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Silicon Valley - The Final Season

Started by up_the_hampipe, November 10, 2019, 08:03:06 PM

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up_the_hampipe

Did anyone know this started two weeks ago? I have just found out. Seems like a good idea to be ending it now, some of the cast are getting very busy and the show has been losing steam for a while now. It was a great show at one time anyway, so here's to them!

Mobius

Yeah I've been following along with it. It's not very funny any more, not sure why I still watch it

Noodle Lizard

As much as I dislike everything I've heard about TJ Miller as a person, and never thought his character was the best  in SV (that goes to Jared, naturally), the show really did become all but worthless once he left. It's a shame, as it was one of the best things on for the first two or three seasons.

I also had no idea the final season was on. It used to be advertised all over the place. I expect Judge/HBO are trying to let it quietly slip away.

Mobius

Yeah he added a different element. I enjoyed him and Jiang(?)

Gilfoyle is a shit character. Martin Starr doing his usual

Armin Meiwes

Urgh yeah Gilfoyle is SUCH a shit character/actor, actually painful to watch.

Small Man Big Horse

The problem I had with the show from season 5 onwards is that it fell in to a tired pattern of Richard coming up with a great idea, it going horribly wrong somehow (normally due to him being an idiot), but then they'd manage to turn it around and get something close to a win, before everything went wrong again, etc, etc, Plus they made his character so unlikeable in season six that I started wanting him to fail, which made the whole thing irritating to watch.

Still, I hope they somehow give the team some kind of a happy ending after all the shit we've seen them go through, and I enjoyed the first two episodes to a certain extent.

mjwilson

That was... odd. Part 1 of a 2 part finale or something?

Small Man Big Horse

I thought it was a really weak episode too, Gavin's plotline with him becoming an author was just weird, Richard getting annoyed with the new bloke felt a bit pointless, Gilfoyle and Monica's subplots were dull, and Jared's storyline just seemed mean and misjudged, and worst of all was that none of it was funny.

Quote from: mjwilson on November 18, 2019, 10:45:44 PM
That was... odd. Part 1 of a 2 part finale or something?

There's seven episodes this season, so three still to go.

Sin Agog

Quote from: Small Man Big Horse on November 11, 2019, 10:57:48 AM
The problem I had with the show from season 5 onwards is that it fell in to a tired pattern of Richard coming up with a great idea, it going horribly wrong somehow (normally due to him being an idiot), but then they'd manage to turn it around and get something close to a win, before everything went wrong again, etc, etc

That was the exact arc of every season from the very first one onwards.  It's why I dialled out maybe an episode or two into the third series, when it became evident they were just gonna repeat the exact same scenario yet again.  Not that having a set formula will necessarily make a program bad or anything, but I've got shit to avoid doing, man!

Small Man Big Horse

Quote from: Sin Agog on November 19, 2019, 05:22:09 PM
That was the exact arc of every season from the very first one onwards.  It's why I dialled out maybe an episode or two into the third series, when it became evident they were just gonna repeat the exact same scenario yet again.  Not that having a set formula will necessarily make a program bad or anything, but I've got shit to avoid doing, man!

Given how limp this final season is turning out to be I'm starting to wish I'd done the same thing, which is odd as I normally love everything Mike Judge does.

Ant Farm Keyboard

Quote from: Small Man Big Horse on November 19, 2019, 04:52:30 PM
I thought it was a really weak episode too, Gavin's plotline with him becoming an author was just weird,

It looks like that his newly found anti-tech attitude will play a major part in the remaining episodes.

This week was extremely disjointed, with plots that never connected.

rasta-spouse

What happened to this show? It feels like no one is looking after it.

Last episode Kumail made a speech where he listed all the selfish things he'd done in each previous season. It was totally out of character. I remember this happening in the later seasons of Buffy when the characters would just reminisce for no reason, but really it was a wet behind the ears writer trying to show that he/she knew the show history. Yeah great, but don't put it on the page. It's one of the telltale signs of shark jump.

