Silicon Valley 4.06 Customer Service - Review:
Directed by Clay Tarver & Written by Graham Wagner & Shawn Boxe
How do you deal with a problem like having a big name investor pull out of your company after having made an interview proclaiming that your big name investor is still supporting your company? That was very much the problem that was gripping Silicon Valley this week because although there was no Gavin Belson around, his lack of presence still very much served as a key factor in this episode which saw Richard and company grasping at straws, and Dinesh starting to regret that he'd left Periscope for a company with no money, even if it meant no more dick pics. The characters found themselves addressing multiple issues this week such as a possible alternative that the group might try to move towards without funding.
The painting of Gavin still hung over them this week and it's no surprise that they quickly tried to move it. I loved Jared's line about facing your fears, saying that he faced his when an intruder actually came into his room. Jared comes up with random stuff like this that helps make his character so great, especially when they push him in unexpected directions like they did recently when he went on his pledge to go on a killing spree, and stood up to Bryce the Blood Boy. Things quickly go south when Russ shows up, annoyed that Richard sold the idea out to Gavin. He claims that because he helped Richard come up with the idea it was technically his idea as well. When Richard brings up the example about the doctor who pulled the baby out of the mother doctor doesn't get to keep the baby to counterbalance Russ' involvement, Russ returns by saying that the doctor had an affair with his ex-wife and is now suing for full custody, meaning that yes, in his case, the doctor does get to keep the baby. Whether it's true or not doesn't seem to matter. But Richard should have probably tried a bit harder to convince Russ to go behind his idea, maybe offering him what he wanted to get him on board, especially if he was the last investor in the valley willing to talk to them.
But Russ ends up pissing on a car instead, not knowing or caring that it doesn't belong to Richard. This forces them to turn to a Plan B, and while Jared is looking at Real Estate Buildings for a possible dream holiday and then going on Amazon to find out all the stuff that he could buy instead of going on that holiday, Richard gets a new idea, they don't need the funding, they just need customers. It's the best bad idea of multiple bad ideas, but if you don't draw a line in the sand when someone pisses on your car, when do you draw the line in the sand? Erlich of course arrives and the car being his that Russ pissed on, they pass it off as a new joke.
Speaking of Erlich, he's bored, despite pretending that he isn't. After almost screwing up Richard's meeting with a potential new boss, old friend Dan Melcher, who still maintains a hatred for him after he slept with two of his wives, Erlich instead tries to get a job at Laurie and Monica's new business but Laurie's business deals with money and and they can't have Erlich involved as she doesn't believe that he is responsible enough to be trusted. Much like Richard, he's running out of options before he inadvertently sits at a reserved table for a meeting in a cafe and decides to pass off as being one of the members having brought swag to the table that Monica gave him. This leads him to insulting the meeting's leader, Haley Joel Osment's Keenan Feldspar, who is one of the big names in the Valley. However Keenan doesn't take it as an insult and instead approves of Erlich, deciding to hire him on the spot to act as a negotiator with Monica and Laurie. Laurie, who needs Keenan on board, decides to agree to Erlich's deal.
Richard's new deal with Dan potentially goes into jeopardy when it's revealed that Dan's wife-to-be, Liz, has a crush on Richard and mistakes his speech about waking up to the same thing every day for him telling her to leap at the chance and have an affair with Richard in the office. For everyone expecting that Erlich would again decide to have an affair with Liz and make it the third of Dan's wives that he's had an affair with, this was a way to sidestep the joke and take it in a new direction. Richard realizes that he's screwed up and confesses to Jared, who tells him to break up the affair before it becomes serious. Thankfully for Richard, Liz too realizes that she's made a mistake, believing that the sex was in fact, bad, and doesn't want a repeat. She agrees to confirm the deal and Richard leaves, after sharing an awkward elevator ride with Dan.
The episode as usual was filled with amusing scenes throughout the half hour, which as always with Silicon Valley, goes by far too quickly. There was a great moment where while testing the app, Dinesh and Gilfoyle end up inadvertently gaining data from each other's phones, private data that both of them don't want shared. After initially attempting to defuse the system, Jared soon finds himself helpless to intervene as both of them lash out. Gilfoyle flushes his phone down the toilet to avoid Dinesh learning something secretive about him, and Dinesh destroys a phone as well so Gilfoyle can't learn anything. Dinesh declares himself the victor as he knows that there is something embarrassing on Gilfoyle's phone, but Gilfoyle says that he's lost because Dinesh will go the rest of his days wondering what's on it. Dinesh doesn't listen, storming off and declaring victory.
What did you think of Customer Service? Let me know in the comments below and be sure to check out next Sunday's episode at 9pm on HBO.
