‘Silicon Valley’ season 3, episode 7 review: Erlich’s big swing
Depending on your viewpoint, Sunday night’s new episode of “Silicon Valley” was either a celebration or a funeral.
For the vast majority of the team at Pied Piper, this episode marked a tremendous success as they released the beta, and after rave reviews from almost everyone, they chose to go public. There was a minor bump in the road courtesy of one Gavin Belson managing to steal an invite, but even that was resolved.
Still, the show did manage to do something very great in establishing at least one loose thread that could unravel the entire company’s future: Monica. She didn’t like the beta, but decided that her opinion meant less than the dozens of people who liked it. What if her opinion lines up more with the average consumer? Strangely, nobody really considered that as a possibility.
Despite the joy that came with starting the company, there was an air of sadness about it due to Erlich having to sell his stake of shares in the company in order to cover his debts. Did he deserve it? Sure, since he screwed Big Head in part out of money and threw a ridiculous party that nobody needed on Alcatraz. Yet, there was still something sad about his comeuppance, and having him sit there and potentially watch all of his friends become exceedingly rich while he is left having to sit on the sidelines. Thanks to him keeping his move a secret, nobody else quite knows just yet.
While this episode was hugely significant for the future of the show, its one glaring weakness came via humor. Gilfoyle proving he could make friends was a little of a half-baked subplot, and really, there aren’t many notable one-liners we can think of beyond Jared’s imagination producing a dialogue between him and Harriet Tubman. “Silicon Valley” remains solid, even if it hasn’t fully captured the magic of season 2. Episode Grade: B.
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