'Silicon Valley' Season 2: Ep 1: 'Sand Hill Shuffle' Recap: Will T. J. Miller, Thomas Middleditch Raise Money?

From the comedic mind of Mike Judge (Beavis and Butt-head), Season 2 of Silicon Valley. begins on HBO. Will Erlich (T.J. Miller), Richard (Thomas Middleditch), and the rest of the tech gang are discover what will become their company's future in episode 1, Sand Hill Shuffle?

Even though Elrich, Richard, Gilfoyle (Martin Starr), and Dinesh (Kumail Nanjiani) are being schmoozed by another nigh-rolling investor, they still want to stay with Richard Gregory (the late Christopher Evan Welch). Richard meets with a previous acquaintance, who just lost his tech business. While Richard is warned that every move he makes is being watched, Gavin Belson (Matt Ross) is on a rant after seeing his latest commercial, struggling with the fact Hooli was beaten by a teenager.  

Erlich and Richard meet with Monica (Amanda Crew), who tells them what happened to Richard Gregory. It turns out Richard made it out of a hippo attack alive during safari, survived a shooting, but died from running. With Richard Gregory gone, Elrich thinks Pied Piper should start looking into other investors before they are dropped. 

Monica meets with her new boss, Richard Gregory's replacement. If the company doesn't get Pied Piper signed, then Monica loses her job. During the first meeting, Richard discovers he is being played around. Richard and Erlich realize that the investors are "negging" them; wanting them to ask them for less. The two go back into the office meetings and start acting like jerks. Their buffoonery gets investors to start offering deals.

The gang meets with Monica's new boss and offers them a new deal, which is more money than the other investors. While the others are celebrating, Monica sneaks up on Richard just when he is peeing in the bathroom. Monica tells Richard that he should take less money instead, because the business won't go broke if they set realistic goals. 

At first, Richard is too upset to even talk to Monica. He then meets with the acquaintance and  tells him what Monica told her. His acquaintance starts to go crazy in the middle of the bar. If he had taken less money, then his business would've been saved. 

At Peter Gregory's funeral, Richard takes Monica's advice and tells her boss that he wants to renegotiate for less. He also asks that Monica get a promotion as well. During the funeral,  Gavin Belson gives a speech about asking for forgiveness and how he will truly miss his friend. Just when Richard starts to think Gavin is actually a good guy, he gets a text stating that Hooli is suing them for stealing their idea.

Readers, what did you think of Sand Hill Shuffle?