ENTOURAGE
Season 4 Episode 1
“Welcome to the Jungle”

The making of Medellin unfolds before our eyes in the form of a behind-the-scenes doc, as the boys (Five Towns is on hiatus, so Drama's on for the ride) tromp through Bogota to shoot their dream movie, with neurotic enfant terrible Billy Walsh at the helm.
Tension between E and Billy spikes and fluctuates throughout the process, sparked as early as pre-production by a discussion over the number of extras in a scene. Billy then just keeps on going, ranting about sex and cell phones and obsessing over a local actress playing “the Village girl.”
Meanwhile, we see Ari’s reactions from Stateside, as he deals with the Tinseltown perception that Medellin is a “troubled shoot.” Things come to a volatile head when Billy insists the script’s ending is crap, but can’t focus enough to actually do the re-write. So he wants Steven Gaghan, but Gaghan’s an Oscar boy, and he costs, a bill which Nicky Rubenstein can no longer foot, as he apparently got arrested on the way to the airport with a cocaine baggy in his car.
But in a great scene, Billy asks for E’s help, and E pulls it all together, FedExing Gaghan the script and a check. But even as Gaghan is flying to Bogota, Billy is at his typewriter readying his notes for the Oscar-winning screenwriter. He ends up doing a brilliant re-write, and Gaghan ends up getting paid to read Billy’s re-write, and give it his thumbs-up.
Having reached an understanding with Billy, E steers the shoot to a triumphant close, even as Billy makes a comment which foreshadows the turbulent waters ahead.

Parting shot: Yay! Mrs. Ari’s finally in the opening credits.
But now, Shauna’s gone! Shaunaaaaaa!!!

(Image courtesy of hbo.com.)

ENTOURAGE
Season 3 Episode 19
“The Prince’s Bride”

Drama gets a call from Brett Ratner’s people. They want to offer him a part in Rush Hour 3.
Stoked, Drama gets to Brett’s digs (which look like the Playboy Mansion on a more modest budget), but there’s been a mistake. Someone misread the Five Towns credits, and they actually wanted to offer the part to the kid who plays Drama’s younger brother.
But Drama’s already bragged like he’s got the part in the bag, so he refuses to leave till he gets a part—any part—in the movie.
Which he does. Kind’a.

Turtle gets his first date with Kelly, but an afternoon alone goes bust when Rufus, Mrs. Rufus, and Kelly’s brothers get back early.
Rufus goes down somewhere during Are We There Yet? and Mrs. Rufus tells Turtle to take Kelly and have a nice time.
They have lunch, and Kelly gets Turtle to take off his cap. (“I must really like you a lot,” he muses.)

Meanwhile, the Aquamansion’s been sold and E and Vince need someone to finance Medellin, so Ari finds Prince Yair and his ex-Ukrainian soap star wife, Nika.
And though Yair wants Sly Stallone to play Pablo Escobar’s father in the film, he’s also willing to pony up $60 mil. But Vince’s Spidey sense kicks in and he knows Nika wants in his pants. Ari and E don’t see it, but Vinnie’s convinced.
And it turns out he’s on the money, and Yair just wants to keep his wife happy, even if it’s to pay a hot Hollywood actor $60 mil to sleep with her…

(Images courtesy of hbo.com.)

ENTOURAGE
Season 3 Episode 18
“The Resurrection”

It’s the day of the premiere of Five Towns on NBC, and the reviews are out, but Drama wants nothing to do with them, so he spends the day trying to relax. But it’s as he’s getting a “massage” that he succumbs to checking out the Variety review, much to his aggravation.
One confrontation with a TV reviewer later, and Drama’s in a proper funk.

Meanwhile, Turtle picks up Drama’s car, which the boys have had restored at Rufus’ Body Shop (Rufus, who got them their home system in Season 2, is now into cars, apparently). While waiting at the shop, Turtle meets Kelly, Rufus’ daughter, who’s also a sneaker freak. (Turtle later describes her as “… like me, but with tits.”)
One minor car crash later, and Turtle’s got himself a date.

Meanwhile still, Vince and E head into Ari’s office, and though Ari thinks the boys are back, they’re really only there to tell Ari to resuscitate Medellin. Knowing this is the one way he can get Vince back as a client, Ari ropes in Joe Roberts, producer of Matterhorn, the film Vince passed on way back in the Entourage pilot.
Apparently Matterhorn hasn’t gotten made yet, as Colin Farrell (who signed up to star in it) broke his arm weeks before filming was to start. So, seeing Vince’s fervent desire to do Medellin, Joe proposes a back-scratching: Vince does Matterhorn first, then they do Medellin.
But Vince still doesn’t want to do Matterhorn, and Roberts announces he’s considering buying the Medellin script. So Vince does what he can do: he decides to buy the Medellin script, with the long-term plan of producing the film himself. In what is one of the best scenes in the episode, E puts up every penny he has behind Vince’s scheme, once again confirming the depths of his friendship with Vince, and his faith in him.
And Vince is willing to put the Aquamansion up for sale just to buy the script.
One call to Roberts later (in which he talks about his days as a P.A. on Apocalypse Now), and Vince is the proud owner of 150 pieces of paper, and Ari’s got the prodigal client back.

Oh, and one pilot premiere later, and Drama’s in a hit TV show.

(Image courtesy of hbo.com.)