When Monica encourages the guys to pounce on a livestream opportunity, Erlich reconnects with his old mentee, Double-A (Michael McMillian), an energy drink billionaire, but Richard finds out their friendship isn't quite what Erlich thinks. After learning that the livestream might hit a snag, Gilfoyle and Dinesh brainstorm their options. Jared encourages a friendship between Carla and Monica.
So much of the threat that Richard and the Pied Piper team have faced this season has been from Gavin and the debut of Nucleus. Gavin is a billionaire with the resources to force Pied Piper out of the market before it even launches. The team has been going up against this giant all season long. And now, that threat is neutralized a little bit. Gavin gets a reality check in regards to how his employees interact with him. He sees Nucleus as this incredible product ready to launch. When in reality, it is a horrible operating system filled with glitches that will tank hard the second Gavin tries to introduce it to the world. Gavin has been so focused on destroying the Pied Piper team that he hasn't made sure that his product functions the way that it's suppose to.So when Nucleus' launch is filled with problems, it's a gigantic opportunity for Pied Piper. Now is their time to pounce and steal that publicity away from Nucleus. They have been a company that has made an impact in this industry. Their compression algorithm is unlike anything else in the market. And yet, all these external problems have kept the business from being as successful as the team thought it would be at the start of the season. They are learning that just because the product works it doesn't mean they will have a successful business. They are going up against competitors who have a better understanding as businessman. They stage this whole stunt event with energy drink company Homicide for the sole sake of getting their name out there to the public. However, trying to advance their company forward in this way is plagued with many personal obstacles - none of which Richard and the team are well-equipped to handle.
The head of Homicide is an old college friend of Erlich's named Double A. Erlich was able to bring the two companies together to make this live streaming event better for both of them. However, Double A later reveals to Richard how he truly feels about Erlich. He is an asshole because he never lets other people speak. That can certainly be used to describe Erlich so much of the time. He has been the voice of Pied Piper because he can articulate his thoughts better than Richard typically can.
Labeling someone an asshole is entirely about perspective though. Richard and the Pied Piper team are the protagonists of the story. Gavin has frequently been an arrogant asshole because he has wealth and influence in this community. It's easy to understand where Double A is coming from in calling Erlich an asshole because he does have a valid point. And yet, it's easy to call someone else an asshole. It's difficult to see the same kind of behavior in one's own personal actions. Richard believes he can effectively handle this deal with Double A because they have a stronger connection. He believes that Erlich would only get in the way of that. However, Double A is just like Gavin. Because he has wealth and influence, he believes he can stomp all over Richard and his demands without any fear of repercussions. Double A thinks it's no big deal if Pied Piper isn't mentioned on the website at all during this streaming event. He doesn't want the consumers to be confused by what they are watching. He just wants them to enjoy it. That's not right but in his eyes his actions are justifiable.
That leads to a very public outburst by Richard - with him promptly calling Double A a double asshole. Richard is right to be upset. This would be a bad deal for him and his company. He agreed to all of this in order to capitalize on the publicity. The deadline for the Pied Piper launch is coming up very soon. He needs to be focusing on that. Instead he's in this building negotiating with a guy who doesn't care about anything Richard has to say or what Pied Piper can actually do. It's incredibly frustrating. But the scene also gets some added poignance in showing that the "double asshole" nickname Richard uses so aggressively actually has a deep personal meaning to Double A. He lives life constantly with a colostomy bag attached to him. There's no way Richard could have known. And thusly, he's an asshole for throwing that insult around without fully knowing what it meant.
On top of all of that, Dinesh and Gilfoyle are off in another room trying to figure out if they should tell Blaine, the guy driving the stunt vehicle, that his calculations are off. In their first interactions, he was an asshole to them. He didn't want to listen to anything they had to say. That way when they found this error, they were actually torn about what to do. It would be the morally right thing to do to point out the error. And yet, not doing so and actually letting him die could bring even more attention to Pied Piper. Plus, the fact that they would be helping an asshole doesn't sit well with them either. However, Blaine is actually a nice guy who was just under a lot of stress the other day. That makes the fact that Gilfoyle and Dinesh are discussing this whole situation with plenty of notes on a board seem horrible. They are the assholes for even debating such a thing - as well as displaying it in a room where anyone related to the stunt could just walk in and see what they've been doing.
All of that makes it easy to understand why Homicide drops Pied Piper from the stunt and then goes to a new competitor for the livestream and proudly displays their name. It's a shock at the very end of the episode when End Frame is introduced as new competition. The show has focused so much on Nucleus that it was easy to forget about the slip-up the team made in revealing their code to another rival. It certainly adds weight and urgency for the final part of the season. Nucleus is no longer that big a threat. However, End Frame is. They are an unknown quality at this point that really does make the future uncertain. They just swoop in and are able to get attention so quickly even though Pied Piper had worked so hard - and got so little.
Some more thoughts:
- "Homicide" was written by Carrie Kemper and directed by Mike Judge.
- Gender politics has never been one of the show's strength. It is great to have Carla amongst the regular team now. And yet, her discussion about two females being forced into friendship by the men in the room wasn't necessary in this episode. It is a very important concept that gets lost a little bit by what the rest of the episode is trying to do. And yet, it also perfectly buys into the concept of all of these characters being assholes - considering Jared is so determined to bring Carla and Monica together.
- Does the Kool Aid man break up the party by always suddenly popping up through the wall? Or is he bringing the party with his delicious beverages?
- The repetition of the guy leading the focus group saying every single participant's name was fantastic - as was everyone saying that Nucleus was horrible and really pissed them off.
- The train wreck that is Nucleus' debut was expected but still incredibly hilarious especially watching the two companies watch the event fall apart.