Quote from: Small Man Big Horse on November 11, 2019, 10:57:48 AM
it fell in to a tired pattern of Richard coming up with a great idea, it going horribly wrong somehow (normally due to him being an idiot), but then they'd manage to turn it around and get something close to a win, before everything went wrong again, etc, etc,

This is a good point. The writers' whole over-reliance on endless twists and turns came at the expense of the characters feeling or behaving like real people. They've been turned into boring pawns and this show feels like it's been abandoned by any sort of guiding intelligence.

Small Man Big Horse

Quote from: rasta-spouse on November 19, 2019, 08:30:00 PM
What happened to this show? It feels like no one is looking after it.

Last episode Kumail made a speech where he listed all the selfish things he'd done in each previous season. It was totally out of character. I remember this happening in the later seasons of Buffy when the characters would just reminisce for no reason, but really it was a wet behind the ears writer trying to show that he/she knew the show history. Yeah great, but don't put it on the page. It's one of the telltale signs of shark jump.

This is a good point. The writers' whole over-reliance on endless twists and turns came at the expense of the characters feeling or behaving like real people. They've been turned into boring pawns and this show feels like it's been abandoned by any sort of guiding intelligence.

Yeah, it's all rather depressing, I'd hopes that as this was the final season and just seven episodes that they'd have a tight, smart and funny plan as to how it'd all end, but bar the first episode which I mostly liked it's been a real disappointment so far.

notjosh

Quote from: Small Man Big Horse on November 19, 2019, 08:38:30 PM
Yeah, it's all rather depressing, I'd hopes that as this was the final season and just seven episodes that they'd have a tight, smart and funny plan as to how it'd all end, but bar the first episode which I mostly liked it's been a real disappointment so far.

I feel the same way. There was such an amazing sense of momentum to the first couple of series - really exciting arcs which built up towards finales which were genuinely thrilling without sacrificing any of the comedy. Then the big twists started to come so frequently that it was hard to get invested in any storyline (the knapsack moment may have been the start of this). Now I have no idea what the show is about to the point that I can't even wish for a happy ending because I don't really know what it would look like.

Still has great moments here and there though - like the dead birds.

Agree with the general disappointment. Season 5 was shaky but it feels like this season hasn't had solid footing at all. Shame as this used to be one of the shows I really looked forward to.

Also it doesn't help that the characters are now fairly successful. When they were all crammed into Erlich's house and scraping by it was easier to root for them in spite of their petty awfulness. Like when Gilfoyle was being an obstinate arse, he was at least punching up. Now they're just cunts in charge.

momatt

The promotion on this was non-existent - I had no idea!

Yeah, not as good as it used to be, but I'll be checking this out anyway.  Hopefully Bighead is in it a lot.

Quote from: Small Man Big Horse on November 11, 2019, 10:57:48 AM
The problem I had with the show from season 5 onwards is that it fell in to a tired pattern of Richard coming up with a great idea, it going horribly wrong somehow (normally due to him being an idiot), but then they'd manage to turn it around and get something close to a win, before everything went wrong again, etc, etc

That formula did become quite annoying.  How often could one company suffer a complete catastrophic disaster, then a huge save immediately after.
It just seemed a bit exhausting and predictable.  I just wanted them to win and move onto the next stage - and the next level of problems.  Instead they kept going back to step 1 every damn episode.

Mobius


easytarget

Quote from: Mobius on November 11, 2019, 04:10:44 AM
Gilfoyle is a shit character. Martin Starr doing his usual
I quite like back and forth between Starr and Kumail, but for the last couple of season's Starr's deadpan-ish non-reaction acting has turned him into a Kwik Save Nick Offerman. I don't like that. 

momatt

Quote from: Mobius on November 21, 2019, 10:06:53 PM
You're gonna be disappointed mate.

Shit. did he die and I forgot?

