S03.E10: The Uptick

[ElectricBoogaloo]

SEASON FINALE!

Quote

With Pied Piper's future in question, Erlich's publicity success leaves Richard in a moral quandary, just as Dinesh's video-chat app gathers speed. While Laurie (Suzanne Cryer) prepares to jump ship, Gavin's comeback at Hooli is threatened by his displays of grandeur.

Promo:

[hoodooznoodooz]

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Edited June 21, 2016 by hoodooznoodooz
Wrong episode thread

[henripootel]

Genuine question here - is what they did in any way illegal?  Getting fake users, I mean.  For the offer from the company for more funding to be 'fraud', they would have had to a) know the download numbers for PP's app, and b) have a statement from PP saying 'these numbers are legit, honest injun'. But I thought the whole offer was based on attitude and smoke so aptly manipulated by Erlich.  Erlich was 'inspired' by the numbers to start acting confident, he didn't swear out a deposition.  Unless I missed something, the new investors had no idea what the numbers even were, which is the point of Erlich's story.  How could there be even a hint of impropriety if nobody really knew anything?

Laurie's rush to sell PP at the first whiff of any sort of dishonesty was shockingly stupid nonsense, exactly the kind of thing Laurie would never, ever do.

Good to see they found a way to put Erlich back in the game, surprised to see Richard all delighted that he now (maybe) owns not a bit of his own company.  I know, better Erlich than Gavin, but still, it's Richard's worse nightmare.

Since when can the writer of a low-level blog call Gavin Belson?  And do you really thing Gavin is intimately involved with groundskeeping (albeit weird groundskeeping)?  

Also wondering how many savvy tech folks would take the first chance to squeal insider info that will likely be traced right back to them, something you know is covered by their NDA.   And if 'anybody could have leaked that info if they saw the helicopter', why would a smart guy like Gavin assume he'd get away with a helicopter hauling out a dead elephant from their well-travelled campus?

There were parts of this that almost felt like the old show, but the nonsense-quotient was just too high. 

Edited June 27, 2016 by henripootel

[chocolatine]

10 minutes ago, henripootel said:

And if 'anybody could have leaked that info if they saw the helicopter', why would a smart guy like Gavin assume he'd get away with a helicopter hauling out a dead elephant from their well-travelled campus?

Yeah, there is absolutely no chance that nobody in SV would notice a dead elephant being flown through the air and dumped into the bay.

How stupid was Richard to vote yes for the sale when he knew that with the liquidation preference, he wasn't going to get a penny? And then be so sanguine that Erlich and Big Head own the entire company? There is no way Erlich isn't going to appoint himself CEO now.

[Glade]

It was so sad/sweet watching Jared looking out the window at Richard as he drove away, and then later on when they were sitting on the bunkbeds; so adorable!  And so much better then the 'plot.' 

I thought that Bighead/Bachman would have ended their LLC by now, especially given the advice Bighead received?  If they were both broke, why keep it going to wait for the sale of that blog?  I hated that entire storyline where Elrich swooped in to take advantage of Bighead's dumb luck.   I hope that Bighead realizes/uses his power over Elrich now. 

[hincandenza]

Game of Thrones was so good this week, you guys! :)

As for SV, this episode was... an improvement?  The Erlich speech about his SV cunning was something I'd been missing from him- and this show- for a while; the protagonists actually coming out on top yet still skewering the tech industry in the process with how easily Erlich was able to manipulate ostensibly smart VCs through a chinese whispers scheme.  I doubt it will last, so I'm still very negative on even giving season 4 a chance.  If I pop in here mid-season next year and you're all raving about it, then maybe...

 

3 hours ago, henripootel said:

Genuine question here - is what they did in any way illegal?  Getting fake users, I mean.  For the offer from the company for more funding to be 'fraud', they would have had to a) know the download numbers for PP's app, and b) have a statement from PP saying 'these numbers are legit, honest injun'. But I thought the whole offer was based on attitude and smoke so aptly manipulated by Erlich.  Erlich was 'inspired' by the numbers to start acting confident, he didn't swear out a deposition.  Unless I missed something, the new investors had no idea what the numbers even were, which is the point of Erlich's story.  How could there be even a hint of impropriety if nobody really knew anything?

