HBO’s SILICON VALLEY Brings Its Fifth Season to DVD

Jeri Jacquin

Coming to DVD and Digital from HBO Home Entertainment is one of the networks most successful series with SILICON VALLEY: The Complete Fifth Season.

Things at Pied Piper are finding its speed but Dinesh (Kumail Nanjiani) and Gilfoyle (Martin Starr) are in the middle of hiring staff. Matt Belson (Matt Ross) isn’t happy about what they are doing and attempts to bring over new coders but none of them want to work on his new mainframe box. Monica (Amanda Crew) and Laurie (Suzanne Cryer) are still keeping their eyes on the bottom line. Jared (Zach Woods) wants to jump into a company that is falling by the way side and hire their employees. Optimoji’s CEO Kira agrees but wants to bring her staff along.

Duncan isn’t going to make this easy but Richard (Thomas Middleditch) has his own idea with Sliceline and it works out with new employees and no old dead weight. Having new employees means Richard is going to have to work on his people skills. That’s causing a rift of respect and a walk out with Dinesh and Gilfoyle still standing. All of this in the midst of a little business espionage as a mole has reared its ugly head. Jian-Yang (Jimmy O. Yang) is doing just about anything he can to get a judge to agree that Erlich is dead. Agreeing to take over his problems, Jian-Yang slides right in leaving the gangs belongings outside.

Richard is invited to a party along with Jared and meets Ben Burkhart who works for Quiver and says he’s looking forward to seeing what Richard’s new project will bring. He also butters up Richard with offering to be the new COO for Pied Piper. Jared isn’t so sure this is a good idea given Ben’s history with other company’s. Belson is still trying to find ways to make a dent in Pied Pipers business by hitting them in the wallet. Ben immediately tries to pit Richard, Dinesh, Jared and Gilfoyle against each other at the same time they agree there is a leak in the company.

Richard goes around to eight other companies and sways them into being part of PiperNet. In the meantime finding the mole is left up to Jared and Gilfoyle who have to decide what to do about what they discover. In other good news Jared puts a dent in Jian-Yang’s take over of Erlich’s belongings and property but not before the little sneak takes what he wants and high tails it to China with a duplicate of Pied Pipers and Richards project.

Laurie decides to make a decision and bring in a new company to PiperNet which Richard decides is not cool with him. He can’t exactly say anything since the investment money is being spent. The new company Eklow and its CEO Ariel are about to pull more on PiperNet when more sabotage happens. Richard isn’t about to let any more craziness happen to PiperNet and gets a little creative himself. Belson moves forward with the Box 3 launch even though he momentarily thought he should leave the tech game.

Laurie has taken over as CEO of Eklow Labs when Ariel dashes with the company’s big product. Richard is getting nervous that Jian-Yang might launch his stolen ideas before PiperNet has they have a chance to get the jump. He has every right to be nervous when Belson runs into Jian-Yang and they come together to exchange information!

None of this is over when Monica discovers Laurie has been doing what they agreed not to do run ads or sell user data. Richard is not going stand for it and just when you think the parting is amicable – Laurie meets up with Yao in China.

The day has finally come and PiperNet is up and running, but what they don’t see coming is who is going to usurp 51% of the company. Laurie and Yao have made it clear that they are going to do whatever they can to keep the team sweating closure. Richard has one more ace up his sleeve – Belson! Working his charm on Belson’s ego, Laurie finds herself on the outs and Gilfoyle makes a move that surprises them all.

That’s what happens when you keep your eye on the prize and on those who would take down!

HBO Home Entertainment has an extensive array of critically-acclaimed and groundbreaking programs found on Bluray, DVD and Digital HD. They have provided viewers with some of the most amazing programs with huge fan bases that include the shows True Blood, Sex and the City, The Sopranos, True Detectives, The Wire, Entourage and Game of Thrones. Launched in 1984, HBO is world wide in viewed entertainment in more than 70 territories around the world! For more of what they have to offer please visit www.hbo.com.

The DVD includes the episodes Grow Fast or Die Slow, Reorientation, Chief Operating Officer, Tech Evangelist, Facial Recognition, Artificial Emotional Intelligence, Initial Coin Offering, and Fifty One Percent.  

SILICON VALLEY’s fifth season garnered seven Emmy nominations including Outstanding Comedy Series and Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series. Brought to HBO by Mike Judge and Alec Berg, this season brings an intensity for PiperNet and the gang with enemies coming from all sides.

The season’s half hour episodes pack in an ever changing tech landscape and it is the cast that makes it look effortless. Continuing to jump through the Silicon Valley hoops each season, it is stunning that the storyline keeps moving forward. That is they may keep moving forward but it’s not without putting out little fires that are trying to move them back.

SILICON VALLEY has taught me a lot about the tech world along with a vocabulary that I didn’t know existed. Of course the series also brought a lot of laughs as well. I constantly tell people if they want to learn about the craziness of it all they should invest in a serious marathoning of previous seasons!

In the end – the future is now!

Nothing Changes like Change in SILICON VALLEY: The Complete Fourth Season on Bluray

Jeri Jacquin

On Bluray from HBO Home Entertainment is the continuing look at the world through the eyes of those at the beginning of the technology age with SILICON VALLEY: The Complete Fourth Season.

