In HBO's Silicon Valley, it takes quite a set of skills to somehow be the nerdiest member in a group of coders. However, Jared still somehow manages to pull this feat off. However, with his undying loyalty and ‘gentle giant’ nature, he has won over fans’ hearts. The man with the business knowhow, Jared serves as the backbone of the company.
As he desperately tries to hold the team together as they navigate the trials and tribulations of starting a tech company in Silicon Valley, Jared has won fans over with his undying loyalty and ‘gentle giant’ nature. On top of that. he has also come to deliver some of the best lines on the entire show.
When Jared was honest about his social life
“I never felt like I was anyone’s bro before. The only people who have used that term with me were assailants.”
Sometimes it seems as if Pied Piper is constantly in trying times. And sometimes in trying times, all people need is a bro to lean on. Unfortunately for Jared, bros can sometimes be few and far between.
High on the ecstasy that comes with having mutual bros, Jared (like always) is quick to overshare. Not only does this quote detail Jared’s tendency to be a target, it also brings a larger question to light: why are assailants so familiar with us? They’re not our bros. It’s the perfect quote, hilarious and insightful.
When Jared understood the meaning behind the expression "bros before hos"
“It’s sexist, but it's about friendship.”
Used almost exclusively by teenage boys when their friend starts spending a little bit too much time with their first girlfriend, “Bros Before Hoes” is a phrase that has been uttered in basements around the nation. (Unlike Jared’s first attempt, “Bros Disclose”)
Even though it is widely used, there doesn’t mean that the phrase doesn’t inherently have some issues, which Jared is quick to point out. The quote is sexist, but it’s seemingly okay because it’s about friendship. The soft, good-hearted delivery of the line is what makes this quote. It’s like he knows that what he’s saying is wrong, but he’d be so happy to be part of the gang that he’d gladly bypass his all-inclusive nature for a short lapse.
When Jared took Dinesh’s chain jokes too far
“Hey, Dinesh, nice chain. Do you choke your mother with it when you put your penis in her butthole?”
Fashion comes at a price. After Dinesh gets a new chain to reinvent himself, there’s nothing he can do to protect himself from the barrage of insults from his friends, especially after Jared gets in on the action and begins to feel like part of the guys. Arguably one of the most painfully delivered lines on all of television, Jared’s ‘premium’ chain joke takes goading a fellow coworker a bit too far.
If a writer was looking to create the most awkward insult possible, they’d have a hard time finding anything better than this one. In order for the scene to work, they’d have to craft an insult that was so genuinely surprising that it would genuinely lead Richard to fall over and drop their Oceans Eleven like heist plans, and Jared’s jaw-dropping line did just that.
When Hared shared an anecdote that was far too specific
“It’s like when somebody says they want to go birding with you but really they just want to get you alone in the woods so they can take your binoculars.”
When working with programmers, one may have to take into consideration the fact that they may know no corporate lingo whatsoever. For example, in Jared’s situation, after Endframe steals their middle-out algorithm, he has to explain to them that this, indeed, is legal and that a bunch of companies do it.
Birdwatching is just such a Jared thing for him to do. He’s so tranquil and tree-like, it’s like a match made in heaven. On top of that, the fact that he’s harassed into losing his binoculars and being left in the woods by a fellow bird watcher (perhaps the most uncriminal hobby ever) is simply comedy gold.
When Jared showed off his hunting proficiency
"Maybe could pick a day and just drench it in hawk urine, because the scent of a predator can keep rodents at bay."
Everybody has to deal with rats every now and then, and nobody likes it. They’re a lot of things. They're gross, they’re dirty, they’re disease carrying, and the list goes on. When one finds themselves beset with rats, they might default to calling an exterminator or screaming in panic, but not Jared.
It’s that “think-outside-the-box” attitude that makes him such a valuable asset to Pied Piper. He’s got the wild ambition to drench the whole garage in urine, the connections to actually procure hawk urine, and the know-how to set the whole plan into motion. Jared Dunn is one hell of an employee.
When Jared showed that he is always prepared
“I have booby-trapped the house with corporate resources”
Not everybody has taken intro to marketing as a freshman in high school, so consequently not everybody is going to know what a SWOT analysis is. Lucky for them, Jared borrows the motto of a well known scouting troop when it comes to having the means to explain: he’s always prepared.
Employed a career that seems to beat down on its employees as much as working in the tech industry, Jared still seems to carry an infectious cheerfulness about what his life has become. For most, booby trapping a house with SWOT tables and sales whiteboards may seem like one’s worst nightmare, but for Jared it brings him an odd sort of joy. It’s weirdly beautiful.
When Jared made being homeless seem insignificant
“I simply imagine that my skeleton is me, and my body is my house. And that way, I’m always in my home.”
For most people, the prospect of being homeless may be terrifying. It is truly a worldwide issue that affects millions of people and families around the world. For Jared, however, a simple trick is all he needs to get it out of his mind.
There’s something just so inherently sad about starting a piece of advice with “I simply imagine that my skeleton is me,” yet it somehow oddly works as an outright piece of comedy. Jared’s undying, somber sort of enthusiasm leads the viewer not to dwell on the sadness of what was just said, but the comedy of the line in the context of the scene and the character.
When Jared casually dropped a harrowing bombshell
“I know what it’s like to only be able to rescue half your family.”
When Richard and Jared try to acquire failing startup Optimoji, all they can offer is to retain 12 of the company’s original 30 staff. This doesn’t sit nicely with Kira, their CEO, who likens it to only being able to save half of your family. Seeing an opportunity to empathize with her, Jared jumps in to save the day.
Richard’s reaction to this line is what makes it hilarious. His terrified response that gives away that this massive development is completely new to him just adds to the comedy of the scene, and the fact that Jared is cut off by him, leaving yet another piece of Jared’s seemingly scarring past unexplained, is both hilarious and adds to Jared’s character depth.
When Jared acknowledged his spooky side
"I have somewhat ghost-like features. My uncle used to say, 'You looked like someone starved a virgin to death.'"
When someone one doesn’t know shows up at one’s doorstep, it’s easy to assume that it may be an encounter of the spectral sort. With Jared’s lanky build and pale skin, one can never really know. However, Jared’s supreme self awareness knocked the question out of the air before it could even be asked.
In a lot of characters that are the brunt of the abuse, internal acceptance only comes after episodes, even seasons of berated. So, when Jared pulls up to Richard’s doorstep in early season 1, it’s odd to see a character be so down with external berating from the get-go. It perfectly sums up Jared’s character: funny, but in an eternally somber sort of way.
When Jared unleashed his inner Julia Roberts
“Every day here has been like that shopping spree scene. I’m putting on hats.”
Once one steps back and examines Jared’s character as a whole, this effeminate simile makes a lot of sense. When you look at Jared, he does have a sort of womanlike side. Not in a bad way, but in a way that adds another foil onto his character.
When needing a way to relate to the guys, Jared takes a detour down the West Coast and stops off in Hollywood, talking about Julia Roberts and her massive catalog of movies. The teary-eyed, heartfelt delivery “I’m putting on hats” is perhaps the funniest way someone has ever described that they’re having the time of their life.