The Audacity, So Far at Least, Is Less a Sharp Skewering of Unicorns and the Hubris of Nerds and More a Limp-Fingered Poke

Spoilers follow for The Audacity Season 1, Episode 1, 'Best of All Possible Worlds,' which is available on AMC+ now. If, like me, you've been looking forward to a new show promising to revel in the dark humor of tech bros having a really crappy time of it, set your expectations low. The Audacity, so far at least, is less a sharp skewering of unicorns and the hubris of nerds and more a limp-fingered poke. The first episode is our introduction to CEO Duncan Park (Billy Magnussen) and reveals him to be a bad CEO, bad husband, bad father, and bad person. Most unforgivably of all? He's boring. It's never been a better time to be writing about the world of Silicon Valley. Rich men in hoodies are making videos to explain that the AI they developed probably won't kill us all, Mark Zuckerberg was rumored to be trying to poach staff from other companies via the medium of soup, and Apple released a $230 iPhone sock. Nothing that happens in Episode 1 of The Audacity is as funny as any of those stories. Instead, everything in this first foray feels recycled. The Sopranos-style therapist, handwringing about a potential acquisition gone sideways, silly company names like Fahfa, data privacy creep