HBO’s Silicon Valley Returns this Sunday
By Piero Filpi
If you have not seen Silicon Valley then you truly know nothing, Jon Snow. On April 24, Game of Thrones will be back for its sixth season. This is probably old news by now, since ads and “sneak peek” clips have been bombarding the media for the past six months.
What might come as a surprise to the public on April 24, however, is the fact that HBO actually has other shows, and two of those shows are coming out with new seasons on the same day as Game of Thrones.
Silicon Valley, a show that is set in this millennium, revolves around a team of Palo Alto 20 year olds with high hopes of striking it big with their newly developed app. The show expresses the difficulties young start up companies have to duck and dive under in order to maintain their company’s integrity while still keeping a light and familiar tone.
T.J. Miller plays Erlich Bachman, a man on the verge of his thirties with hopes of cashing in on the Silicon Valley technology boom. His character funds the fictional start-up company, Pied Piper, which is how his road clashes with the rest of the characters who design and code the app. T.J. Miller acts as Silicon Valley’s funny bone, and will have the viewer laughing for a full thirty minutes. His performance on the show is so fantastic, he is starting to appear in big blockbusters like the recently released Deadpool movie.
T.J. Miller might be the Falstaff of Silicon Valley, but the Hal is definitely Thomas Middleditch, the lead role in the show. Middleditch’s awkwardness and hilarious way of setting facts straight as a nerdy young kid will make you cringe from the accuracy. His acting is so on point in the show that if one were to see him on the street, they would not confront him in order to avoid an awkward situation. Middleditch’s character is Richard Hendricks, the creator and brain behind Pied Piper. His character echoes back to Jack Dorsey, the CEO and creator of Twitter.
Silicon Valley is a window into the mythical world of code, and serves it to the average consumer on a simple and hilarious platter. The show, however, does not lose its serious tone regardless of the amount of jokes the writers stick into the script because the humor is so well crafted. It toys with dark, dry, crass, and blatant humor in order to keep the show from getting stale.
So, after the new season of disappointment and softcore porn airs at 10 PM this Sunday, make sure to stay tuned in to watch a show that has not sold its soul quite yet. I promise your favorite characters will not get murdered, and their heads will not be paraded around on a stake.