We're in the home stretch of Entourage's end run, and after single-minded episodes like "Whiz Kid", it's time to make good on all of the plotlines put into motion this year. Last night was a lively episode and the second to have behind-the-scenes contributions from Jerry "Turtle" Ferrara. Read on to see what we thought of Turtle's script (co-written with series creator Doug Ellin):
Sophia calls out Vince
Sophia Lear (Alice Eve) writing a not so nice Vanity Fair profile about Vince (Adrian Grenier) was pretty much a given. In actuality, she wrote a great, six-page piece that should do the trick in reforming his image, but her brief jab at Vince's womanizing ways was enough to make the lady-killer self-conscious. You know Vince has got it bad when his attempt to fix things means running up on her in a restaurant all stalker-like. There isn't much more development than that this week; Sophia rattles off more intelligent put-downs in her sexy accent and Vince slinks away defeated, but it's nice to know we were right in predicting his fixation on her would be more than a one episode thing.
Now, with Vince re-visiting old flames (hey, it's Cameron Richardson from Harper's Island!), like some kind of sex addict, and realizing that he's never had anything close to a meaningful relationship, we can see where this subplot is going. Still, Vince ending the series with a match like Sophia is a plotline we can stand by, predictable or not. Expect his slightly obsessive courtship to continue next week, without a doubt.
Smarten up, Ari.
Last week things went from bad to worse as the Gold's went from separation to divorce. Now, a couple days later in the storyline, we learn that Ari (Jeremy Piven ) could end up paying the wife (Perrey Reeves) Kelis-type money if he doesn't take his lawyer's advice and toughen up, facing a potential loss of his stake in the company since his wife put in $11 mil. Ari thinks the divorce proceedings have a shot at being amicable, but we and the lawyer know better.
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How many times have we watched Mrs. Ari dump on him so far this season? Still, against better judgment, Ari goes to (what soon won't be) his house with the intentions of a peaceful talk, but that goes out of the window when Bobby Flay shows his face and...gasp...calls Mrs. Ari by her government! Melissa Gold, go figure! What a great way to finally drop that reveal, and things even get a little meta for a second as Ari is stunned along with the audience to hear it and says, "I have never hidden who I am, obviously you have."
The Big Bang Conspiracy
Apparently the baddest girl in the world is also douchebag comedian bait. First Seth Green, who's now the villainous, Entourage version of Big Bang Theory's Johnny Galecki, is gunning for Eric's spot, with the knowledge of E's affair with step-monster Melinda Clarke as ammo. Just like the Vegas altercation when Seth tested Eric's G, this new threat to his territory has E in rare alpha male mode once again. His ultimatum to Scott (Scott Caan): drop him as a client, or they're done.
Are we going to see E put hands on someone else over Sloan before it's all over? On a side note, Melinda Clarke is having too much fun playing the hyper sexualized MILF role in which she's usually typecast. Someone call Bad Robot, we want to see her on a J.J. Abrams show in real life!
Why won't they let Turtle be great?
Poor Turtle. He's got great ambition, a good business sense, loyalty, and a sense of dedication that's rare in the business world. So why does he always end up with single-minded dickheads for business partners?
With 300k from his Avion earnings and investments from the likes of Amar'e Stoudemire, Turtle flies the Don Peppe owners out first class, with a detailed business plan, blueprints, projections, along with an actual site already set up. Too bad the owners, who come off like a couple of Jersey Shore rejects, are more concerned with star-gazing (and star-harassing) and having a good Hollywood time on Turtle's dime. Did he make a mistake pulling out of Avion so fast and wasting all his earnings on these two clowns?
Drama crosses one bridge and burns another.
Typical that after only a couple days on the picket lines, a couple of rumors courtesy of E and Lloyd (Rex Lee) have Johnny freaking out and considering giving in and calling Phil. A visit to Andrew Dice Clay is no more reassuring: the guy is sitting around hosting poker parties as if his career isn't on the line. For a minute, we were worried that Drama had gotten himself into big trouble listening to this fool, but in one of those phone-fakeouts that Entourage loves so much (seriously, take a shot everytime someone feigns bad news on this show) we learn that Dice's crazy strike plan paid off.
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The show's back on, the salaries are bigger, and Billy (Rhys Coiro) won't have to kill either of them. (Sober Billy is cool but it was a real treat seeing him revert to Billy the crazy, manic auteur for a second.) To be honest, that was a little too easy, even for this show, but we want to see Drama win so we won't complain. However, the stunt may have done real damage to his relationship with Phil, one of the only industry people who truly wanted to see him win as well.
So, Turtle, Drama, and E may be swimming in familiar waters but VInce and Ari are in completely new territory, dealing with a different type of woman than they're used to. With all the references to past characters incorporated in the new storylines (i.e. the cocktail waitress, Seth Green, and Mandy Moore) it's really starting to feel like a proper final season. And did you catch the early convo with E saying they never made a 90210 movie because no one would see it? Show your support if you don't want to see the same happen to Entourage.
Line Of The Night
"You probably have that much in your depends." - Ari
