If you would like to read my review of the last episode, click here.
Synopsis: On the hunt for financial support, Richard looks outside the tech bubble, and crosses paths with a contentious figure from Pied Piper’s past. Erlich reaches out to Monica and Laurie in search of a new endeavor. A launch gone wrong finds Dinesh and Gilfoyle at war as Jared tries to keep the peace. (HBO)
Writers: Graham Wagner and Shawn Boxe
Director: Clay Tarver
Rating: TV-MA
Running Time: 29mins
With Belson gone, Richard and the guys were in desperate need of financial support but no one wanted to deal with them, not even Hanneman who believed he had a claim in Richard’s idea despite just being there when he came up with it. For payback, he thought he peed in Richard’s Mustang but we all know that it was Erlich’s (unfortunately nothing came of it).
For support, Richard came up with an outside-the-box idea to sell their services to potential customers. The reason for their recent notoriety was due to Belson’s involvement in the company but no one knew that Belson had exited the company so this led to a series of rejections. It wasn’t until their last meeting with an insurance company that actually succeeded to get any headway. Their technology was promising but of course Erlich was being Erlich and seemed to ruin it. Things got worse for them when they learned that the CTO for their potential client was Dan Melcher (Jake Broder).
For those who remember, he happened to have past history with the guys and especially Erlich after he slept with his wife before Tech Crunch: Disrupt back in Season 1. Suffice it to say, Melcher still held some resentment towards Erlich but they still gave them a chance. The problem for them was that Melcher’s fiancee (Leisha Hailey) also worked for the same company. Richard did not want Erlich involved, for obvious reasons, which forced Erlich to find something else to do.
First, he tried to get into Laurie and Monica’s new VC firm Bream Hall but Laurie said no for obvious reasons. Luckily for him, he happened to find himself part of a meeting and then becomes friends with an up-and-coming tech mogul named Keenan Feldspar (Haley Joel Osment). It wasn’t until he later brought him to Laurie and Monica’s new firm that they started to pay attention to him.
As Richard and Melcher’s fiancee began working together, they appeared to get different impressions about their relationship with Richard talking about the work and her thinking about her less attractive fiancee. Because of their miscommunication, she believed that Richard was asking her to take their relationship in a much different direction and they slept together. The irony was that he pretty much did to Melcher the same thing that Erlich did.
It wouldn’t be a Silicon Valley episode without a conflict between Dinesh and Gilfoyle and this episode was no different. When they tested their data storage software, each of their phones merged, meaning that each other’s data was on each other’s phones. They valued their information so the other wanted to find the other’s secrets. Jared took it upon himself to be the mediator. Even after their problem was resolved, it wasn’t over so they destroyed each other’s phones.
Melcher may not yet know about Richard and his fiancee, however, how long is that going to last? As he exited the building, he ran into Melcher but it wasn’t clear if he was talking about their cheating or something else altogether?
Overall, this was another good episode with some fun subplots that were perhaps not as strong as in past episodes. Haley Joel Osment was a surprising addition. He did not get as much time here but I am curious to see more of him.
Score: 8/10
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The EIC of the coincidentally-named keithlovesmovies.com. A Canadian who prefers to get out of the cold and into the warmth of a movie theatre.
