‘Super Pumped: The Battle for Uber’ Is a Cautionary Tale of a Tech Bro Taken Down by His Own Hubris

Sandra Miska

Super Pumped: The Battle for Uber,” the first installment of Showtime’s anthology series that explores the cultural impacts of big business, sees Joseph Gordon-Levitt making some big choices as Uber founder Travis Kalanick. The first five episodes of the series follows the toxic tech bro from around 2010, at the beginning of his partnership with venture capitalist Bill Gurley (Kyle Chandler), to around 2016, the year before his resignation, which is surely where the story will end in the seventh and final episode of the season. While Gurley tries to guide Travis in a way that is paternal at times, there’s no stopping him from flying too close to the sun.

Based on the book of the same name by Mike Isaac, “Super Pumped: The Battle for Uber” is told mostly from the perspective of Travis, and he is not an easy protagonist to get behind. He is self-aggrandizing, obnoxious, and mistreats women both at home and in the workplace. And creators Brian Koppelman and David Levien make little attempt to humanize him or present him as some sort of misunderstood genius. In fact, the man depicted here has few original ideas. The idea for Uber came from a colleague, Gil Camp (Jon Bass), and his company’s core principles are mostly lifted from Jeff Bezos and Amazon. Instead, we see how far narcissism and bullshit can get someone. Koppelman and Levien find creative ways to show he’s an unreliable narrator. For example, in his version of events, he presents to Gil the idea for Uber on top of the Eiffel Tower, when in reality, Gil shares his idea at a diner. It’s not that Travis isn’t smart, but he’s not as smart as he thinks, and his hubris keeps him from heeding valuable advice from those around him.

Gordon-Levitt fully commits to going full douchebag, for better or worse. Episode four is titled “Boober,” a made-up word used by Travis in a real-life interview depicted in the episode when asked if his job allows him to get women on demand. “Yeah, we call that Boober,” is the cringey quote. When he gets blowback for the interview, including from his girlfriend, violinist Gabi Holzwarth (Bridgett Gao-Hollitt), he writes it off as just posturing, but like attracts like, and it is not like before the toxic culture that breeds at Uber under his rule leads to major ramifications.

It can be hard to sit through a whole season of a show when the main character is so unlikable, but a talented supporting cast keeps it from being insufferable. Uma Thurman transforms into media magnate Ariana Huffington, in whom Travis finds a kindred spirit, as both have mastered the art of bullshit. Travis has amusing interactions with Google founders Larry Page (Ben Feldman) and Sergey Brin (David Krumholz), both portrayed here as being awkward nerds who are unimpressed by Travis’ bravado. But Kerry Bishé as Austin Geidt, Travis’ right-hand woman, is his perfect foil. She manages to keep her cool and even him out, but by episode five it is clear that she has had enough and is ready to boil over.

Indeed, Travis is destined to be taken out not by other men swinging their you-know-whats around, but by those who keep their heads down until they are pushed to the point of no return. Eva Victor gives a satisfying performance as engineer Susan Fowler, one of the few female employees at Uber, who is acts after her sexual harrassment complaints are met with infuriating responses. Mousa Hussein Kraish plays Fawzi Kamel, a real-life driver who represents the many who feel taken advantage of by Uber. An immigrant and devoted family man, he finds his American dream being stomped on by Travis even before the big boss behaves poorly while he’s his passenger one fateful night.

The next installment of “Super Pumped” is set to be about Facebook, which feels redundant considering that the first season often feels like a rip-off of “The Social Network,” as much of the dialogue is a poor imitation of Aaron Sorkin’s writing. It is fitting that Travis often finds himself cold in the shadow of Mark Zuckerbeg, even though they are never even shown meeting here. After Sergey hits on Gabi at a party, he is cut to the core after Google exec David Drummond (Damon Gumpton) informs him that his boss would never think to “take a woman” from Zuck.

“Super Pumped: The Battle for Uber” premieres Feb. 27 and airs Sundays at 10 p.m. ET on Showtime.