S04.E01: Success Failure

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Quote

In the Season 4 premiere, the guys struggle to find funding for Pied Piper's video-chat app to keep up with their rapidly growing user base. Meanwhile, Erlich encounters resistance from Big Head's dad; Gavin clashes with Jack Barker at Hooli; and Richard hatches a revolutionary idea that could change his future.

S4 promo:

[riprock]

Man, I'm a little confused. Was there an S3 plot point when Barker became a Hooli employee? The last thing I remember is he and Gavin getting on separate planes to Jackson Hole. 

Dinesh's comeback to Richard about the platform having failed despite it being exactly what Richard wanted cut really deep. It rang with frustration, rejection, and just a hint of animosity, both on personal and professional levels. 

I kind of hope Russ Hannemann is in for the season, but also don't want it to be a retread of his S2 appearance. Maybe he needs his own storyline?

the guys' bathroom gags (twice!) were too funny.

[chocolatine]

26 minutes ago, riprock said:

Man, I'm a little confused. Was there an S3 plot point when Barker became a Hooli employee? The last thing I remember is he and Gavin getting on separate planes to Jackson Hole.

Laurie fired Jack last season, and Gavin hired him to build his "box" for Hooli.

I thought it was a good season opener, not laugh-out-loud funny, but a lot of good bits with Richard kidnapping the VC, Russ being surprisingly astute (again!) amidst the vulgarity, and Big Head's dad making all the decisions for him.

The private jet thing didn't make sense to me because someone like Jack should know that you never inconvenience the big boss.

Dinesh as CEO should be funny for a bit, though I don't see him succeeding in the long run. Gilfoyle is right that he has no leadership skills. I kinda wanted to see what decisions Big Head's dad would have made as CEO.

Richard's "new internet" idea seems like a pipe dream, but then again, he's supposed to be a genius. I just want him to finally see something through to the end.

[Nordly Beaumont]

Love this show, so glad it's back! Favorite line tonight "I've always been very adept at taking the shape of the shoe that's pressed down upon me."

Loved seeing pony tail guy showing Jack to his desk in the the basement.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Clips:

 

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Despite Russ's explicit analogy, he was right about Richard not fully being behind the Pied Piper videochat and he was earnest when he asked Richard what he would create if he had unlimited time and resources so...yay, Russ?

[Should Be Working]

It was a bit better than I expected from the ads. I expect Russ will be back to "help" Richard realize his new internet technology. Or not. He hasn't really succeeded since Tech Crunch, so Judge and company owe him this win, if only to keep his tech genius credentials intact. 

The sight gags were better than usual. Both Laurie and Jack exiled to crappy offices with a clear view inside the men's restrooms. Jack looking around in astonishment as the Hooli elevator descended below ground floor level.

[Paws]

I loved the part where Jared was giving Richard puppy dog eyes and Richard says, go on now, go, like you would to an actual puppy.  

[Traveller519]

They came back as strong as they have in a long time! This wasn't just easing back in (a la, Veep last week) they went full force. The business decisions for Pied Piper made sense, and played out much better than the trailers made it look like it would. The humor was still there and in full force too, both verbal and physical (Russ with both doors on the Lamborghini open, then having to close the passenger one as he left was a subtle, personal fave). 

As outrageous as the Gavin scene was it really played up the out-of-touch billionaire aspect of his character that's been his hallmark. Stewing over the flight map, then applying "scientific process" to the flight time with the Head of Security, on the ruse of Jack costing the shareholders' money was excellent. He'll definitely be less relevant to the overall direction of both Pied Piper and Piperchat (theoretically), but I enjoy watching his follies.

Something that could be interesting to watch. Remember that the framework was "ahead of its time" perhaps there will be a triggering event that causes the masses to begin embracing it, and it begins to take off with legitmate users. I believe that would still be the intellectual property of the previous, non-Richard, company. That could present some interesting dynamics as Richard pursues his own thing.

[scrb]

All Gavin had to do was ask the pilot what the flight computer says about the ETA for Jackson Hole vs. Wyoming.

In any event, the joke is that neither Piper Chat nor Pied Piper will ever reach IPO stage.  Show is a satire of startup culture, not companies which get big enough to actually make IPO, at which point these guys would be filthy rich and no longer have any real reason to work.  Or maybe even be around each other.

[Shriekingeel]

It's an old, cheap sitcom trope but it still works: I knew when they started with the "no *respectable* VC will touch us", that Russ would suddenly appear. Just like "only an idiot would do that" meant the immediate entrance of Lenny and Squiggy. 

The bathroom sight gag that bookended the episode was hilarious. I missed Laurie though--she's one of those characters who automatically makes me laugh. 

Edited April 24, 2017 by Shriekingeel

[riprock]

I was very excited to see Laurie in the opening bit, before the HBO logo, where all the actors try to emulate the HBO hum. She didn't have to be there. It gave me hope that she would again appear this season. 

[TrininisaScorp]

While I need both Gavin and Russ in small doses, I really appreciated their presence tonight.  Russ gave Richard some excellent advice in ONLY the way that Russ can...so amazingly awful.  

I loved the "holding all extraneous variables constant" argument that Gavin made to justify to 6 trips to/from China.  It's so him!  Petty and pedantic!  I think the guy working for him had some great reactions to the request...almost like it was reasonable.   And then the demotion for Jack as a result; his long trek to the sub sub sub basement genuinely made me laugh.

Jared's face puppy stupid face is one of my favorite things.  His line about the shoe (quote in a few posts above) is really a good tagline for the character.  

