S01.E07: Proof of Concept

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Richard is concerned he won't finish his demo in time as TechCrunch Disrupt opens. He soon gets distracted by the rumors an ex-girlfriend is spreading about him. Jared isn't happy with the position that Amanda has been given within the company. Dinesh falls in love. Erlich's connection to a scandalous judge may ruin the Pied Piper's chances.

[Tara Ariano]

Wow, Jeff found Dinesh's online dating profile!

[lucindabelle]

How did Jared get back?

 

I loved the "be safe" moment and that we never had to see him figuring out what she thought etc. The ending was perfect!

[Edna Crandall]

I don't love that the only woman "programer" we saw wasn't really a programer. 

[chocolatine]

I don't love that the only woman "programer" we saw wasn't really a programer.

 

 

Not only not a programmer, but just plain dumb, to boot.

[Edna Crandall]

Not only not a programmer, but just plain dumb, to boot.

I mean, I like this show, but it's going to wear out its welcome real fast if the women on it are only accessories. We've only had one recurring female character, and while it's fine that she's in a caretaker role, it'd be nice to have some other women. Ones who aren't girlfriends, wives or strippers. 

[Hootis]

I am assuming that at some point perhaps possibly Mike Judge intends for me to like Richard, the main character. I haven't seen any evidence of this yet, but I hope...I keep hoping.

Right now, I watch for Dinesh, Gilfoyle and Erlich. I want more.

[JTMacc99]

I agree. They are really stretching out Richard's development. He doesn't even have very interesting relationships with the other characters yet, which is amazing considering how nicely the other ones are evolving. It is definitely intentional, so I am pretty much just waiting around for the payoff.

 

I did really enjoy this episode. There was a bunch of stuff that made me laugh, but I need to go back and re-watch to make a note of them. They weren't the main jokes (like Dinesh getting aroused by Gilfoyle's code), but rather the situations and the resulting reactions of the various characters.

[DrSpaceman]

I am really enjoying this show, just started watching it the last few weeks.

 

I do wonder how Jared got back and it bugs me a bit that he pretty much plays the same character he was on The Office.  Still like the show though

 

Loved the montage of every start up saying their app would "change the world" and all used the "local, social, mobile" buzzwords.  Lo-So-Mo. 

 

I am sure they will add more female characters, show is just starting have to give them some time.  I loved the references though to the lack of females at the events. "15% females!" and how there were 12 girls at the party mentioned. 

[Traveller519]

I liked this episode, it was a bit lighter and mixed the struggles with the triumphs well. It showed just how successful Richard can be when he gets out of his own way and gets things done.

 

Leave it to Erlich to not leave well enough alone and continue pushing for bigger fish.

 

I'm not sure when this show was recorded but considering Peter Gregory was absent due to exotic vacation. I'm wondering if that's how the show is dealing with Christopher Evan Welch's passing. I'm disappointed we lost his brilliance so early into the show. 

[radishcake]

@Traveller519 I think the episode where he meets Gavin in the restaurant was his last one sadly.

[JTMacc99]

I wonder how the show deals with it going forward.  Seems like Peter is a very important character for the series. Do they recast the role, do they just talk about him but never show him (which I suppose making him a shut-in would be believable), or do they just change it up so that either a new character takes over for Peter's company or have Peter sell his stake in PP?  The last one would in theory take Monica away, which seems like a bad idea.

 

I'm going with recast, but what do I know?

Edited May 20, 2014 by JTMacc99

[Traveller519]

I found this article in the National Post. Mike Judge says he won't be recast but they chose to write around the character in the interim while they decided what to do. The episode thread isn't really for speculation but I suppose there are a couple options.

 

At the very least this episode really displayed Monica as quite the capable business manager which will allow the show to flow for the meantime.

[JTMacc99]

Thank you for that article.

 

And like you mentioned, Monica's role in this episode, as well as her complete understanding of how Jared felt (and likely change of her actions because of that), makes me think she will be a far too important character to lose should the show write Peter's company out of the story.

[chocolatine]

I think they'll write out Peter, but not Peter's company. It'll be something along the lines of Pied Piper being too small fish for him to handle personally, and that he can trust Monica with them. It's actually very common that when a boss trusts their employees to do the job they become less hands-on. I used to have a boss that met with me only once a month because he felt I had a good handle on my team without his input.

[JTMacc99]

The more I think about it, the more I realize that I missed him in this episode. Every encounter the team had with him added so much to the overall feeling of the story, and even a minute or two in this episode would have been another layer of awesome.

[ironclown]

After the reveal that Erlich also screwed the Disrupt judge's new wife, all I could think was that Erlich was one magnificent bastard. I didn't know that I could both admire and hate a character all at the same time.

[JTMacc99]

Heh. I can't think of a character in any TV show, movie or book who would more appreciate being called a magnificent bastard than Erlich.