Dinesh (Kumail Nanjiani) has helped to change Pied Piper to the video chat app called PiperChat. That isn’t the problem really as the team is trying to fund it on their own. Dinesh and Gilfoyle (Martin Starr) know there is only one more play and it’s with Russ Hanneman (Chris Diamantopoulos). Richard (Thomas Middleditch) isn’t happy about what it going on around him and feels that he needs to take his ideas elsewhere. That leaves the CEO job open and Dinesh is offered up.

Richard’s first lock out is when he asks Dinesh for data and is told he is locked out. Not about to be stopped, he finds a way in and discovers that the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act has been violated by PiperChat.

Gavin (Matt Ross) and Jack are back from China but there is something happening that causes Gavin to use a video chat to find answers. Discovering what Jack is up to, Gavin reaches out to Dinesh to shut down the app altogether. Avoiding legal problems that Richard knows about is the only way to make it all go away.

Of course it isn’t that easy yet Jack manages to avoid dealing with the legal implications of COOPA. Richard is working like crazy on his internet project and its about to take a turn when Monica lets him know that she knew someone who was working on something similar once. Turns out it is Peter Gregory and Richard gets his hands on the archives of his work. The problem he discovers is that Hooli once again has their hands in everything.

Gavin is on board with helping Richard, especially when its discovered that it could knock Hooli out. Richard works out a business plan but wants to keep the launch less than obvious. Erlich (T.J. Miller) believes that Laurie (Suzanne Cryer) is going to be forced out of Raviga by Ed Chen but it isn’t much of a surprise for anyone.

Dinesh doesn’t know what to do about his relationship with Mia (Phoebe Neidhardt) but that might not be an issue when he discovers a hack that is disturbing. Deciding to talk to Richard about what has been happening, he isn’t the only one not happy with what has been happening as Gavin turns everything over to Richard.

Leaving a mess, Richard is confronted by Russ about the whole thing and it turns, shall we say messy? Reaching out to Dan Melcher to work a deal, he has to babysit Erlich which turns into Erlich trying to get a job with Feldspar.

Pied Piper in online and breaks the top 500 app! Richard knows he needs to find an attorney and begin litigation for the royalties. Of course he is a step behind when Burke has a longer arm and pins Richard against a wall after a failed Hail-Mary threat.

Who knew weather would put the Pied Piper team once again close to ruin from the storage center. Richard reaches out to Erlich to get a meeting with Feldspar thinking they could get something going with their VR tech. Dinesh and Gilfoyle manage to use Pied Piper’s algorithm that gives the VR a boost. With an offer of a $25 million buy out, Richard learns from Monica (Amanda Crew) that it’s a farce by Feldspar and that she is willing to fund them.

Going into Hooli-Conference, the Pied Piper team sneak in with their routers. Placing them all around the convention, they wait for Feldspar to bring in their VR presentation only to watch it fall apart and Hooli phones go haywire by exploding. Now Jack has to deal with millions of devices affected.

Richard uses Anton to store data and Barker takes off to China as they have no choice but to increase production. Gavin has run off to Tibet but learns Barker has been taken hostage. Knowing he has to rescue him, it means coming back reinstated at Hooli’s CEO.

Pied Piper is back on investors radar and it is Gavin who offers Richard a deal. That’s when he discovers Richard has made a deal with Bream/Hall. Angry, he threatens Richard who lets Gavin know that he isn’t worried at all. In fact Richard makes a threat, or prediction of his own saying he plans to make Hooli obsolete.

HBO Home Entertainment has an extensive array of critically-acclaimed and groundbreaking programs found on Bluray, DVD and Digital HD. They have provided viewers with some of the most amazing programs with huge fan bases that include the shows True Blood, Sex and the City, The Sopranos, True Detectives, The Wire, Entourage and Game of Thrones. Launched in 1984, HBO is world wide in viewed entertainment in more than 70 territories around the world! For more of what they have to offer please visit www.hbo.com.

SILICON VALLEY has become one of the most popular series on HBO with it’s storyline that is tech based mixed with comedy. These characters are worth every minute to keep up with because the twists and turns are insane and cool.

The series was created by Mike Judge, John Altschuler and Dave Krinsky with the story of five guys who are trying to get their start up company started in the Silicon Valley. HBO premiered the show in 2014 and has already been reviewed for a fifth season!

The DVD includes the episodes Success Failure, Terms of Service, Intellectual Property, Teambuilding Exercise, The Blood Boy, Customer Service, The Patent Troll, The Keenan Vortex, Hooli-Con and Server Error.  

There are laughs enough for all yet there is also intricate story lines in the high-tech world that had me learning far more than I ever imagined. I’m pretty much a tech failure being I just want things to work when I turn them on and don’t care how that happens. The cast play off each other with ease and that’s the biggest thing that makes this show work.

Each character has its own idea of how the world works and the clashes are sometimes beyond belief, yet I tune in for each episode knowing there is so much more to come. I certainly don’t claim to understanding everything they talk about but I’m dang sure willing to learn.

SILICON VALLEY brings us all on the ride of satire embedded in a bit of reality with a quirkiness that makes it one surprise after another. If you are looking for a unique view of the world through the eyes of techies then get in on the fun. SILICON VALLEY: The Complete Fourth Season is now available on Bluray and Digital HD.

In the end – they are changing the way things change!