Everyone’s excited about Game of Thrones, but HBO has another, less epic fantasy, series that’s also been consistently great: Silicon Valley. It returns to HBO for its fourth season in the States on April 23 and will, hopefully, turn up on the Comedy Channel locally. HBO has released a short teaser that is rather interesting — and a little confusing — given how season three ended. Spoilers ahead if you’re not up-to-date with the show!
In the clip, Pied Piper frontman Richard Hendricks (played by Thomas Middleditch) has come up with a new idea. Well, a new internet. Yes, it sounds pretty crazy, but so is the show’s fabled “middle-out” compression.
What’s confusing is that the last season suggested the team would pursue Dinesh’s (Kumail Nanjiani) video chat technology, but that appears to have gone out the window. I’m willing to go with it for now as the show is packed with these strange turns, but the new season will need to tread carefully, lest it become a caricature of itself.
Silicon Valley managed to sail through its third season without losing momentum, but it’s clear the show itself needs to “pivot”, to rely less on the “how-can-Richard-screw-this-up” formula.
Fortunately, many of Middleditch’s co-stars have come into their own. TJ Miller’s Erlich Bachman is a constant source of amusement, while Donald “Jared” Dunn, played by Zach Woods, has become a highlight of the series. Amanda Crew’s character of Monica Hall has been criminally underutilised, though with the way the last season ended, that could (and should) change.
While I’m cautiously optimistic, season four is definitely a crucial point in Silicon Valley’s life. April can’t come soon enough.
[YouTube]