Laurie's rush to see PP at the first whiff of any sort of dishonesty was shockingly stupid nonsense, exactly the kind of thing Laurie would never, ever do.

Good to see they found a way to put Erlich back in the game, surprised to see Richard all delighted that he now (maybe) owns not a bit of his own company.  I know, better Erlich than Gavin, but still, it's Richard's worse nightmare.

Since when can the writer of a low-level blog call Gavin Belson?  And do you really thing Gavin is intimately involved with groundskeeping (albeit weird groundskeeping)? 

I think you're right; getting fake users isn't illegal, it's misrepresenting them to investors that would constitute fraud.  However, I believe it was the fake uptick that Erlich used to stimulate that proposed series B (although why would you do a series B to value the company at only $60-70M, and how could Richard do that without Raviga being involved?).  It's ultimately moot, since it didn't matter.  Well, at least not yet since the company itself is still broke and will need funding very soon.  

Like chocolatine below, I also didn't understand how Richard could not know until that moment that he had no shares, but then he's so stupid he never got another lawyer (and agreed to sign that absurd deal with Russ back in season 2 in the first place).  Still, at least as you say Erlich is back in the game and Jared made a good point that the people in that room will have to get stakes.  Richard is the only big loser here: he lost what was probably still a 60-75% share and will be lucky to get 10-15% at this point.

I think the low-level tech blogger got through because she wasn't low-level anymore.  She and Gavin had presumably spoken before with her last scoop regarding the search scrubbing, and because of the info she had on this one: not just a rumor, but an "anonymous" source that can attest first hand that he actively ordered that elephant disposal.  At least the repeated animal gag did, after all, pay off.  So you know... credit where credit is due.

 

3 hours ago, chocolatine said:

How stupid was Richard to vote yes for the sale when he knew that with the liquidation preference, he wasn't going to get a penny? And then be so sanguine that Erlich and Big Head own the entire company? There is no way Erlich isn't going to appoint himself CEO now.

Very stupid.  Very, very stupid.  Although I think at the board meeting, he assumed it was a done deal, he couldn't stop it, and PP was effectively dead anyway.  But honestly... Erlich should be CEO at this point, since if nothing else he does understand SV, and is (for now) a majority shareholder with Bighead.  And that also suggests that if they finally break through as a successful company next season, then Bighead will indeed have stumbled into billionaire-hood ass backwards.  And Erlich can now look like a genius, by spinning his pre-emptive stock sale as some 5th-dimensional chess move to manipulate Raviga and ultimately swoop in to buy the lion's share of the company.

 

2 hours ago, Glade said:

It was so sad/sweet watching Jared looking out the window at Richard as he drove away, and then later on when they were sitting on the bunkbeds; so adorable!  And so much better then the 'plot.' 

I thought that Bighead/Bachman would have ended their LLC by now, especially given the advice Bighead received?  If they were both broke, why keep it going to wait for the sale of that blog?  I hated that entire storyline where Elrich swooped in to take advantage of Bighead's dumb luck.   I hope that Bighead realizes/uses his power over Elrich now. 

No chance of that last part happening, but Bighead can literally jerk off all day and still be rich as fuck at this point.  But let's say they do fairly generous stocks deals with the core people: Gilfoyle, Dinesh, Jared and Monica could probably snag 1-3% each, while Richard could very feasibly argue he deserves a sizeable chunk (10-15%?) for his unique gifts (and because he's presumably still the only one who knows how middle-out actually works).  Bachman and Richard have now each "betrayed" the other; Erlich about his shares, Richard with the fake users/scuttled deal thing.

Plus, it worked out: Bachman cost himself his initial 10% stake because he was an idiot- he can only blame himself.  Yet if Richard hadn't had an attack of Jared's conscious, Raviga wouldn't have backed out, and Bachman couldn't have bought the whole enchilada with the meager profits from the coderag sale (how pissed will Gavin be to know that his elephant hush money literally funded Bachmanity owning PP), so how mad can he really stay?  Plus, while Richard clearly belongs nowhere near a business meeting, on the flip side he has not once, not twice, but three times created a world-beating algorithm.  First when he created the original PP app, then his overnight middle-out genius in the season 1 finale, then the neural net improvements that so blew away Hooli/Endframe when those people once again thought they'd caught up.  If PP- or whatever they call themselves- don't keep Richard, he'd be the most sought after technical engineer in SV right now; Hooli at least knows that whatever else is wrong with that guy's brain, there are parts of it worth billions to anyone who can make use of it.  It's clear that PP can't really succeed without that part of Richard's genius.