Quote from: easytarget on November 21, 2019, 11:35:13 PM
I quite like back and forth between Starr and Kumail, but for the last couple of season's Starr's deadpan-ish non-reaction acting has turned him into a Kwik Save Nick Offerman. I don't like that. 

I like Goldfoil as a character.  A likeable dickhead.  But I don't know any of the actor's other work.  Is he a bit one-note?

Small Man Big Horse

Quote from: momatt on November 22, 2019, 08:49:58 AM
Shit. did he die and I forgot?

Nah, more that he's in it but is mostly just lurking in the background.

Quote from: Small Man Big Horse on November 22, 2019, 10:00:04 AM
Nah, more that he's in it but is mostly just lurking in the background.

Playing Simon.

RFT

Quote from: momatt on November 22, 2019, 08:49:58 AM
Shit. did he die and I forgot?

I like Goldfoil as a character.  A likeable dickhead.  But I don't know any of the actor's other work.  Is he a bit one-note?

He plays Peter Parker's teacher in the recent Spider-man movies, and that character's very different to Gilfoyle.

I still need to watch season 5 before watching this one.

Enrico Palazzo

Quote from: momatt on November 22, 2019, 08:49:58 AM
Shit. did he die and I forgot?

I like Goldfoil as a character.  A likeable dickhead.  But I don't know any of the actor's other work.  Is he a bit one-note?

Nah, he's not. Always been impressed by him for that reason.

arpster

Gilfoyle's still good value for me.....biggest disappointment is Dinesh who's gone from deadpan and amusing to a bit of a dumb pain-in-the arse....Kumail seems to phoning it in for this final run.....biggest laughs come from Jared - just as they have for the last few seasons......but still hoping Russ Hanneman will make a re-appearance before the show disappears over the horizon...

Enrico Palazzo

Quote from: arpster on November 22, 2019, 02:50:56 PM
Gilfoyle's still good value for me.....biggest disappointment is Dinesh who's gone from deadpan and amusing to a bit of a dumb pain-in-the arse....Kumail seems to phoning it in for this final run.....

He was pretty bad in the last series too. The Tesla stuff was embarrassingly shite.

Quote from: momatt on November 22, 2019, 08:49:58 AM

I like Goldfoil as a character.  A likeable dickhead.  But I don't know any of the actor's other work.  Is he a bit one-note?

Enjoyed his work in Party Down, (alongside Adam Scott aka Ben from parks and rec) playing another likeable dickhead

Quote from: Bobloblawslawbomb on November 22, 2019, 06:57:12 PM
Enjoyed his work in Party Down, (alongside Adam Scott aka Ben from parks and rec) playing another likeable dickhead

Good show that, Ken Marino I liked too.
Starr was great in Freaks & Geeks as well.

Ant Farm Keyboard

Starr's greatest moment on Party Down was when Roman had a shot with a depressed pornstar named Cramsey (played by Beth Dover) who seemed to bond with him due to a common love of sci-fi. When she mentions that her favourite stories involve dragons, Roman can't help correcting her with some exasperation that it's fantasy, not sci-fi. But before that, he has a little sigh, he sips from a glass of water, because he's perfectly aware that he will lose his shot.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4w3PzTl9REo

Small Man Big Horse

Eh, another mildly annoying episode, even Russ Hanneman didn't amuse that much, and I'm just bored to death of Richard and Gavin's petty sniping, not having any time for either character any more. There's no real sense of stakes either, something the show used to do so well, and the bit where Richard was moaning about being completely fucked only for Russ to pop up and save the day made me groan loudly. If this wasn't the final season I definitely wouldn't be bothering with it any more, and I've no faith that the last two episodes will be anyway satisfying.

BeardFaceMan

It's Richard's stupidity thats bothering me now,  I'm fed up of watching fuck himself over. Had the perfect plan to beat Gavin and fucked it by gloating, again. Is it just me, or is he quite dislikable for a main character of a show?