HBO’s “Silicon Valley” returned last night with its season three premiere, bringing back all your favorite incubator nerds and that one girl who smokes cigarettes to add sexual tension.
It’s a show about a place inaccessible to most people of all ages. There’s a reason these people have so much money — computer science is not easy. But the valley is the behind-the-scenes of the world the rest of us live in, and the situations in this show reveal there are many competitions between young people interminably trying to get through life.
Since “Silicon Valley” viewers have seen Richard Hendricks’ (Thomas Middleditch’s) Pied Piper baby chasing the music of the valley up and down and in many circles, season two left viewers in a predicament that they would likely come to expect following the group’s previous win in court against the obnoxious and power-loving Gavin Belson (Matt Ross).
Hendricks is salty he was voted out of his former CEO spot, and, as usual, is willing to leave behind all he has worked for — and all those who have worked with him — in the name of nothing more than his pride. He founded Pied Piper and, again, he would rather it go down with him than see a new CEO take it over and make it foreign.
The lovable, proud and always supportive “Original Jared,” or OJ, helps out his pal/employer by giving him a list of companies on the up-hiring CTOs, suggesting Hendricks leave the same position at his own company for one elsewhere. Makes sense — maybe OJ is still a little high from having to clear Erlich’s bong earlier.
Erlich, on the other hand, is introduced to the prospective Pied Piper CEO, who happens to be familiar with (and even a fan of) Erlich’s own company, Aviato — need I say more? Yes, he definitely approves of the CEO choice. Bertram and Dinesh also plan to stay with Pied Piper .
Viewers are caught up with Nelson “Big Head” over at Hooli, who is offered a settlement as he’s fired with the conclusion of the branch no longer relevant after Belson’s defeat in court. Just a couple million dollars, a.k.a. Big Head’s usual dumb luck.
This allows time for Hendricks to shop around at companies who want to hire him. He repeats — in his classically awkward and nonsensical way — to one group, “your pump-ness makes me pumped,” which had originally been shared with him by Jared. It’s clear that Hendricks is not sold on giving his life away to an app that puts mustaches on things.
Finally, the ex-Pied Pier CEO meets the new CEO, Barker, and after their conversation and some of the usual deep realizations that this show full of bad, nontechnical decision-makers, he decides this is the best move for his company. He is supposedly returning to welcome the new CEO when the episode cuts out.
Though the episode followed the obvious “Silicon Valley” algorithm, there were plenty of laugh-out-loud moments in Hendricks’ interactions with his coworkers, and there’s undoubtedly another goofy glitch or two around the corner.
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