And so we’re back. Season five of Entourage went out with a little bit of a bang, but it was sort of a cheap one: Vince got a call from Martin Scorsese asking if he’d like the lead in Marty’s new movie, a reimagining of The Great Gatsby. And thus the cycle begins again. On this season of Entourage, will Vince be really famous, then reduced to doing personal appearances at birthday parties, then really famous again, all in the span of a few months? Will we stick around long enough to care? Let’s find out, and based on what you, dear readers, think, we may or may not continue to cover the show every week.
So, season six: Vince is back on top, but his soul is lonely; Turtle has dropped a few pounds and found domestic bliss with Meadow Soprano; Eric is finally getting laid on the regular; and Johnny is still half a character. (Oh, and Lloyd wants a promotion—more on that in a minute.)
Hopefully this boring-ish episode was just setting up some more interesting action to come this season, because if we’re about to delve into the deep dark soul of Vincent Chase, consider me officially signed off. Entourage is still occasionally funny, but it’s almost completely adrift at this point, grabbing at plots that nobody seems to care about (Vince is getting his driver’s license? Was that a joke in the writers’ room that went too far?) and generally just spinning wheels.
I for one have zero investment in Eric’s relationship with Sloane, which was a huge part of tonight’s episode: Neither character is terribly interesting (by design, it seems), and the fact that they’re circling each other again, which can only lead to another forgetful breakup, seems like a bad sign. Even the four boys together and goofing around don’t seem like they mean it anymore—they can barely muster up a joke about Eric getting laid a lot. (There was some talk of “banging” in there somewhere.)
At least poor Lloyd has something on the line—he wants a promotion from Ari, and he wants it now. And what happened to Ari, exactly? His schadenfreude has taken an especially ugly turn—he no longer seems to even derive pleasure from telling Beverly D’Angelo to blow him, and he’s just unpleasant rather than mean and at least vaguely funny. There’s one character you can’t lose completely, Entourage, or you’re totally fucked. If Ari isn’t at least loveable as an asshole, he’s done for.
He’s got Gary Cole as a sidekick, at least, and hopefully that character’s not-so-latent alcoholism won’t lead us to “a very special Entourage” this season. And that’s about all the energy I can really muster for this one. How many of you gave up completely? How many are watching with the same fervor you were years ago?
Grade: C-
Stray observations:
— “What do you have to do that’s more important than watching me get my license?” Lots of stuff, Vince.
— Lloyd is all ready to make his stand, but then he’s ready to be tortured by Ari for 100 days, starting with losing 15 pounds? Seems like a quick retreat.
— I believe that a movie star can be lonely, but I don’t believe a movie star is going to sit in his giant house and be lonely. He could have 100 people there in 10 minutes.