Tech Media Watch: HBO's "Silicon Valley" set to wrap 2nd season – it won't be "Game Of Thrones"-esque but it'll do

16.06.2015
The far-and-away best satire of the technology industry on TV airs the last episode of its second season Sunday night, and you really should be watching. Silicon Valley has continued to bring the funny throughout the second set of episodes, and the finale looks like it's leading up to a fairly insane climax.

The first season ended on what was easily the strongest episode of the series so far, as the team won TechCrunch Disrupt thanks to a flash of genius inspired by what can only be described as a very clever, in-depth and witty joke having to do with an important part of the male anatomy. As good as the second season has been, its finale has a lot to live up to, if it's going to be considered as good as the first.

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Fortunately, there are plenty of reasons to think season two can get there the writing and plotting have been superb, and the show even addresses one of the few points of criticism it received during its initial run by adding two excellent female characters, in the form of a tactless, ultra-precise VC and a snarky, deadpan programmer.

It really is just a delight to watch I particularly liked a villainous CEO's line "these aren't real journalists, they're tech journalists" in part because it's written from a well-informed standpoint. There's some serious knowledge of the real-life Silicon Valley in the writers room, and it shows.

Sure, there are still a few rough edges the awesomely horrible venture capitalist (sort of a pastiche of Sean Parker and Mark Cuban) that drives much of the second season's plot is so loathsome that he drowns out other characters at times, some main cast members feel underutilized, and we've really only gotten one or two epic Erlich Bachman moments thus far.

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But those are minor qualms at best. All in all, Silicon Valley has lived up to the high standard it set in its first season. It's stingingly critical of the tech industry's self-aggrandizing bluster and mocks the valley's reality distortion field with wit and skill while maintaining a genuine respect for the possibilities of technology itself. It is also very, very funny. If you're not watching it, you've got a couple evenings until Sunday. Go catch up and watch the finale. It'll be worth it.

(www.networkworld.com)

Jon Gold

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