‘Silicon Valley’ Season 6: With just 2 episodes remaining, HBO show should give Holden opportunity to exact revenge against Jared
In episode 5 of ‘Silicon Valley’ season 6, we saw Richard’s assistant Holden (Aaron Sanders) attempt to flex his metaphorical muscles at Jared Dunn (Zach Woods). And at the end of the episode, as Jared wondered aloud if he could return back to PiedPiper, Holden, with a cold stare, told him he had been replaced.
The show’s history is laced with Jared’s animosity towards Holden. He constantly bullied him and even “reprogrammed” him, turning the shy young boy into a maniacal being. One would have expected that with Jared’s temporary exit from PiedPiper, Holden would have consolidated more power -- enough to be able to destroy Jared should he dare to return.
Unfortunately, that did not happen. With Jared back at Richard Hendricks’ (Thomas Middleditch’s) side, we saw Holden turn into a scared creature again. While Holden always had a serf-like attitude in front of Richard, he was positively terrified of Jared.
One time, he confessed to having stopped breathing in front of Jared just so he would not find a reason to lash out at him. Even in episode 6, we saw Holden nervous in the presence of Jared at all times. The difference this time was that Jared did not go out of his way to be mean to him.
In fact, he was overly polite, in the manner that Jared usually is with others. There are a few explanations for this behavior. One, Jared is now afraid of Holden. Somewhat privy to what he is capable of -- Holden somehow coerced Richard’s annoying ex-boss to apologize to him despite getting punched -- Jared wants to stay wary.
It is also possible Jared realizes just how much he had “chipped away” at Holden’s personality, perhaps, creating a monster. It is also possible that in a post-Gwart world, and in the aftermath of meeting his terrible biological parents, Jared just wants to be a nice person.
He surely realizes how much he had tortured Holden in his past life and thus decided to make amends. What would, of course, be interesting is to see how Holden acclimatizes to this change in behavior.
Will he find the courage to stand up to Jared, and even give him a slice of revenge he deserves? Because, if he does, Jared would deserve it. With only two episodes left in the show’s final season, there isn't much time for this to play out, especially now that the stakes are higher than ever for Richard and PiedPiper. It would nonetheless live up to the show’s charm to flesh out these micro dynamics, a testament to how wonderfully the show has so far been written.
New episodes of ‘Silicon Valley’ air Sundays at 10 p.m. on HBO.
