Silicon Valley: Mike Judge Strikes Again!

Turtlenecks, Skinny Legs,  and all.
"Stats, percentages, international comparisons, information. Email them fucking wads of information! And tell them to get their heads around it before they put pen to paper, or I'll be up their arses like a fucking biafran ferret, right? Come on, unleash hell!" - Malcolm Tucker, The Thick of It, S02E01




Between HBO's flagship drama, Game of Thrones and their flagship comedy, Veep, lies the second season of Mike Judge's newest fantastic creation: Silicon Valley.

The show details the lives of several tech developers in the titular area as they try to become successful as they develop a new company called Pied Piper. In its first season, the tech comedy was funny. It was vulgar like many of Mike Judge's other creations, had a very modern feel, and developed funny characters that were likable enough. However, in the second season, premiering just about a month ago, it's finally grown into itself. With the death of Christopher Evan Welch, a star of the first season, though sad, it has allowed the show to move in a bit of a new direction, expanding the world of Silicon Valley and developing an even larger ensemble of comedy.

At the helm of the show is Richard Hendriks, played by Tom Middleditch. He's neurotic, nervous, and above all, genius. However, much of the comedy and conflict in the show comes from his attempts to manage a multi-million dollar company after finding out that his de-compressor is actually worth money. In the beginning, I found Middleditch to be a bit annoying - someone not really funny enough to lead a show of this caliber. However, as it goes on longer, I've found a greater appreciation for his character. Though a poor manager, Middleditch is able to excel in bringing his uncomfortable, understated character to life, perfectly contrasting with the enormous personalities of almost every person in the show. In the second season, we begin to see Richard's rise, however. While he didn't have the courage to lift a finger in the first season against someone else, the character, as his company and position grows, is learning, little by little, to actually manage people. No, he's not Chinggis Khan quite yet, but one of the driving forces of the show is seeing how this awkward tech-developer will someone ascend to being a technological billionaire.

Fantastic T-shirts on this show too
Next to Hendriks is Erlich Bachman, the owner of the house in which Hendriks and the other programmers/designers started Pied Piper. He is the antithesis of everything that Richard stands for. He's a huge personality, a huge human, and hugely self-confident, despite his ineptitude at actually managing Pied Piper with Richard. Erlich is the source of a good deal of the shows comedy. His attitude toward life is one of wanting success, yet not wanting to put in the work to have it. Luckily for him, he seemed to have housed the right person, but even on the board of the company seems to be a recipe for disaster. He wants to be just like Pied Piper's newest investor, Russ Hannerman: obnoxious, womanizing, outspoken, and of course, rich. Once again however, it's the actual work ethic and general charisma that seems to be out of the question of Bachman's real success.

Also in the office are Dinesh and Gilfoyle, two of Richard's employees who constantly insult each other, screw with Richard, and other than their skill at their jobs, just basically wreak havoc. Most of the quick jokes and one-liners come off of these two. And, much like the rest of the show, once they found a place for them as characters good for filling some comedic space instead of ordering them into central plotlines, the two of them are excellent. Gilfoyle has some fantastic snarkiness, Dinesh is subtly funny, and their office antics, even if the rest of an episode is weaker, always provide the necessary laughs to qualify the half hour as worth watching. While their day-to-day plots have little significance, their laugh output is high.

My favorite character on the show is In the Loop and The Office's Zach Woods, portraying Jared Dunn. The man is a socially awkward behemoth. In his classically awkward style, Woods is completely inept when it comes to talking, constantly opening himself up to be made fun of and then doing his best to laugh it off underneath the open wounds. His lines are delivered perfectly - straddling the line between painful and flat in an expert way. Obviously, Woods has practice playing this type of characters from the aforementioned programs, but as a leading role in Silicon Valley, he's found a correct home for his comedic talents. Whether it's listing off old Julie Andrews movies, essentially telling his workmates to make fun of him, or accidentally getting shipped out of the country in a crate, Woods consistently delivers.
Zach Woods, in all of his tall gawky greatness

But, perhaps the best part of Silicon Valley is the little things they get so precisely correct. The evil tech billionaire, Gavin Belson, played by Matt Ross, likes to dress in a full suit, only with sneakers on. Richard constantly has a red hoody on. All of Silicon Valley is so obsessed with looking unprofessional and acting in a certain manner, that it almost becomes a new kind of dress code. The people that are cast also look like they could live in the real Valley. The amount of heavyset ponytailed men, skinny nerdy guys, and Asian/Indians is a stereotype, but one that the show constantly relies on for comedy - even acknowledging it at times. These minuscule but effective details show that the program actually know what it's talking about, as well as adding subtle jokes into every episode.

While perhaps not quite to the point that Veep has come to, Silicon Valley is slowly but surely becoming one of the better comedies currently on television. If it can keep it up and develop even further, Mike Judge could have another sprawling success on his hands.

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