But it's not like this show has exactly dabbled in plausible reality the last two seasons anyway, so who the hell knows?  Whatever else, it's been fun kibitzing with you guys these past few weeks! :)

Edited June 27, 2016 by hincandenza

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Best cameo reappearance was that marketing guy who designed the boxes. You know Gavin totally loved the initial meeting where he had to look at all those slides of random things so that the other guy could get a feel for his aesthetic.

[RCharter]

I'm happy that Bachmann got his shares back and came out on top.  Richard treated him like shit after he sold his shares to pay off a debt, and no matter how implausible that was as a solution, I don't think Bachmann....a man who lost everything, deserved that sort of treatment.  

Now -- the technical people will have to tell me....does PP need Richard anymore?

It seems like Dinesh already used the algorithm to create his video chat, and it will be he and Guilfoyle who work on it from here on out.

[Primetimer]

Once again, the lads find themselves in a pickle (getting a Series B funding offer based on fraudulent data) and once again wriggle out of it (when Erlich buys the now very affordable company). Along the way, Zach Woods makes some amazing Jared faces...and here they are.

View the full article

[candall]

Richard's impulsive behavior was so stupid, I started to despise him.  Voluntarily fessing up to the numbers fraud when simple silence/refusal to sign only made his product more desirable: stupid.  Jumping in to vote "yes" when he's witnessed the sea changes a slight delay can bring:  stupid.

Laurie was also implausibly dimwitted not to realize the buyer to which they objected would not be the one from 30 minutes earlier.  Service to show.

But I loved the friction between Erlich and Richard being resolved by a gigglefest in the very next scene.  And then everyone being reluctant to ruin the happy camaraderie by pushing very hard with the awkward shares discussion.  Yeah, Erlich's not famous for his magnanimous nature.  Heh.  And Dinesh finally gains some traction.

 

Very nice setup for next season.  SO much better than going back to the Hooli trough.

[henripootel]

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Now -- the technical people will have to tell me....does PP need Richard anymore?

At the absolute least, they need to keep him off the market.  And he has a way of coming up with billion dollar ideas, regularly.  Erlich should pay him huge to stay.

Quote

Once again, the lads find themselves in a pickle (getting a Series B funding offer based on fraudulent data) ...

See, I know that's what we're supposed to think, but is there any reason whatsoever to believe that the new funding guys saw any numbers at all?  I thought that was the whole point of Erlich's maneuvering - nobody knew anything, but such is SV that such nonsense can make fortunes.  It's why I used to enjoy this show more than I do now, Erlich's scene.  But this seems like the stupid writers want it both ways - nobody knows anything but this company knows everything.  

Oh, and Richard - anybody who tells you to just sign something right now without running it by a lawyer isn't your friend.  You need to stall for time?  Do what any CEO with a brain would do anyway - tell them you need to have a lawyer look at it.  He's a seriously worthless CEO, shit, he shouldn't be trusted with a checking account.

And I'm still not convinced that upping your own user numbers is in any way fraud, not in and of itself.  I mean anything can be fraud if you swear it's true and it isn't, but I can't believe that SV guys believe these numbers any more than IRS guys believe tip reports (i.e. everyone knows they're huge lies nobody takes seriously, and anyone who does is an idiot).

Quote

Best cameo reappearance was that marketing guy who designed the boxes. You know Gavin totally loved the initial meeting where he had to look at all those slides of random things so that the other guy could get a feel for his aesthetic.

Honest to god, all of those pictures looked just like my tivo.  I guess that's the joke, that Hooli design aesthetic is rather generic, but I guess I was expecting a sharper joke.

Edited June 27, 2016 by henripootel

[qtpye]

Richard is not CEO material.  He is a genius coder, but the guy has no savvy or ability to read a room.

