero in the finale which is kind of frustrating, seeing them completely fail again and have to start from square one next season.
It'd be nice to see them catch a break once in a while. Still though, looking forward to next week.
It'd be nice to see them catch a break once in a while. Still though, looking forward to next week.
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