If you’ve yet to see what is arguably one of HBO’s best-ever television shows, we recommend you fix that as soon as possible by making your way over to Showmax and turning on Silicon Valley. It’s a show so crammed full of jokes and equally dramatic moments that will not only have you busting a gut multiple times an episode, but also have you invested in the characters and, most importantly, this ultra-realistic tech world on display.
It’s no wonder that Silicon Valley is as good as it is with Mike Judge at the helm, who is behind some of the best series and movies (Beavis and Butt-head, Idiocracy) of the modern era. It’s made all the better with a star-studded cast that really sells the geeky vibe the series goes for. Leading the show is Thomas Middleditch, an incredible improv actor who doesn’t often get to show off his talents due to the incredibly tight script each episode follows.
He’s joined by an equally impressive ensemble cast who all play their parts perfectly. There’s Zach Woods as the lovable and particularly loyal business head, the now-famous Kumail Nanjiani as a stringy coder, and Martin Starr as a security engineer with a love of Satan. And then there’s T.J. Miller as the iconic Erlich, a retired CEO who owns the “incubator” where the team lives rent-free in exchange for a 10% stake in their companies.
Silicon Valley follows this group of nerds on their journey to break into the prestigious tech world of Silicon Valley, before Richard (Middleditch) finds himself and his revolutionary tech in a bidding war with a VC (venture capitalist) and the CEO of one of the biggest tech firms in the world; Hooli (a obvious stand-in for Google). Richard ultimately turns down a buyout to make a name for himself and his innovative compression company, Pied Piper.
Serving as the series’ antagonist is Gavin Belson (played by the wonderful and extremely believable Matt Ross), a narcissistic Elon Musk-like figure who makes it his life’s mission to beat our heroes in the realm of data compression.
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It’s comedy only matches that of Arrested Development’s witty, often seasons-long gags, and we don’t say that lightly. Silicon Valley doesn’t like to spell out its jokes, rather letting them mull in the back of your mind until something finally clicks. It also makes the series one of the most rewatchable ever, with so many in-jokes spanning the series’ six seasons that can only be picked up on a second or even third viewing.
One of Silicon Valley’s best features is its ability to not talk down to its audience, while at the same time not dumbing down the incredibly technical lingo on display here. Does the average viewer understand Richard Hendrix’s game-changing algorithm, or how it manages to make files smaller than anybody else? No, but that doesn’t matter. Silicon Valley gives you just enough to keep your eyes from rolling to the back of your head.
What makes Silicon Valley so watchable is its incredible sense of realism. HBO doesn’t shy away from ribbing on real-life companies and their failures, only made better by the occasional cameo from a real CEO who isn’t afraid to take a joke. Even if you consider yourself fairly ignorant of the tech world, Silicon Valley’s easily digestible premise might just change your mind and get you interested in the tech world.
It’s one thing that Silicon Valley managed to get six seasons at all, despite not penetrating the mainstream media during its infancy, and quite another that it manages to stick the landing quite as well as it did. It’s an emotional send-off to one of HBO’s best-ever series. But we’ll leave you to figure that bit out for yourself.