[Traveller519]

Seeing Laurie finally snap was my highlight. Normally being able to suppress her emotions has been a great hallmark, but watching her curse and yell in the board meeting was great.  Unlike some people upthread, I felt the decision to sell the company was on brand for her. She dropped financial support of the company during the lawsuit, after bidding it up during the VC meetings. She impulsively replaced Barker when he forced her hand. Laurie appears to be pretty risk averse, and with all the grief PP gives her, I'm not surprised she decided to just wash her hands of it.

I definitely buy that Richard would come forth with the fake numbers too. Even if the bid was made without expressly knowing that there was an uptick. Due diligence would reveal that the users were fakes, or if Dinesh's zombie-code effectively hid them, there would be the expense to account for. Richard knows it would have come back to bite him in the ass, not unlike Russ's deal.

Season in review, I didn't think it was as strong as the past couple, but as I mentioned last week, I think that's because it's harder to write as the guys actually get their success, the challenges feel more manufactured. However, this season did a good job of bringing back items into play that were started earlier on. The call backs were both obvious and subtle, which I liked.

[hincandenza]

2 hours ago, henripootel said:

At the absolute least, they need to keep him off the market.  And he has a way of coming up with billion dollar ideas, regularly.  Erlich should pay him huge to stay.

Oh, and Richard - anybody who tells you to just sign something right now without running it by a lawyer isn't your friend.  You need to stall for time?  Do what any CEO with a brain would do anyway - tell them you need to have a lawyer look at it.  He's a seriously worthless CEO, shit, he shouldn't be trusted with a checking account.

And I'm still not convinced that upping your own user numbers is in any way fraud, not in and of itself.  I mean anything can be fraud if you swear it's true and it isn't, but I can't believe that SV guys believe these numbers any more than IRS guys believe tip reports (i.e. everyone knows they're huge lies nobody takes seriously, and anyone who does is an idiot).

Honest to god, all of those pictures looked just like my tivo.  I guess that's the joke, that Hooli design aesthetic is rather generic, but I guess I was expecting a sharper joke.

Yeah, seconding the answer to RCharter's question; Erlich isn't dumb (except when written to be) and Richard is the technological heart of their company.  He's the most impossibly hopeless imbecile when it comes to everything else- such as continuing to not grasp simple ideas like "Shut the fuck up, Richard" and "Talk to a competent lawyer before signing anything, dipshit"- but in-show, he's arguably the most brilliant coder/tech genius in (fake) Silicon Valley right now.  At minimum, Erlich and Gavin- and probably most of the SV heavy hitters off-screen- know that for all his flaws, you can build multiple billion-dollar companies off the ideas that annoyingly spastic dude invents while sitting on the toilet.  If PP let him go, then in spite of himself Richard would have a bidding war for his time.

Not sure if I've told this story here, as it is possibly apocryphal, but the tech genius Jim Gray was sought after by Microsoft back in the early 90's.  Among other things, he is known as having basically invented the relational database- the foundation of all business data storage and ecommerce, for starters- and was revered by the innumerable tech giants whom he mentored through the years (he was the guy who, when his boat went missing, people like the founders of Google, MS, and others redeployed satellites to search the area he was last believed to have been sailing).  Thing is, when Microsoft was courting him, he didn't want to leave the Bay Area for Redmond, WA.  Microsoft didn't see that as a problem: they simply built a new campus in the Bay Area, so he could have a local office.  Like I said, it was an apocryphal story in the halls of MS when I was there in the late 90's/early 00's, but the point is that it was plausible; that's the kind of mind Jim Gray was, and that is the kind of coder/innovator Hendricks is on the show.

Edited to add: This wired article talks about the search for Jim Gray, and does include this blurb that seems to confirm the apocryphal story:

Quote

When Gray joined Microsoft in 1995, he convinced the software behemoth to launch a research center in San Francisco so that he and his wife wouldn't have to move to Redmond. "If Jim had wanted a lab in Monte Carlo, we would have built a lab in Monte Carlo," says Microsoft Research chief Rick Rashid. In 1998, Gray's peers gave him the highest honor in computer science, the A.M. Turing Award.

