Is that a knife in my back? It could well be in this ridiculously funny and heartfelt drama of trying to succeed in the world of technology, in particular the infamous Silicon Valley, where backstabbing is so common that you have to ask why don’t they wear vests? And would even Batman with his crime-fighting skills survive here – probably not, so is there really any hope for the softly spoken and instantly trusting Richard Hendricks?
The show follows Richard (Thomas Middleditch), a well-mannered Clark Kent who’s created the Superman of programming – the Pied Piper. The audience left to watch as he stumbles along in the launch of his application, trying to make it a successful company and one with a barrage of defences as competitors look to bring him down, and rivals look to take it.
Thankfully, Richard has a following of comedic and talented friends such as Dinesh (Kumail Nanjiani), Erlich (T.J. Miller), Nelson ‘Big Head’ (Josh Brener), Bertram (Martin Starr) and Jared (Zach Woods) who are also great coders, programmers and have overly suspicious minds – so he looks like he could do okay in his quest. However, if they come across anything outside of technology then they’re all doomed – the outside world being intimidating and with a set of programming rules they can’t follow, especially if it’s the engineering of relationships. In this, and other places, it might seem a bit stereotyped, but the show doesn’t suffer for it, if anything it makes the characters in some cases more endearing and in others frighteningly believable, especially when it comes to respecting peoples’ data – they don’t.
The series has been carefully crafted and provided with a clarity of insight, with Mike Judge (one of the three creators) having once worked as an engineer in Silicon Valley, and again much like the leading character for a start-up company. Through having such in-depth knowledge Silicon Valley puts a healthy spin on the possibilities of technology, whilst also looking at the questionable morals of those behind it; it’s not tech that’s bad, but the corrupt minds within it.
From the opening credits, which look remarkably like Sim City, you’ll soon fall in love with the show – its brilliant commentary on tech corporations being symbolically inserted, even into the intro which changes over the seasons; the growing and uncontrollable sign of twitter being such an example. Meanwhile its comedy-legs are stretched and exercised with social hierarchies, jousts between media applications, techno staff at loggerheads or in battle, wealthy posers, and a lot of strong language.
Combining quirky moments, an injection of people’s fears, and an offshoot of facts, Silicon Valley will have you scrabbling to download its content in no time.
Creator: John Altschuler
Creator: Mike Judge
Other notable works:
- Office Space 1999
Creator: Dave Krinsky
