What I’m Watching: Silicon Valley

Silicon Valley: Season 2, Episode 9 “Binding Arbitration” (B+)

Watching this show is very much like watching a train wreck in the process of happening, guaranteed to occur in some fashion even if the first few collisions aren’t fatal. Bighead bringing Richard a Nucleus phone was a wonderful gift, and I like that Bighead had to point out that Richard seemed to be, for once, a few steps behind him. Using that as leverage to let the lawyers talk and say what each of their clients should and shouldn’t actually say led to the amusing scenario of binding arbitration, with a disbarred and disgraced former attorney representing Richard and trying to help him get off without confessing to something he appears to have done. After Bighead was mesmerizingly aggrandized for accomplishing absolutely nothing, Erlich’s time spent on the stand could have done exactly what it needed to. Instead, his pride resulted in a slip of the tongue that led Gavin’s lawyers directly to the conclusion that Richard’s girlfriend was in fact his computer. It may not be as bad as Jared quite literally killing someone by having the camera turned off, but it definitely is not going to leave Pied Piper in particularly good shape heading into the season finale. This show isn’t one for extravagant closing moments, and so I doubt that season two will end in some dramatic fashion; likelier a subtler and typically miserable turn of events that don’t end up being quite as dire as they initially seemed. It’s been a fun season, and it’s a shame that it’s almost over.