Reviews

Though Christian Slater's previous tech-geared TV drama flopped without notice, this new effort has just enough grit to keep people interested. The main character, not Christian Slater, could be one reason for a positive shift. Elliot, played by Rami Malik, pulls off the beady eyed grayhat fairly well, and riffs of "Fight Club", "The Matrix", and "Hackers" all coexist to compose a decent melody of scenes. For me, it appealed to the cyberpunk bookworm and anime watcher of old who spent decades in a barely fed genre.

Yes, the technical aspect of hacking is dumbed down quite a bit, but you won't see giant pacmans eating pixels on the screen or progress bars labeled "VIRUS" either. Social engineering is given equal weight as well, which is a welcome area of focus. Hopefully the writing team and creative directors develop plots and characters in a non-linear fashion, and don't begin to rinse and repeat the show into yet another formula driven cash-cow.

I look forward to the future of this series, with fingers crossed.

Silicon Valley is an HBO tech-series with all the typical stereotypes. An overweight stoner, an emaciated wannabe cyber-criminal, a witty Indian with characteristic accent, and the centerpiece, a gangly socially awkward CEO.

The show aims to provide an unrealistic yet overly comedic account of a startup company, aptly named 'Pied Piper, who has just created a nextgen compression algorithm. A bit campy? Yes. However, the production value and writing are on point, the acting is adequate, and the result is an entertaining collection of scenes which keeps one interested and expectant.

As the series is only a few episodes in, not much can be said about a larger picture, but so far the show is akin to various HBO blips on a similar vein. Think 'Flight of the Conchords' minus the musical, or 'Bored to Death' minus the deadpan lethargy.

That networks like HBO are under fire from online content providers like Netflix and Hulu, I appreciate the recent trend: more artistic license and less plodding predictability.

Thumbs up for the effort as we can look forward to watching this grow!

Costumes and sets alone are enough to elevate this show into greatness.

However, the Achilles heel for me is something lacking yet needed: citizens. This show lacks proper emphasis on the citizens, devout or not, that clarify how power is accumulated and secured. It seems a very conscious choice to avoid a detail so absolutely, but what remains is a very insular and treachery laden plot line. What remains is anxiety from one-big chase scene where every character is given equal doses of screen time and I am left wondering: "Who's attending church?"

As religion can be a touchy subject, I understand the reasons for avoiding that emphasis. We wouldn't want to alienate the audience, right? Still, acknowledging the diversity of social classes and backgrounds would add greater depth and appeal to an otherwise amazing storyline.

Also, yet rarely, I have a sense that the death-toll per episode is approaching that of Spartacus. Can somebody google-check that...?