Vince’s star power continues to dim, but Eric starts to shine; Ari enjoys a glorious meltdown, and Drama goes out in flames. Just as we drift away, Entourage — the show we can’t stop watching–slash–can’t stop hating ourselves for watching! — pulls. us. back. in.
Guilt:
From the gross opening salvo (Turtle: “Since when don’t we share the details of our love lives?” Eric: “Since you shared the details of a girl with anal warts”), through the obligatory strip-club scene, to Ari’s persistent fascination with all things gay (“Unlike your world, where the bigger man pounds the smaller man from behind, the bigger man in my world is the last man standing, and that will be me”), this episode offers plenty to vex one’s soul.
And inspire a sense of déjà vu: Vincent Chase is broke again. This time, though, he has to admit it. To avoid bankruptcy, he negotiates a $200,000 appearance at a sweet-sixteen party. After stomping off in a huff when the girl’s mother (Fran Drescher) suggests that the Aquaman star could play the party’s centerpiece by spending the evening on an iceberg in the middle of the pool, he agrees to serenade the birthday girl with some Frankie Valli. Drama, heartbroken and wasted (still), turns “I Love You Baby” into an impromptu duet — and barfs on the cake for the finale. Which, while predictable, was actually kind of great.
Pleasure:
Car chases and fight scenes! As always, mighty agent Ari Gold delivers. When his wife gives him a Ferrari for their anniversary, he runs into his archenemy, upstart agent Adam Davies, in his Porsche Carrera. Naturally, they drag-race through the streets of L.A. Gold crashes his beautiful toy and owes Davies a $100 bet — which he delivers in a sack of shit. Human shit. We’re left to imagine exactly how Lloyd the wonder assistant procured that.
It gets better: Davies sends some hot male strippers posing as cops to “arrest” Ari in the middle of a meeting with TI. Ari retaliates with photo evidence that Davies’s girlfriend once made a move on him, so Davies digs up a porn video from Ari’s wife’s past. You do not mess with the mother of Ari Gold’s children. The family man storms into his old agency and threatens Davies — and then, just when we think the show won’t deliver — Ari actually bitch-slaps Davies and gets an apology. We have never been so proud of him.
Even Eric is living up to his potential — and creating genuine conflict in a series that could always use it! Vince’s ex-agent Amanda interests Edward Norton in Eric’s clients’ script, Nine Brave Souls. But Norton’s thinking it should be called The Smoke Jumper and include some action scenes, and Ridley Scott just might come onboard. In other words, it’s no longer an indie flick, but the sort of studio blockbuster that Vince and his bank account could use about now…