<snip>

Gray's mysterious disappearance inspired one of the most ambitious search-and-rescue missions in history. First the Coast Guard scoured 132,000 square miles of ocean. Then a team of scientists and Silicon Valley power players turned the eyes of the global network onto the Pacific. They steered satellites and NASA planes over the Golden Gate and mobilized the search for Tenacious on blogs and on Amazon.com. This group included some of the best minds in science and technology, among them Amazon.com chief technologist Werner Vogels and top executives at Microsoft and Oracle, including Bill Gates and Larry Ellison. Oceanographers and engineers from the US Navy, NASA's Jet Propulsion Lab, and the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute joined the effort, as did astronomers from leading universities.

The biggest joke of the Hooli box aesthetics was Gavin saying "Dang, those are some nice boxes" (or whatever) and then we cut to the wide shot to see Dang.  Cheap joke/pun, but it made me laugh. :)

 

2 hours ago, qtpye said:

Richard is not CEO material.  He is a genius coder, but the guy has no savvy or ability to read a room.

Exactly; he's Rain Man at this point, he's so lopsided in his tech genius and everything-else stupidity.  He's even less functional than BigHead, who at this point is written as basically a moron.

 

Over on Reddit, a poster named omnipedia made a very interesting post, with lots of thoughts on his own experience working with VCs.  It's an interesting insight, and does shed light on somethings; if you're curious, I recommend scrolling through and reading his comments in particular.  For starters, it sounds like VCs do shady stuff all the time including the kind of poorly timed forced actions that Laurie did this year, and should be avoided like the plague. He also mentions that it's quietly well known that many companies pump their numbers artificially, which supports henripootel's complaint that the number boosting is simply not a big deal.  

Edited June 27, 2016 by hincandenza

[chocolatine]

5 hours ago, henripootel said:

Honest to god, all of those pictures looked just like my tivo.  I guess that's the joke, that Hooli design aesthetic is rather generic, but I guess I was expecting a sharper joke.

To me the joke was seeing the same UX guy pop up at a different company doing the exact same thing he did at the last, because that's so typical of the industry in my experience.

He was probably there because of Jack. Usually when a big executive goes to another company, many of his acolytes from the old company follow within six months.

Edited June 28, 2016 by chocolatine

[kieyra]

Random thoughts not related to the real-world plausibility of the show, because I don't watch fiction that way. (And yes I am an IT nerd.)

I liked this season a lot, although I felt the finale was missing the huge comedy payoff we've gotten used to. Maybe because Ehrlich's verbal orgasm landed earlier in the episode?

As much as I love Laurie Bream, and as much as I acknowledge the weird gender radio in tech (while also being a female in tech) ... I wish we had just one more dynamic female character/possible love interest for the guys. Any of the guys, although I have a ginormous crush on Guilfoyle. Monica is still basically a cheerleader or the butt of various jokes. It would give the show some nice texture. But probably I'm in the tiny minority of people who care about a romance arc on this show. (That said: I'm glad they didn't go Richard/Monica.) I'd even be okay if it was just Tara around more often, screwing with Dinesh's head. She seems technically clued, too. 

I know they've toyed with female coders a bit, but I don't think they've tried as hard to mine for genuine tech chick archetypes as they have for the guys. 

(Let me be clear: this isn't about diversity/representation. The cast just feels a little unbalanced. And I think they could generate more *story* with more elements to work with.)

[RCharter]

^^I understand, but I personally am tired of Dinesh being the butt of every joke....and I'm sort of done with Guilfoyle. playing the asshole who always wins.  So, I'm fine with the two of them being alone.  I'm almost positive that if the show deigned to give Dinesh a girlfriend she would somehow be terrible.  And I don't want to see anyone try to tie down my sweet Jared.  I can't imagine the type of woman that Richard could be with...maybe someone who isn't so heavily involved in the tech world to the point where it doesn't start fights and he has to develop an interest in other things.  Maybe female Deng.  Or perhaps a girlfriend for Jin Yang....who I find hilarious.

Erlich/Laurie would be very, very interesting and I'd like to see that.

[candall]

I appreciate that Richard and Monica haven't developed into moon-June romance, but Erlich and Laurie would be great.  Erlich's tempestuous enough for two.

