What I’m Watching: Silicon Valley (Season Premiere)

Silicon Valley: Season 4, Episode 1 “Success Failure” (B+)

This show’s return every season always catches me off guard, and I think this show is much better than a lot of people think. Then I remember, of course, that this show is highly-acclaimed and has been nominated for a number of awards. This debut was great, showing us where this season is headed, with an unexpected but equally inevitable break between Richard and his friends in business, with Richard moving to a totally new big idea – creating a new Internet – while they keep the video chat platform. Who else but Russ, who put radio on the internet, to fund Richard’s extreme new effort, and while I can’t imagine that it’s going to work, I’m excited to see where it goes. Big Head almost becoming CEO was fun, and it’s nice to see that Dinesh is going to be stepping into that role, with everyone’s approval, including Gilfoyle’s since he thinks he wins either way. Jared expressing his disappointment at Richard leaving was a rare moment of drama, though not one that lasted too long. I’m glad to see that Jack Barker continues to be a character, and that he got demoted to the D-level sub-basement because he dared to have Gavin’s plane drop him off in Jackson Hole before taking Gavin home, something that Gavin had to have field-tested with five insanely long international flights in order to prove. Apparently there’s one punishment that’s the same across all tech companies in Silicon Valley: putting people you punish in direct view of the men’s bathroom and the stalls when the door is open.