Pied Piper is dying and Richard is making things worse.  The Season 4 premiere kicks off with Richard faking an Uber, in order to hopefully snag some funding for “Piper Chat,” the video chat created by Dinesh which is the only thing keeping Pied Piper afloat.  But here’s the problem: Richard’s heart isn’t in it anymore.

The show’s still just as funny as it’s always been: Erlich (TJ Miller) and Jared (Zach Woods) steal every scene, like they always do. But things are very different now: Dinesh and Richard are fighting, Erlich is struggling when Big Head’s dad becomes a road block in his Bachmanity venture, Monica’s new office has a clear view of the men’s bathroom, and Richard is leaving Pied Piper, and he’s taking the name with him.   The whole thing is, unfortunately, a downer, but an interesting downer.

Silicon Valley is entering new ground.  With the backing of the least respectable billionaire in the industry, Russ Hannigan, Richard embarks on a mission to build a new internet.  But nothing new is learned that we don’t know from the trailer, with a few exceptions.  It’s a bit underwhelming.  Thankfully, Silicon Valley hasn’t loss what it has always been about: an average guy trying to help the world.  And that’s its saving grace.

Richard is full of big ideas, and we’re still rooting for him, despite his most recent failures.  Maybe Richard will build a new internet.  Maybe he’ll fail even harder than we’ve already seen.  Either way, the Season 4 premiere paves new ground for the show.  It’s different, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing.  At the very least, let’s handle the change better than Jared.

Funniest Lines

Jared: “I think I need to leave, but I love you guys.”
Erlich: “You know what we desperately need is a palapa.”

Funniest Moment

Jared giving Richard a manicure in order to repair Richard’s cuticles.  When asked how he learned it, Jared responds, “When I was on the street, it was a means of survival.”

3 out of 5 palapas