'Silicon Valley' Episode 4 Recap: Vomit-Inducing Stereotypes

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Gilfoyle (Martin Starr), Dinesh (Kumail Nanjiani), Erlich (T.J. Miller) and Richard (Thomas Middleditch) attend a toga party in episode 3 of 'Silicon Valley.'

By Anita Li2014-04-28 12:40:37 UTC

This week, Silicon Valley continued to accurately satirize the highs and lows of launching a startup — but to lesser comic effect than previous episodes.

While episode 4, called "Fiduciary Duties," features over-the-top physical humor, there were fewer laugh-out-loud moments in the HBO show, whose strong suit lies in its witty dialogue and sharp observations about Valley life.

See also: 'Silicon Valley' Episode 3 Recap: Stupid Name, Smart Satire

Most of the fourth episode focuses on Richard's (Thomas Middleditch) inability to articulate a clear vision for his compression-algorithm company Pied Piper — an issue that plagues many companies, both new and old. One example that comes to mind is BlackBerry, which struggled for years after failing to keep up with competition from Apple and Samsung. Some have said the company's lack of vision post-2010 sped up its decline, and ultimately destroyed its once-dominant position in the smartphone industry. Richard and his team probably want to avoid this path.

By the episode's end, Erlich (T.J. Miller) — the impetuous Jobs to Richard's neurotic Wozniak — describes Pied Piper's vision to investor Peter Gregory (Christopher Evan Welch) thusly: "Using our platform, Pied Piper users would be able to compress all of their files to the point where they can truly access them instantly. We control the pipe; they just use it."

Succinct and simple, it's a vision that Richard — who embodies the stereotype of the overly detailed developer hung up on minutiae — fails to convey. Richard's stress around creating a vision provides physical-comedy fodder, including a panic attack that inexplicably causes him to douse his pants in a restroom sink full of water and a memorable vomit scene. Neither are that funny, however, but good on writer Ron Weiner for trying something new. That said, I implore the writers to return to what Silicon Valley does best: wordplay.

The funniest quips come from Gilfoyle (Martin Starr) and Dinesh (Kumail Nanjiani), who stubbornly remain one-dimensional, while Erlich, Richard and Jared (Zach Woods) experience character development. Strange, deadpan genius Peter Gregory was the highlight of episode 4, thanks to impeccable comic delivery by Welch ("Thank you ... Florida"). Sadly, the late actor, who died last year of lung cancer at 48, only shot five of this season's eight episodes.

Peter Gregory (Christopher Evan Welch) in a toga-party outfit.

I was pleased to see the addition of Ben Feldman (best known as Michael Ginsberg on Mad Men), who plays irreverent lawyer Ron LaFlamme, a non-geek character that diversifies the cast. Feldman's impressive range is put on full display in one night, with both Silicon Valley and Mad Men airing Sundays at 10 p.m. ET on HBO and AMC, respectively.

On the other hand, I was disappointed to see more stereotypical racial humor, which I objected to last week. In episode 4, the accent-heavy Asian (apparently named Jian Yang) returns with another brilliant two-liner: "I eat the fish ... Yes, I eat the fish." (Note to writers: Not only is this unfunny, it's a sign of lazy writing to rely on hackneyed stereotypes for laughs.)

Unfortunately, based on his previous appearances, it looks like the squinty-eyed, confused Asian will be a running gag in episodes to come. Jian is played by Jimmy Ouyang, a Chinese-American comedian who actually speaks perfect English and regularly plays up Asian stereotypes in his standup routines.

You're better than this, Silicon Valley. Until next time.

Silicon Valley airs every Sunday at 10 p.m. ET on HBO.

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Topics: Entertainment, recap, reviews, Silicon Valley, Television