I don't know why they don't utilize the programmer with the bright blue/fuschia hair--she's smart, cynical, hardcore, funny.  Is it because she makes all the rest of them look like losers?  Does it have anything to do with being a Mike Judge Production?

Edited June 28, 2016 by candall
saw an extra chance to criticize Mike Judge.

[qtpye]

I too am finding Dinesh getting too pathetic, but love Jin Yang (I have no idea why).  I wonder if the Indian guy who is pathetic with women is getting to be a trope, but it brings too many Big Bang flashbacks.  I was hoping Dinesh would be a little more fleshed out.

Is Big Head smart again...since he (not Richard, or Bachman) is the one who devised the plan to buy Pied Piper?  Wouldn't Laurie go back to Gavin and ask him if he wanted to raise his initial offer?  I can't imagine Gavin not raising his offer, because he would love to own Pied Piper, just to fire Richard.  Gavin would not turn down the chance to be petty, particularly since this type of money is chump change for a person like him.

I hope I do not cause Jin Yang to smoke with this post, since it is most likely a special occasion.

[candall]

52 minutes ago, qtpye said:

Is Big Head smart again...since he (not Richard, or Bachman) is the one who devised the plan to buy Pied Piper? 

Thanks, I missed that!

I thought the Bighead half of Bachmanity would only be used to generously share his stock, when Erlich inevitably refuses.  (Leaving Erlich as the majority stockholder, naturally.)

I'm a Bighead fan and would love to see him be a trifle less aimless.  If he initiated buying PP and also left Daddy cooling his heels, he's on a serious roll!

 

.

Edited June 28, 2016 by candall

[kieyra]

*Flits off to write Erlich/Laurie fanfic*

Okay, not really, but I agree that would be an amazing pairing. The two of them would almost require a third-party translator just to make small talk. 

Also agree with someone else upthread who said Guilfoyle is getting pretty one-note. He's my favorite of the supporting cast, plus he's my nerd-crush archetype, but they need to let him have more ups/downs and, geez, facial expressions. Again, texture. 

Then again--I mainly watch scripted dramas, and darker 'comedies' a la Showtime stuff. I don't have a very good handle on the appropriate 'sitcom' tropes, so it's possible I'm trying to apply show elements that just don't belong here. 

[Maysie]

On 6/27/2016 at 3:18 PM, hincandenza said:

Exactly; he's Rain Man at this point, he's so lopsided in his tech genius and everything-else stupidity.  He's even less functional than BigHead, who at this point is written as basically a moron.

And didn't he assume that he'll be CEO of the New Pied Piper? Did I misread that? (That sounds right for Richard) I confess I watched this episode half-heartedly because the show has been draining away my will to keep watching through the season.

[Rinaldo]

On June 28, 2016 at 11:31 AM, qtpye said:

Wouldn't Laurie go back to Gavin and ask him if he wanted to raise his initial offer?  I can't imagine Gavin not raising his offer, because he would love to own Pied Piper, just to fire Richard. 

I make no pretense to expertise on all this (as many here are), but I heard Laurie say something during the meeting, to the effect that the terms of the deal precluded a second round of offers. I don't know if that's a real thing, or under what circumstances it would apply if it is.

[Misstify]

On June 28, 2016 at 4:50 AM, candall said:

I appreciate that Richard and Monica haven't developed into moon-June romance, but Erlich and Laurie would be great.  Erlich's tempestuous enough for two.

I don't know why they don't utilize the programmer with the bright blue/fuschia hair--she's smart, cynical, hardcore, funny.  Is it because she makes all the rest of them look like losers?  Does it have anything to do with being a Mike Judge Production?

I love Carla and would be thrilled to have her back (not as a love interest).  I like Monica as a non-kooky foil for everyone, but hope she gets more stuff to do.

[qtpye]

Monica has the unpleasant job as being the straight man/woman on the show.  However, just look to Arrested Development to see how that can still be hilarious.  I do like her character and she really did make a giant sacrifice for Pied Piper....almost as big as Jared/Donald's sacrifice in leaving Hooli the first season.

[candall]

2 hours ago, qtpye said:

....almost as big as Jared/Donald's sacrifice in leaving Hooli the first season.

LOL--I keep forgetting his name is really Donald.  There's a little snerk that keeps on giving.

