RECAP: SILICON VALLEY, S3EP2 - ANIMAL SEX AND SYMBOLISM

May 7

May 7 RECAP: SILICON VALLEY, S3EP2 - ANIMAL SEX AND SYMBOLISM

Silicon Valley’s second episode picks right off where we left off. Richard has accepted a lower role within his company so that the new CEO, Jack Barker can be brought in to the company.

The start of the episode blesses us with another playful interaction with Richard and his doctor as we’ve seen in the past, providing some comedic banter between the two, especially when the doctor wants to see if Richard still “has any balls down there”.

We are introduced to the crew’s new office space and cleaner logo. The space resembles the look of modern start-up, hip companies. Jack is positioned as the saving grace that the company had needed for a while, providing the Pied Piper crew with anything and everything they need.

But as is the norm for the gang, all good things must come to an end. Jack has the company’s best interest at heart but unfortunately for Richard, this means focusing more on the business side of the company rather than the product they wish to make.

This business focus is revealed when Jack introduces his “Conjoined Triangles of Success” and proceeds to hire sales people without consulting Richard. Richard and the sales people have utterly different visions for the company, resulting in some of the strongest humour the show has had in recent memory.

As the episode progresses, Richard realises that while Jack does have the company’s best interests at heart, his entire focus is on the financial side of the company. Richard is therefore forced to compromise on his product and essentially “get fucked”. In true Silicon Valley fashion, this was made very clear though the scenes of two horses having sex, symbolising Richard getting “fucked” over once again. How HBO managed to show a horse penis on the TV is beyond me, but regardless it made for an awkward yet hysterical scene.

I can’t tell you how hard it was to look away from that horse’s penis.

I failed.

A few subplots also broke up the main narrative. Jared planned on moving back into his condo but ended up running into squatter issues. This flowed into Erlich’s scenario where he was evicting Jian Yang, until Jian Yang discovered the same loophole that Jared’s occupant had used.

The nucleus crew, after being fired, get forced to alter Hooli’s search engine results so that nothing related to the nucleus project pops up as a result. The Nucleus members accidentally crack Richard’s compression formula, making for a potential clash between the two forces in future episodes. While the subplots aren’t the strongest we’ve seen, they still provide many laughs and outpace many other comedy shows coughbigbangtheorycough.

On the whole, Silicon Valley Season 3 is off to an amazing start and we can’t wait to see what’s next. No more horse sex I hope.