I just finished the latest season of Silicon Valley on HBO Now (I just got the channel so I'm a little behind). I really liked the first three seasons of this show, but I felt like season 4 was a huge decline in quality. Spoilers, obviously.
They introduce plot points and characters (e.g., Hoolicon, Keenan wanting to buy the company, Ehrlich working for Bream Hall, Dinesh being CEO) and quickly resolve or dismiss the idea, sometimes within one episode. It would have been better if they had let one or two plot points simmer, then build tension. For example, they think of this plan to hack the Hoolicon app. It would have been really tense if they had spent 2-3 episodes trying to plan this, then when they have to actually execute it we're rooting for them. Or we could have spent at least half a season watching Dinesh incompetently trying to be CEO. That could have been really funny.
I am finding it less and less believable that these characters all still work together with no newcomers and no one leaving. For example, Gilfoyle says he won't work for Gavin Belson, then Gilfoyle joins the team anyway with little explanation. At some point, Gilfoyle and Dinesh would have gotten sick of the various start-up/buy-out cycles and decided to start their own thing or work elsewhere.
And finally, the characters have devolved into plot devices. Jared quits for about ten minutes just so something can happen that makes everyone appreciate him, then he comes back for no real reason. Jared always has ethical concerns that he is willing to toss away for the sake of Richard's friendship. Gilfoyle and Dinesh agree to be a part of whatever Richard is doing, despite neither of them liking or respecting Richard very much. Monica exists to tell Richard an idea is good or bad. Gavin exists to try to buy out or partner with Richard at least once per season. Ehrlich at this point, existed to provide the house where they all work. Otherwise, his character was in a constant cycle of working somewhere, then getting fired or quitting. Jian-Yang exists purely to get a reaction from Ehrlich (except the Gilfoyle/Jian-Yang refrigerator bit, which was IMO the funniest thing from the whole season). They inexplicably still have the Big Head character, who disappears for episodes on end without being missed since he hasn't added much to the show during its entire run. All of Richard's ideas are genius, original, and worth billions of dollars. And all of everyone else's ideas are shit (e.g., Keenan's VR, Hooli's attempts at middle-out), reinforcing how much everyone desperately needs Richard, the only smart person in the entire valley. Throughout the seasons, things happen that are supposed to be career suicide for the gang, especially Richard, yet they never are. Characters still want to buy his tech, he still has access to major events - there appears to be no consequence other than Gavin sneering at him, then deciding out of nowhere to work together.
There is no effort anymore to explain character's motives. This is disappointing for a show that started off so good.
Submitted October 06, 2017 at 12:56AM by murder_kitty http://ift.tt/2hPN2r8 television
