Silicon Valley 4.10 "Server Error" - Review:
Directed by Mike Judge & Written by Dan O'Keefe
Silicon Valley has been known for its last minute saves and it was no surprise to see the episode pull another one out of the bag again, as the team were prevented by going bust thanks to Anton, their server, who died so the Pied Piper could live. It was a bit repetitive in terms of the show's plotline, which we've seen over the course of the season, but in doing so this allowed us to see two new things, or rather, two regular characters of the show, in new lights. Richard himself was essentially the villain of this episode, so desperate to meet his aims that he was willing to risk putting Big Head in trouble and causing him to potentially lose his job. They're put into this predicament because Jack Barker decided not to simply make a firmware update but instead replace every Hooli Device that exploded at the Hooli-Con, and although that is comes at a price it will solve their issues, as Pied Piper's apps were only installed on those specific phones. So Richard's turn to a villain may be short lived, because from his point of view, Pied Piper is about to go down in flames.
And he almost had to do it without Jared. Jared who has always been there for Richard, decides to abandon ship after Richard's breaking of morals. However, Jared can't quit without handing in a two-week notice, and Jared, being Jared, decides to look for potential replacements to help Richard and the gang once he's gone. However, this goes about as well as expected, with Jared bringing in one unfortunate applicant at the time the group go into a meltdown of their own. It's safe to say that Zach Woods has been one of the biggest standouts of the season and I'm really optimistic that Season 5 will push him more to the forefront in terms of screentime. His character transformation has come about in a big way as he's shown that he's capable of standing up for himself, recognising when Richard is about to jump the shark and deciding that he won't play a part of it. The breakdown in relationship between Jared and Richard was interesting as well, with Richard finally realising that he'd gone too far after Jared left. However, once Richard decides to own up and confess to his misgivings, Jared decides to re-write his letter of application, and despite handing Richard the wrong one by mistake, decides to jump on board for what everyone believes will be the bitter end of Pied Piper.
You can't blame Jared for wanting to leave Pied Piper. Seeing his reactions of various people burning when the people with Hooli-Con phones started catching fire showed that he'll always be the moral consciousness of the group. Richard is so driven by his ideas that he's willing to set aside that to get it done, at least initially, but Jared will always remain as the one on the team who doesn't. The very fact that Jared alone had to resign almost felt like that the writers were for once deciding to turn things around and make a real status quo change going into the new season, without Jared or Erlich on the team anymore. However, Jared was brought back on board, with the reset being rather underwhelming even if the way it was handled was pulled off effectively. It's just a case of how many times do we have to do this, writers? Hopefully next season will see more effort put into the focus of getting the team out of situations. Maybe for once they'll have to face the consequences of their actions.
It was interesting to see the return of Gavin Belson, complete with a new haircut, in this episode, having left Erlich behind in opium-induced heaven overseas. Gavin does initially end up wanting to acquire Pied Piper but despite working together before, Richard won't accept his offer, putting them at odds with each other and as a result, their clashes will no doubt be the main focus of season five. It'll also be interesting to see what Gavin brings to the table in terms of his spiritual awakening as well. I did like how they handled T.J. Miller's send off though, rather than writing the character off completely they allowed him the potential to return should Miller wish in the future. As Erlich has been around since Day One it's going to be very hard to see a show without him involved, but also the potential is there for them to find replacements. Will we have a gag where one of the team is interviewing people for the Erlich role? And what happens to the house now with its owner out of the country? Should the writers wish for it, things could look very different in Season 5 and I hope Judge and his team decide to take some risks with the format next time around. It's time for the group to move on up in the world.
Despite the issues that I had with this finale I still very much enjoyed it. At the end of the day, Silicon Valley is still Silicon Valley, and there were some great moments throughout the episode that I had a very good time with. Does it need improving? Absolutely. That doesn't mean it's still damn good though, and I still value Silicon Valley over most comedies on television. The little golden moments like them being summoned to Dan Melcher's office not because of the server error as they initially thought but instead because Liz - like she was always going to do - confessed to Dan about her affair with Richard, and seeing Dan tackle Richard to the floor in anger, really worked, and as a result, hopefully there's more to come when the show returns next year.
What did you think of Server Error and of Season 4 as a whole? Was it as good as the previous seasons or did you not like it as much? Either way, let me know your thoughts in the comments section below!
