With Richard trying to decide between firing his best friend and building an attractive company for Peter Gregory, “The Cap Table” is able to give a little depth to Richard and move him beyond the meek nerd we met last episode. However, the dramatic effect of his decision near episode’s end isn’t as impactful as it could be, since we’re only told that Big Head is his best friend, rather than shown it. It might’ve had a more impressive impact if we’d gotten to see their relationship play out a little more and have this story happen in another episode or two.
Despite the shortcomings of their relationship, we finally get to see Richard cut loose and have a true emotional reaction to something. He finally takes Erlich’s advice to “be an ass***” and pulls it off nicely. It’s the first time the droning temperament of the show spikes a little bit, with Thomas Middleditch’s performance spicing things up and keeping Silicon Valley from becoming too dry for its own good.
While Richard and Big Head are the focus this episode, the rest of the cast is given far more to do than last time around. Jared in particular is hilarious, with the Yes Man mentality instilled in him at Hooli not quite being appropriate at the Pied Piper start-up and creating awkward situations for everyone around him, particularly Richard.
I also really enjoyed the cutthroat rivalry between Dinesh (Kumail Nanjiani) and Gilfoyle (Martin Starr), revealed in one scene courtesy of an expectedly dry monologue from Starr and understated one-liners from Nanjiani.
The scene in which the group is questioned by Jared about their role at the company will no doubt feel familiar to Office Space fans, but the jokes feel fresh nonetheless. The only damper on these scenes is Gilfoyle’s penchant for making pop culture references (Mass Effect 3, Skrillex) that are unnecessary and will feel outdated by this time next year, if it even takes that long.
The other pitfall of this episode is Erlich. In the first episode he was a source of funny one-liners, but here he’s just obnoxious. His character is such that he’s a scheming buffoon trying to thrive off the work of others, but he’s too invasive in his appearances; it feels like he’s hijacking the scene rather than humorously complicating the lives of the characters around him.
