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

Silicon Valley: Season 6, Episode 1 “Artificial Lack of Intelligence” (B+)

It feels like a lot longer ago than last May that this show finished its fifth season, but maybe that’s just because it’s been completely absent from the awards conversation recently after being a default player each year. I didn’t remember the last season all that fondly, but it was still better than a lot of what’s on television, and I’m ready for what I hope will be a strong seven-episode swan song. Opening with Richard pacing around the congressional hearing with the microphone box in his hand before tripping over himself after a surprisingly solid speech was a fitting opening. It’s certainly strange to see Pied Piper doing so well, though that’s sure not to last, especially given the way that Richard’s blackmail attempt to oust Colin resulted in him pitching an even more aggressive form of monitoring that definitely wouldn’t go over well with watchdogs concerned about data privacy issues. Jared feeling maligned and forgotten by Richard isn’t the most appealing plotline, but it was reassuring to see them work together well when he really needed help and for Jared to excitedly recognize a kindred spirit in Gwart. Gilfoyle building an AI to chat with Dinesh pretending to be him was typically clever, and of course their antics would result in a complete shutdown of the network because Dinesh got too carried away by what he could do with his AI. Leave it to Gavin to be so concerned with his ego that he ended up signing away most of his company so that he’s now been beaten in size by El Pollo Loco.