S04.E07: The Patent Troll

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Quote

When Richard decides to stand up to a patent troll, his defiance ends up coming back to haunt him. Gilfoyle goes to desperate measures to battle Jian-Yang's new smart fridge. Jared embraces multiple identities in his quest to reduce costs. Erlich tries to hang with the alpha males.

Promo:

Edited June 5, 2017 by ElectricBoogaloo

[Nordly Beaumont]

"Sometimes it's a Wheat Thin" - Ron LaFlammes reaction was great!

[Rinaldo]

As was Jared's -- like, he's been there.

[woodscommaelle]

Jared as Ed Chambers. Oh my god we need more of that!

[Dots And Stripes]

The Sotomayor joke was my favorite. It's too bad Ed needed to be fired.

Did they explain why they're back to the other lawyer?

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Loved the mariachi version of "Walking on Sunshine" over the closing credits.

Of course Jared treats Ed Chambers as a completely separate entity. He was so good at it, so it's kind of a bummer that Jared already fired Ed.

Jian Yang getting a $14K refrigerator just to fuck with Erlich was priceless. Naturally Guilfoyle had to spend an entire day hacking into the security on the refrigerator just on principle.

[RealReality]

I thought this was the best episode of the season......Erlich mansplaining mansplaining was absolutely brilliant. 

[BusyOctober]

I love how Jian Yang is sticking it to Erlich at every turn.  "You are fat and you are poor."

Never thought I'd agree with Guilfoyle, but I hate how every computer/tech device has to "speak" or show pictures.  Why do I need pictures of food in my fridge?  What's next? Washers and dryers will let me watch my laundry spin around via an app?  The more tech put into appliances means higher prices, and increases obsolescence.  If I pay $4000 for a talking fridge with screens and voice recognition and when some circuit blows or LED quits working, the fancy pants option I paid for is dead and too costly to repair.  So, while the "refrigeration" may still work, I'm stuck with a non-tech $4k fridge that I could have had for $900 at Home Depot. I just don't see the necessity of some of these tech-y add-ons for appliances, but I am not 20- or 30- something, so I could be too old to appreciate the wonders of the micro chip.

[swimmyfish]

8 hours ago, Dots And Stripes said:

Did they explain why they're back to the other lawyer?

I believe the car wash lawyer - whose name I can't remember at the moment - isn't actually allowed to practice law? So he might advise, and act in a mediation, but he wouldn't be allowed to actually write up the legal documents Ron did in this episode. Although I am not a lawyer, so that could be wrong.  But even if he were able to write up the documents, for the sake of comedy, a lawyer who's currently working at a car wash would never be able to charge $22K for his services, and thus would not have been effective for the punchline of the episode.

I thought this episode was a little weak overall, but I'm enjoying the continuing thread this season of someone pointing out every episode that Richard is acting like a dick. We've always seen Richard as the underdog getting knocked around, but I like the idea of Richard confronting how his image of himself might conflict with how other people see him.

I have also really missed Gavin Belson these past two episodes. I hope he comes back soon - I think it would be interesting if a savvier Richard had a genuine partnership with Gavin, and what that might look like.

[woodscommaelle]

I hope Gavin comes back bc I'm dying for a scene with him and Russ. 

[Traveller519]

This felt like what the roots of Silicon Valley were meant to be. Panning the little idiosyncrasies of the valley. So an episode focused on a Patent Troll played quite well. Of course it plays better here where they're not flush with the backing of a VCs as they were in prior seasons, the desire for Richard to actually fight the thing makes more sense. Presumably Raviga or Russ would have advised to just pay off the troll as a cost of business.

Richard getting the win with his own intellect and some cunning was good to see too. Despite his passion costing him with the partnership idea. He played the resolution well. I was worried there was going to be an issue the licence when Jared looked at it then asked to speak with Richard, as that would have been more the case in the past couple seasons where things spin out of control. The invoice was a nice comeuppance that hopefully keeps this issue mostly resolved.

Lori, Monica, you have to know nothing good is coming from having Erlich as an employee. I would have jacked that pay-off to go away!

[mojoween]

I'm going to miss Bachman so much.  When TJ Miller plays Erlich as vulnerable it breaks my heart.

Because of this stupid show and my husband's refusal to help I am now going to get targeted ads for sexual fetishes or something because I had to google donkey punch.

[msani19]

13 hours ago, mojoween said:

Because of this stupid show and my husband's refusal to help I am now going to get targeted ads for sexual fetishes or something because I had to google donkey punch.

Genuine laugh out loud funny comment. Sorry, you didn't know what that was and I'm sorry that I did! I'll be curious to know what ads starting following you around the internet now

[MaggieG]

On 6/4/2017 at 11:35 PM, Nordly Beaumont said:

"Sometimes it's a Wheat Thin" - Ron LaFlammes reaction was great!

This made me laugh so much! I love Jared, he continues to be the best thing about this show.

I also laughed when Dinesh mention Steph Curry and Erlich said he would say hi to "her."

[Spaceman Spiff]

On ‎6‎/‎5‎/‎2017 at 11:57 AM, Traveller519 said:

Richard getting the win with his own intellect and some cunning was good to see too. Despite his passion costing him with the partnership idea. He played the resolution well. I was worried there was going to be an issue the licence when Jared looked at it then asked to speak with Richard, as that would have been more the case in the past couple seasons where things spin out of control. The invoice was a nice comeuppance that hopefully keeps this issue mostly resolved.

I thought the invoice issue turned that win into a loss. I get these guys are supposed to be lovable losers, but the show is consistently just making them losers, so I was bummed when the invoice negated Richards cunning.

On ‎6‎/‎5‎/‎2017 at 7:39 PM, mojoween said:

Because of this stupid show and my husband's refusal to help I am now going to get targeted ads for sexual fetishes or something because I had to google donkey punch.

Just be glad you didn't get stuck in an internet pornado

[Moxie Cat]

16 hours ago, Spaceman Spiff said:

I thought the invoice issue turned that win into a loss. I get these guys are supposed to be lovable losers, but the show is consistently just making them losers, so I was bummed when the invoice negated Richards cunning.

I didn't mind this "loss" as much as (the many) others. They were going to have to pay the $22K if they didn't fight. At least Richard got the better of the troll by using his skill and wits. No one except Richard thought the money was a big deal - and even Richard was more annoyed by the troll's attitude than anything else. Jared's take at the end was right - it was a win, they just had to pay for it.

I have been more deflated in the past by the losses like the attempted/failed coup of Jack, the erasing of the porn videos, etc. There were a few seasons (the second, especially?) where it seemed like one loss after another. It was damn depressing. This season hasn't been that bad in that respect. In fact, each ep seems to show a tiny improvement, such as this episode's entering of the App Store 500. (So I guess we're due for a huge loss by the end, eh?!)