The fake tech giants on “Silicon Valley” had plenty to say about the real ones Sunday night as the comedy returned to HBO for its sixth season.
Pied Piper and Hooli and their respective leaders, Richard Hendricks and Gavin Belson, both took shots at Amazon in the premiere. And as The New York Times pointed out this weekend, the darker-than-ever show seems to be capturing the bleak mood of tech.
In a gobble-’em-up scenario that’s played out previously in the real world, Hooli was facing an acquisition by Amazon. But the prideful and stubborn Belson scuttled last-minute negotiations with his board.
Amazon promised no layoffs, retention bonuses of two years, and executive autonomy for Belson in its generous takeover offer — with one major stipulation. All Hooli properties were to be rebranded as Amazon.
“Bezos wants to just erase the Hooli name from history?” Belson asked.
“Mr. Bezos simply felt that the Hooli name had a … [checks documents] stink,” said Hooli’s rep.
“You tell Bezos we keep the Hooli name, or he can go f*** himself with his rocket ship,” Belson barked. “What is Amazon anyway? Is it a river? Is it a giant woman? It’s not clear.”
Pied Piper founder Hendricks, meanwhile, was looking to thwart Amazon and other tech giants such as Google and Facebook, by simply continuing his work to create a whole new internet.
Testifying before a Congressional hearing on data privacy, Hendricks lumped Amazon Web Services into a Facebook and Google takedown.
“Amazon Web Services is bigger than their next four competitors combined,” Hendricks said.
“And they will be even more robust once the Hooli merger is complete,” Belson chimed in.
“See? There. Even Hooli can’t survive these monopolies. No one can,” Hendricks continued. “They track our every move. They monitor every moment in our lives and they exploit our data for profit.
“They’re not gonna change. They don’t have to. They won. We lost,” Hendricks added.
But with a whole season left to play out, the “little guys” may still have a chance.
“Silicon Valley” airs Sundays at 10 p.m. on HBO.
