'Silicon Valley' Season 2: Ep 9 Recap: ls Thomas Middleditch's Richard In "Binding Arbitration?"

From the comedic mind of Mike Judge (Beavis and Butt-head), Season 2 of Silicon Valley continues on HBO. In Episode 9, will Erlich Bachman (T.J. Miller), Richard Hendriks (Thomas Middleditch), and the rest of the tech gang survive their courtroom ordeal in 'Binding Arbitration?'

The Nucleus team is angry at Big Head (Josh Brener), the idiot who has everything and got promoted three times already. After insulting Big Head, someone from the Nucleus team leaves his phone behind. This is the first time Big Head actually takes a look at Nucleus and realizes it is a complete disaster.

Big Head then invites Richard over to his yacht and hands over the phone to him. It was Richard  who inspired Big Head not to quit and go back to live with his folks; now he has everything. That's why he wants Richard to use the phone as leverage and get back at Hooli.

Surrounded by lawyers, Richard tells Gavin Belson (Matt Ross) that he will hand over the phone to a tech journalist if his demands aren't met. Richard wants to settle their lawsuit already out of court. Richard and Gavin have to meet with a judge, who will hear their case, and settle with a final decision. 

Meanwhile, Jared (Zach Woods) is wondering because the egg hasn't hatched, that the baby inside might be dead. Dinesh (Kumail Nanjiani) and Gilfoyle (Martin Starr) mess with Jared, saying that if he does call for help from planetarium, he's actually causing the egg's death.  Jared is so confused about whether or not he should call someone or not. 

Richard hires Jerry Sunshine (Matt McCoy), a lawyer who cannot practice in regular court. Jerry doesn't want to put Erlich up on the stand as a character witness.  He has also figured out Richard went to Hooli to fix his laptop. Those three days mean that Richard was in Hooli premises when he was working on his algorithm. 

During the courtroom scene, Big Head is called upon the stand, making a fool of himself. Belson's lawyer covers up for him and celebrates his  charity work at Hooli XYZ, which impresses the judge. Needing a win, Jerry goes against his better judgment and calls Erlich to the stand.

Jerry mocks Erlich and unfortunately, causes him to spill about Richard's secret. Erlich's horrible idea for an app caused Richard's laptop to crash and force him to get it fixed at Hooli. This is the leverage Belson's lawyers need to win the case.

Now it all depends on Richard to lie in front of a judge. For the right reasons he believes in, Richard doesn't want to commit perjury and reluctantly tells the truth. Erlich tries to salvage the situation, cover up with another lie, and says he's Richard's lover, but none of the lawyers care at his point.  

Someone from the planetarium actually shows up to check on the egg. While watching on their live-stream, Jared screams when the rescuer trips and falls, crying out for help. 

Readers, what did you think of Binding Arbitration?