Edited June 30, 2016 by candall

[wendyg]

I would really like to quit this show...the one problem is I like Zach Woods *so* much.

Agree it could use another woman. Computer science student who works as a housekeeper to pay tuition, perhaps?

[hincandenza]

14 hours ago, Rinaldo said:

I make no pretense to expertise on all this (as many here are), but I heard Laurie say something during the meeting, to the effect that the terms of the deal precluded a second round of offers. I don't know if that's a real thing, or under what circumstances it would apply if it is.

I think she said it was a "no-shop" offer; basically a "take this now, or it's off the table".  It certainly is an offer you can make, no different in a way than the "$xxx or best offer" you see on Craiglist.  To the show's small credit, it a) is actually the kind of thing Laurie would do- fulfill her fiduciary duty to maximize the sell offer, even if by a single $1- as well as b) is basically the same move Laurie made on Erlich a few episodes ago: he saw her desire to get out of the PP business as soon as possible, and exploited that to make the bare minimum, Price is Right offer.

3 hours ago, Misstify said:

I love Carla and would be thrilled to have her back (not as a love interest).  I like Monica as a non-kooky foil for everyone, but hope she gets more stuff to do.

Yeah, Monica needs more to do- and perhaps will as a full PP member- and I did like the Carla character... my one concern about her would have been if she was too "Mary Sue", as she seemed that way whenever she was on screen.  

35 minutes ago, wendyg said:

I would really like to quit this show...the one problem is I like Zach Woods *so* much.

Agree it could use another woman. Computer science student who works as a housekeeper to pay tuition, perhaps?

Agreed.  I've said it before, but I really disliked Zach Woods'- or his character, at least- in "The Office".  But man, he's been great in other things I've seen him in, and is my favorite character by far in this show.  That image of him staring forlorny out the window of Bachman's house in the final episode haunts me to this day... :)

[RCharter]

2 hours ago, hincandenza said:

Agreed.  I've said it before, but I really disliked Zach Woods'- or his character, at least- in "The Office".  But man, he's been great in other things I've seen him in, and is my favorite character by far in this show.  That image of him staring forlorny out the window of Bachman's house in the final episode haunts me to this day... :)

It would have only been better if he had been petting a smiley faced ziploc bag full of newspaper

[lucindabelle]

 Unpopular opinion I know but I love Richard and monica together and have always shipped. Also agree that it was season one level of brilliance to have Ehrlich going all dark I will never forgive you and Richard setting up a season for only two immediately but immediately undercut that with the. Team giggling. Loved.

Edited July 3, 2016 by lucindabelle

[Accidental Martyr]

On June 30, 2016 at 9:43 AM, qtpye said:

Monica has the unpleasant job as being the straight man/woman on the show.  However, just look to Arrested Development to see how that can still be hilarious.  I do like her character and she really did make a giant sacrifice for Pied Piper....almost as big as Jared/Donald's sacrifice in leaving Hooli the first season.

I would really like to see her character have a bigger role.

[dcalley]

On 6/28/2016 at 11:31 AM, qtpye said:

I too am finding Dinesh getting too pathetic, but love Jin Yang (I have no idea why).  I wonder if the Indian guy who is pathetic with women is getting to be a trope, but it brings too many Big Bang flashbacks.  I was hoping Dinesh would be a little more fleshed out.

Well, Dinesh is Pakistani!

I looked up the "always blue" game they were playing at the end. I have no memory of it, but they also played it in the very first episode.

[Camera One]

Richard was incredibly frustrating to watch yet again.  Admitting the numbers were fake in front of the other company was idiotic.  I'm pretty tired of his meltdowns instead of stopping to think of solutions.  I like how Monica is so consistently on their side and helping them out.  The board meeting was pretty funny.  

[Tachi Rocinante]

On 6/27/2016 at 3:51 PM, qtpye said:

Richard is not CEO material.  He is a genius coder, but the guy has no savvy or ability to read a room.

I think that's the point with a lot of tech-centric guys.  They think the coding/programming is the hard part and are oblivious to the rest of it.

On to Season 4!  Yeah, I'm behind.  I can only take Middleditch in small doses.  I have added him to my group of one-legged shortstops (he has no range.)