Two Days of the Condor

"Two Days of the Condor" is the tenth and final episode of the second season of the television comedy Silicon Valley. The episode was directed and written by Alec Berg[1], and originally aired on HBO on June 14, 2015. For his teleplay, Berg received a nomination for Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series at the 67th Primetime Emmy Awards.

"Two Days of the Condor"
Silicon Valley episode
Episode no.Season 2
Episode 10
Directed byAlec Berg
Written byAlec Berg
Original air dateJune 14, 2015 (2015-06-14)
Running time28 minutes
Guest appearance(s)

Plot

The technician from the Natural History museum remains stranded at the bottom of the ravine, and the high-quality live stream has reached 7,000 views. This comes as Richard (Thomas Middleditch) and the Pied Piper team remain pessimistic about the pending verdict in their binding arbitration case with Hooli. Gilfoyle (Martin Starr) suggests to Richard that they should delete the Pied Piper algorithm if Hooli wins. At the same time, Erlich (T.J. Miller) announces to the team that he is putting the house on sale due to the lack of success coming out of his incubator. Meanwhile, the live stream has reached 20,000 views after its link was shared on Reddit and BuzzFeed. And eventually to 200,000 after Manny Pacquiao shares the link on his Twitter account, leading the footage to become a meme in the Philippines. To deal with the increased viewership, the Pied Piper team scrambles to ensure the server's ability to handle the traffic. Gilfoyle sets up servers all over the Hacker Hostel, penetrating a hole between the garage and the living room to connect the processors in the process. Erlich initially turns down a request to help from Jared (Zach Woods), but upon learning from the realtor that potential buyers are only interested in his house solely for lot value, Erlich turns down the realtor and helps the team code. The stream soon hits 300,000 viewers, causing a server in the house to catch fire before the signal was cut when the technician was finally rescued.

At the arbitration hearing, the arbitrating judge rules that because Richard tested the Pied Piper IP on an Hooli computer, the company reserves the rights to the IP. In response, Richard secretly texts Jared to delete the algorithm. However, the judge soon reveals that while examining Jared's contract per Gavin Belson (Matt Ross)'s request, he finds a clause within the contract forbidding other employers from hiring contracted Hooli employees, which is in violation of California law. Since Richard was subjected to the same contract, his employment was never valid in the first place and therefore Hooli does not have the rights to the Pied Piper IP. A stunned Richard celebrates but then realizes that he told Jared to delete the algorithm. He attempts to call Jared, but his phone battery dies. He then rushes to his car only to drop the car keys into the sewer. He attempts to borrow the phone at a coffee shop, but then realizes that he doesn't know any of the team member's phone numbers. Richard then boards a bus and borrows the bus driver's phone to e-mail Jared, only for it to go into spam. He rushes back to the Hostel just as Gilfoyle deletes the algorithm, only to realize that the code set up by Dinesh (Kumail Nanjiani) to delete the IP has crashed, preserving the algorithm. Richard reveals to the team that they won, and they celebrate in response.

A defeated Gavin, now under scrutiny over the fact that half of Hooli's employment contracts may be null and void, returns to the Hooli campus and faces the board; rumors spread of Big Head (Josh Brener) being listed as Gavin's potential replacement. Meanwhile, after being impressed at Pied Piper's performance during the live stream, Laurie Bream (Suzanne Cryer), purchases Russ Hanneman's (Chris Diamantopoulos) stake in Pied Piper, securing three of the five board seats in the process while helping Hanneman regain his billionaire status. As the Pied Piper team celebrates back at the Hostel, Richard receives a call from Monica (Amanda Crew) and learns that Laurie called an emergency board meeting and has voted to remove him as Pied Piper's CEO.

Reception

Les Chappell of The A.V. Club gave the episode an A- rating, saying the episode gave Silicon Valley "the highest energy levels the show has ever experienced."[2] Writing for Vulture.com, Odie Henderson called the episode's script "excellent" with "a streak of pettiness running through it".[3]

Alec Berg received a nomination for Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series at the 67th Primetime Emmy Awards for writing the episode.[4]

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References
  1. "Two Days of the Condor". HBO.
  2. Chappell, Les. "Silicon Valley: "Two Days Of The Condor"". The A.V. Club. Retrieved June 6, 2020.
  3. Henderson, Odie. "Silicon Valley Season Two Finale Recap: The thrill of Victory and the Agony of Defeat". Vulture.com. New York.
  4. "Outstanding Writing For A Comedy Series Nominees/Winners". emmys.com. Television Academy.
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