After a wacky episode filled with polite Satanists, polyamory, prepubescent bike gangs, Adderall-addled tween hackers, and uncontrollable self-driving cars, the hit HBO show Silicon Valley, produced by Mike Judge, climaxed with a lone nerd trapped on a seastead.
The artists who designed the fictional floating city must have contemplated our semi-submersible designs for inspiration, and writer Dan O’Keefe even lingers on a clever jibe at competitive governance, where the floating island is positioned to bestride the International Date Line to commandeer 48 hours of New Year’s holiday – presumably to secure a maximum Right to Party.
The seastead joke is set up: a Silicon Valley code jockey is trapped on a floating island with only self-driving forklifts to keep him company. The punchline could go either way for us. Credited Writer Dan O’Keefe is a Meme-Master, minted many inside jokes for fans of The League, The Drew Carey Show, and he created the holiday “Festivus” for Seinfeldians. Will O’Keefe bestow upon seasteaders a contagious inside joke?
Sadly, the actor Christopher Evan Welch, who plays a character loosely modeled on Peter Thiel, died of complications resulting from lung cancer last December. We won’t get to see the show’s most popular character on his private floating island – but we have many figures in the seasteading community worthy of satire.
We’re looking forward to the next episode.
