Silicon Valley (HBO)

I’d guess PETA’s problems are around horse breeding in general. Maybe the conditions, maybe the entire concept of it, who knows? For example that article explains the people are there to make sure the horses don’t crash each other into a wall. Well if these horses were all running free in the wilderness getting freaky on their own terms, there wouldn’t be that (very specific) danger in the first place. So I assume it’s just that sort of thing PETA objects to and the publicity of the show is why they’re talking about it now.

An interview with Mike Judge about the scene made it sound like, it was just a normal every day thing, and they were just allowed to film it. (They had to re-use and cut footage, because horses don’t take that long)

Seems an odd thing to be angry about.

According to Frank Darabont on The Shawshank Redemption commentary track, the ASPCA wouldn’t let them feed a live worm (bought at a bait shop) to a crow. The representative apparently insisted it had to be dead, and have died from natural causes.

Has to do something about forcing a stud to mate essentially.

— Alan

Seems an odd thing to be angry about.

Welcome to PETA.

Yes, they hate that.

Experts call it the biological nuisance.

For all that thoroughbreds demonstrate in grace and majesty on the track, not so much in the bedroom.

Great episode. Of course they screw up the plot by the end… also, someone must really be a fan of The Lighthorsemen to reference “Meinertzhagen’s Haversack”, unless they knew the history of what happened, which frankly I think is even more obscure.

— Alan

Having Richard immediately fuck everything up was perfect. I love this show.

Man this show is hilarious. I love it.

This is the best season. I’m loving it so much.

Spoilers/fan-theory on haversacks:
https://www.reddit.com/r/SiliconValleyHBO/comments/4ihro0/meinertzhagens_haversack_explained_or_why/

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People think it might be an actual reference, and that Erlick spoke to the gardener and got him to leave the hose there (and why there’s no water coming out), Richard wore kneepads and dropped the haversack on purpose.

Or maybe it’s a bunch of continuity errors. Who knows!

Just caught up through that episode this week. Holy…I can’t believe they actually filmed that and put it on TV as the backdrop for a conversation. Added to my list of things that cannot be unseen. Awesome episode though, and I’m looking forward to seeing this past weekend’s one as well.

Uh if Richard was wearing kneepads it’s because they made the actor wear kneepads so he wouldn’t damage his knees when he fell, acting, I’d imagine.

— Alan

Would you use the actor for a fall like that, anyway? Wouldn’t that be a stunt double?

Why not? We’re not talking about a Tom Cruise-hooked-on-the-side-of-an-airplane type of stunt. It’s a comedic fall.

In any event, it’d be fairly inconceivable why Richard would suddenly, intentionally cough up their plans. Unless they are trying to get fired, it makes no sense, because it puts all the scrutiny on them, even if they were to remain employed. Doing the platform work in secret becomes much, much harder.

— Alan

The idea that this was planned by anyone in the group is nuts. That’s just reading into things that aren’t there.

Maybe. But that satchel anecdote is a heck of a wierd thing to bring up, if Richard’s fall truly was accidental. It would mean Jared doesn’t understand his own story, or that the writing has suddenly gotten quite sloppy. This ain’t FTWD :)

Jared does understand the whole story. If the group is doing something covert, they must act a certain way, providing a diversion while something else happens elsewhere. Otherwise other people would perceive their sudden change in attitude to be amiss. This is exactly the ploy with the satchel–to distract the Turko-German forces at one end of the line while striking quickly at the other.

— Alan

The satchel was filled with fake plans, ‘accidentally’ dropped for the Turks to find. Richard dropped a satchel filled with plans in just the right spot for them to be found.

You could be right, that it’s just an anecdote about misdirection. But the parallel dropped satchels just seem too on the mark to be coincidental.