Fun
Frisky
Nostalgic
Intense
Adventurous
Choked Up
Curious
Romantic
Weird
From its rapid-fare jokes to its dedicated research of the tech industry, there are a lot of excellent elements to Silicon Valley. However, the heart of arguably HBO’s best comedy has always stemmed from its carnival of misfit characters. For years fans have argued over which Silicon Valley character is best, but for me, the answer is clear. Suzanne Cryer’s Laurie Bream is the show’s funniest and most dynamic character.
Cryer was a later addition to the series. The original head of Raviga — Pied Piper and Ehrlich Bachman’s (TJ Miller) favorite hedge fund — was noted college hater and Peter Thiel doppelgänger Peter Gregory. However, following the untimely death of actor Christopher Evan Welch, the dramatically eccentric Peter Gregory was replaced by the mechanical Laurie Bream in Season 2. Adding another socially stunted millionaire and CEO into Silicon Valley’s notoriously awkward mix could have made the Raviga storylines in the series flat and predictable. But under Cryer, that was never the case.
Though Laurie Bream is certainly as analytical as Peter Gregory, gone are the impulsive flights of fancy from the current head of Raviga. She is a leader who is almost robotic in her decision-making, injecting the series with an emotionless sense of calculated capitalism I didn’t realize it was lacking. Whereas Peter Gregory may have (seemingly) wasted hours obsessing over Burger King’s buns, Laurie Bream is too busy for such nonsense. However, she’s so goal-oriented and impervious to the charms and manipulations of others, she’s always an unflinching delight. There’s also a sense of contradiction wrapped around Laurie Bream. Though she is the series’ most predictable and risk-averse character, she is also responsible for most of the show’s curveballs. You never know what Laurie Bream’s going to do because she has the numbers, not you. (Side note: Doesn’t it feel weird calling these characters by anything other than their full names?)
All of this brings me to last night’s applause-worthy episode, “Intellectual Property.” Overall, the third installment of Season 4 is a fairly strong episode. We’re treated to Richard’s (Thomas Middleditch) increased oddities which now involve pools, there’s another Dinesh (Kumail Nanjiani) and Gilfoyle (Martin Starr) feud that’s always fun to watch, and we get to see Monica (Amanda Crew) get a bit ruthless. However, the crowning moment of this plot-building episode is undisputedly Laurie Bream’s first Season 4 appearance. Also? She’s only on in the episode for a minute and a half.
Toward the end of “Intellectual Property,” a heavily pregnant Laurie Bream calls Monica into her office. They then have this exchange:
MONICA: Are you pregnant?
LAURIE: Yes.
MONICA: Congratulations!
LAURIE: On?
MONICA: On being pregnant.
LAURIE: Oh … yes.
It’s a moment that’s even curter than it reads, delightfully continuing a tradition of the “normal” Monica attempting to relate to her boss. But this quick moment is so much more than that. Obviously to the data-driven CEO, congratulations for something that is both personal and not unexpected would seem unnecessary. However, this series is set in a tech world where women are still drastically underrepresented and pregnancy often seems like a career death toll. Seeing a powerful and pregnant CEO feels refreshing. It’s not an overtly feminist moment, but it is one that feels feminist-adjacent while still being hilarious.
Also, on a more personal note, this raises so many questions about Laurie Bream. Does she have a spouse? Was this an egg donation? How long did she ban Monica to the toilet wastelands if this is the first time Monica is seeing her? I have so many questions about one of Silicon Valley’s most awkward and dynamic characters, and I have a feeling none of them will be answered.
For her limited amount of screen time, Cryer has consistently stolen Silicon Valley’s spotlight in her own stilted way. Laurie Bream rarely if ever makes a joke. She never relies on body humor. However for three seasons now, this character has excelled in almost every scene she’s in, developing into a Silicon Valley regular that’s consistently hilarious, human, and surprisingly unpredictable when it comes to Pied Piper’s many twists and turns. In short, Cryer’s Laurie Bream is a comedic gem, though if I told her that, she would likely give me an odd look before changing the topic to business matters.
