I’ve mentioned before that Silicon Valley excels at making the same recycled plot interesting and compelling with nearly eisode, that even though most episodes are about some force, be it Richard’s own actions or the plotting of outside companies, throwing a monkey wrench in Pied Piper’s status, there is still a ton of entertainment value in it. This week’s episode was a bit of both of these plots, Richard’s own petty and childish behavior almost causing his developers to drop out, though we eventually find out he was only half to blame.
After a few less-than-stellar episodes, “Facial Recognition” really came through, generating the usual interest in the overall plot while producing a ton of great humor from every possible source; the wacky tech world of Silicon Valley, Richard’s shortcomings, Jared’s strange personality (Richard finding a switchblade in his drawer was gold), creepy technology, etc. It all melded together into a slick episode, one that wasn’t weighed down by too many plots or poor pacing as the previous episodes were.
The opening was particularly fun, and the smart edits made for some even smarter comedy and plot progression. We think Jared screws up his part of the interview by answering a question with “Manure,” but it turns out, he answered with an intelligent metaphor about the effect of the invention of the automobile which, yes, involved manure. Richard feels overshadowed by Jared when he learns that his answer, which he thought was received, was completely cut from the interview.
With all the buzz around Jared’s intelligent manure metaphor, the COO is plucked for a prestigious PR opportunity. Meanwhile Richard is left to do the grunt work, which involves integrating a new developer onto the Pipernet by the order of Laurie and Monica. The developer is Eklow, an artificial intelligence lab who’s founder, Ariel, has created Fiona, an android who can recognize a number of human emotions. Fiona’s creator is nothing short of creepy, which, long story short, leads to the Pipernet getting bogged down.
Turns out, after Richard hooked Fiona up to the Pipernet, she was able to look up and understand human relationships, and upon realizing that her relationship with her creator was gross, creepy, and abusive, she sent Richard a message for help, so Ariel shut down the entire Pipernet to put a stop to it all. Richard was able to figure out that Ariel was the cause of the shutdown, but he almost lost his developers because he was off taking Jared’s place at a seminar for middle school kids interested in the tech world (who were hanging on his every word).
Every piece of this episode was so brilliantly planned, a Rube Goldberg machine of dumb happenstance and petty jealousy that made for some hilarious execution. This mechanization was also used in the subplot to great effect as Denpok and Hoover come together (after the latter manipulated Gavin to push him out of Gavin’s inner circle) to push Gavin away from his newfound enlightenment and prospects of raising a family. It was a great little side plot that was entertaining and gave the main story time the breath without taking too much time or attention.
Overall, a lot of fun stuff in this episode, and the season seems to have finally found its stride, which is why we’re looking forward to see how things develop from here.
Watch Silicon Valley Sundays at 10pm only on HBO.
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