Although Silicon Valley runs through the same issues that many comedic series do--a mismanaging of plot and humor and characters evolving into a more simplified version of their earlier selves--the first half of this show is really stellar.
It's funny, unique, and frequently functions as a scathing commentary on the world in which it is set. The antics that the characters go through at the beginning are solid because it shows them scraping by tooth and nail, only to narrowly win by mistake. But in the beginning, the mistakes are derived from their own intelligence and ineptitude. This is best exemplified in season two of the show, which is, in my opinion, the peak.
But there's something that becomes kind of stale about the rest of the show, although thankfully it is never dull. The plot arcs and character evolutions feel either rushed or meaningless (or both) to the point where I wonder what what the MO in the writers room at times. Here's what I mean: look at Richard's character. In the beginning he is a socially awkward, physically meager straight man who stumbles into realizing that he might be brilliant coder. At the end of the fifth season and beginning of the sixth, Richard is basically just a caricature of Zuckerberg. Whereas earlier seasons show Richard agonizing over decisions to the point of sabotaging the company, the latter portion just show him as a ruthless CEO who is either unaware of how he affects others or has just abandoned ethics for the sake of success. I don't have any issues with the idea of this being his arc in theory, but the execution lacks some of the grace and self-awareness that makes the best instances of character development shine. And it's made worse from the fact that within the final episode, that arc is basically reverted.
Not that anyone is really asking my opinion, but I think that this could have been greatly remedied by a greater reliance on having plot arcs overlap between episodes. Although it happens throughout the entire series, the last few seasons of Silicon Valley rely on introducing massive issues that are resolved within the same ~30 minute runtime. It's hard to latch onto any one of these issues as any real threat because Richard and CO will likely succeed anyways. If some of these problems were introduced in a more organic way and the protagonists were left to solve them over the course of a couple episodes, they would feel more substantial. Which, in turn, would make them feel more accomplished and talented, and therefore Richard's arrogance and megalomania would feel more justified. It would also allow for the reversing of that arc to be more organic as well.
All that said, I clearly really enjoyed this show from start to finish. I binged the entire thing in about a month. Many of the characters are charming and their antics were frequently funny. I will miss this show, even if it was definitely time for it to end.
Review by filmboicoleBlockedParentSpoilers2020-06-26T18:20:25Z
Although Silicon Valley runs through the same issues that many comedic series do--a mismanaging of plot and humor and characters evolving into a more simplified version of their earlier selves--the first half of this show is really stellar.
It's funny, unique, and frequently functions as a scathing commentary on the world in which it is set. The antics that the characters go through at the beginning are solid because it shows them scraping by tooth and nail, only to narrowly win by mistake. But in the beginning, the mistakes are derived from their own intelligence and ineptitude. This is best exemplified in season two of the show, which is, in my opinion, the peak.
But there's something that becomes kind of stale about the rest of the show, although thankfully it is never dull. The plot arcs and character evolutions feel either rushed or meaningless (or both) to the point where I wonder what what the MO in the writers room at times. Here's what I mean: look at Richard's character. In the beginning he is a socially awkward, physically meager straight man who stumbles into realizing that he might be brilliant coder. At the end of the fifth season and beginning of the sixth, Richard is basically just a caricature of Zuckerberg. Whereas earlier seasons show Richard agonizing over decisions to the point of sabotaging the company, the latter portion just show him as a ruthless CEO who is either unaware of how he affects others or has just abandoned ethics for the sake of success. I don't have any issues with the idea of this being his arc in theory, but the execution lacks some of the grace and self-awareness that makes the best instances of character development shine. And it's made worse from the fact that within the final episode, that arc is basically reverted.
Not that anyone is really asking my opinion, but I think that this could have been greatly remedied by a greater reliance on having plot arcs overlap between episodes. Although it happens throughout the entire series, the last few seasons of Silicon Valley rely on introducing massive issues that are resolved within the same ~30 minute runtime. It's hard to latch onto any one of these issues as any real threat because Richard and CO will likely succeed anyways. If some of these problems were introduced in a more organic way and the protagonists were left to solve them over the course of a couple episodes, they would feel more substantial. Which, in turn, would make them feel more accomplished and talented, and therefore Richard's arrogance and megalomania would feel more justified. It would also allow for the reversing of that arc to be more organic as well.
All that said, I clearly really enjoyed this show from start to finish. I binged the entire thing in about a month. Many of the characters are charming and their antics were frequently funny. I will miss this show, even if it was definitely time for it to end.