I actually really enjoyed Richard this episode.  Leave it to Richard to really be a leader just as he is stepping down.  So typically Richard.  I appreciate it how he worked it all out and how reasonable his negotiation was with the boys.  I'm curious to see how this all works out for him.

[qtpye]

15 hours ago, chocolatine said:

The private jet thing didn't make sense to me because someone like Jack should know that you never inconvenience the big boss.

Yeah, Jack was acting like they were equals and really, he could not wait 20 minutes to be dropped off, rather then piss off his boss?

That being said, isn't Jack really rich with a private plane of his own and a house in Jackson Hole (very expensive)?  Why the hell would he stick with this job in the crappy sub basement?

[RealReality]

5 hours ago, Paws said:

I loved the part where Jared was giving Richard puppy dog eyes and Richard says, go on now, go, like you would to an actual puppy.  

That was so cute.

3 hours ago, scrb said:

All Gavin had to do was ask the pilot what the flight computer says about the ETA for Jackson Hole vs. Wyoming.

In any event, the joke is that neither Piper Chat nor Pied Piper will ever reach IPO stage.  Show is a satire of startup culture, not companies which get big enough to actually make IPO, at which point these guys would be filthy rich and no longer have any real reason to work.  Or maybe even be around each other.

Nah, because Jack would have just argued that the weather or the headwinds or both would make it more expedient to fly to Jackson hole first.  No way was Gavin giving him an out.  The fact that he stewed over it for over 11 hours as Jack peacefully slept was priceless.  IRL, if you're just gonna sleep you should probably not insist on going home first. 

3 minutes ago, qtpye said:

Yeah, Jack was acting like they were equals and really, he could not wait 20 minutes to be dropped off, rather then piss off his boss?

That being said, isn't Jack really rich with a private plane of his own and a house in Jackson Hole (very expensive)?  Why the hell would he stick with this job in the crappy sub basement?

Contract?  And I think it may look weird in that industry if you just up and leave a job.

[qtpye]

Quote

Contract?  And I think it may look weird in that industry if you just up and leave a job

He probably is bound by a contract, but they showed him to be a man of standing and wealth last season.  Remember the horrible scene where Richard walked in on him breeding his horses?  I mean he must have lawyers that can get him out of it.  Also, the whole "getting dropped off first" thing seemed like a total power play to me.  He was trying to kind of Alpha Gavin, but he really picked the wrong guy to pull that type of crap on.

Speaking of lawyers, do you guys remember that really cute lawyer that Richard kept on refusing to listen to?  Richard might seem very wishy washy, but he really is quite stubborn about doing things his way, not that this is always a bad thing.

[chocolatine]

8 minutes ago, qtpye said:

Also, the whole "getting dropped off first" thing seemed like a total power play to me.  He was trying to kind of Alpha Gavin, but he really picked the wrong guy to pull that type of crap on.

Exactly, it had nothing to with whether Jackson Hole was closer to Shanghai than Mountain View. But that's also the part that rang false to me, because Jack is not stupid. He should have known he couldn't pull that kind of shit with Gavin without terrible repercussions.

ETA: forgot to mention the continued awesomeness of Jared in my first post. Of course he learned how to do gel manicures while living on the streets.

Edited April 24, 2017 by chocolatine

[Traveller519]

1 hour ago, chocolatine said:

Exactly, it had nothing to with whether Jackson Hole was closer to Shanghai than Mountain View. But that's also the part that rang false to me, because Jack is not stupid. He should have known he couldn't pull that kind of shit with Gavin without terrible repercussions.

I get the feeling that "Action Jack" Barker thrives on these types of Alpha power plays, often to his own detriment. That was basically his whole interacation with Richard, and even Lori, at Pied Piper. He wants to be the man, without having really accomplished anything, but by willing his way into them.

1 hour ago, qtpye said:

He probably is bound by a contract, but they showed him to be a man of standing and wealth last season.  Remember the horrible scene where Richard walked in on him breeding his horses?  I mean he must have lawyers that can get him out of it. 

I would assume that contract has a lot of contingent salary based on the performance of the EndFrame Hooli box. Seems like a pretty good manufacturing deal they just closed, it would likely be a lot of money to walk away from. Plus now, he can sit in the basement and put all his focus into plotting his next move. I really liked that though they made it seem like he was being sent to the roof, based on expectations, it was in fact, the opposite.

[Should Be Working]

Yes, this is essentially a situation comedy based in contemporary Silicon Valley and the behavior of characters only resembles real life SV people in a broadly exaggerated manner. Still, the behavior of that venture capitalist in that hijacked Uber car at the start of the episode rang untrue, despite PP's widely acquired reputation as a self-destructive startup. He's sitting there watching very high-resolution 4-party video conferencing on a smartphone and will talk only if and when they reach 1 million active users? Why not 500K? Or 2 million?

Despite the slump in Silicon Valley VC investments in the past 12 months (down 30 percent), VCs are simply getting more careful and choosey and are still more than willing to fund those with really promising apps and technologies.  I would think this kind of technology would at least warrant a closer look while he has them desperate and begging.

[scrb]

Pretty sure the flight computer calculates in real-time, taking account of head winds and current bearing.

If you're on an intercontinental flight these days, you can bring up the flight info. on the screen in front of you and one of the data they show you is ETA as well as head or tail wind, ground speed, etc.

You can see the ETA changing if the ground speed changes due to wind.

[jbrecken]

Richard's "new internet" sounds like Napster - decentralized sharing of information running on everyone's phone in a distributed model.

[Camera One]

As usual, Richard was being short-sighted and petulant.  He couldn't hang in for awhile longer, while working on his great new idea on the side until he gets something solid?