ENTOURAGE
Season 4 Episode 2
“The First Cut is the Deepest ”

The boys finally get back from a break in Italy, since Billy claims Medellin is finally ready to be screened (for Vince’s and E’s eyes only). At the offices, Ari makes it clear that because of the bad word on the street regarding Medellin’s “troubled shoot,” no one wants to dangle an offer in front of Vince till it’s established that Medellin isn’t the next Gigli.
Meanwhile, Turtle and Drama prep the welcome back party, to be held at Drama’s condo (as Vince is currently staying at a hotel, much to Marvin’s very vocal dismay).
And meanwhile still, Ari and Mrs. Ari go on red alert as it looks like their boy may not get into the school they’ve poured so much effort into.

So while Vince and E meet Billy, only to have him flee the scene with the only completely-edited print of Medellin, Drama orders Porta-potties and padlocks his bathroom (among other drastic steps to ensure his place isn’t trashed). And in Ari’s quest to get his son into school, he finds out his son isn’t the problem; it’s Ari the foul-mouthed, cell-phone wielding maniac the school doesn’t want any more of.

At the party (where Drama insists on the use of coasters and has everyone take off their shoes), E finally gets a message through to Billy, stressing that Vince’s career—and bank account—are on the line with Medellin. So a nervous and insecure Billy finally agrees to a screening, asking only that Vince “Be gentle.”

As Vince and E finally see Medellin, the party moves to Vince’s hotel room, where Anthony Michael Hall pisses over the balcony, getting them all thrown out.
Exiting the screening room, Vince and E congratulate Billy on a great film. In the car though, E reveals he was only being nice to Billy, and while Vince apparently thought the film was great, E thought it sucked.

(Image courtesy of hbo.com.)

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 20
“Adios Amigos”

Offscreen, Vince ended up saying “No” to Yair’s indecent proposal in last episode’s cliffhanger, so the boys are back trying to find a Medellin financier.
Re-enter Nicky Rubenstein, who’s just turned 35 and his trust fund’s kicked in. Eager to finally emerge from his father’s shadow, he throws down $25 mil for the production. But that’s way below the estimated $60 mil budget, so E and Vince turn to the one man they know is brilliant and can stretch a film budget dollar: Billy Walsh.

It turns out Walsh is now working under the alias “Wally Balls,” and is directing porn (to “bring the 70’s class back”), his experience with Queens Boulevard a little too painful to relive.
Walsh turns down the Medellin offer first, until a threatened throwdown with E makes him stop and listen. He reads the script (“Get me a fluffer in the Green Room. I’ve got some reading to do.”), and he’s in.
But he wants $30 mil from Nicky (the “Trust Fund Baby”) and final cut.
Rubenstein’s ready to bail, but E does the Voice of Reason again and gets him to sign the check.
E’s just produced his first movie!

Meanwhile, E’s moving in with Sloan, since the boys have said “Goodbye” to the Aquamansion (a nice little scene there).
E’s also been canceling and postponing lunch and dinner because of the Medellin deal, so Sloan throws down a relationship gauntlet: If you’re gonna be gone for half a year to shoot this movie, figure out where we’re headed with this, so I know what I’ll be waiting for.
When Vince says to E, “You don’t have to go to Colombia for the shoot,” E says he wants to see this through.
“Sloan will just have to wait…”
“But what if she doesn’t?” Vince counters.
And E flashes that look: “Then she doesn’t.”

There’s a subplot involving Drama getting a new place, and when he finds a dirt cheap loft, Shauna (yay! Shauna’s back!) directs him elsewhere, since he can’t live like a “transient crack whore,” lest people think Vinnie Chase’s brother—and by extension Vinnie—is flat broke (which they are).
But a wrong address brings Drama to a $1.4 mil condo which he promptly falls in love with. Decimating his budget, he ends up paying $1.5 mil for it. (Hell, he’s in a hit pilot, right?)

And since the plot’s at the point where the deal for the latest movie is firmly in place, we all know the season is winding down. (Though they did pull the rug out from under us mid-season, sneaky buggers…)
Thus, the episode—and third season—ends with a toast, as the boys celebrate Medellin, while a Spanish-language version of “Hotel California” plays…

(But fear not, Season 4 premiered on June 17 with “Welcome To The Jungle,” where a behind-the-scenes doc shows us what went down in Bogota during the filming of Medellin!)

(Images courtesy of hbo.com [vince, e, turtle & drama] & aol.com [shauna].)

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 16
“Gotcha!”

It’s the morning after Amanda and Vince’s one time thing, and they’re in the tub together, with E trying in vain to get in touch with Vince. Afterwards, Vince sends her flowers. (Yup. Definitely a one time thing.)

Meanwhile, Drama gets into a verbal altercation with UFC champ Chuck “The Iceman” Liddell over a parking spot and ends up in the octagon with him (all part of the long-range, two-fold master plan of Drama’s arch-nemesis Pauly Shore—their history stretching back to Season 2’s “Aquamansion”—for his new hidden camera show, Gotcha).

And on the Ari front, Ari’s frat brother Scott stays over with his hot fiancée and Ari finds himself getting jealous of this ex-loser’s success. The subplot winds down with Ari and Mrs. Ari having hot monkey love anyway, so it’s all good. (It’s great that Mrs. Ari is getting some.)*

Before the episode wraps up, E finds out about Vince’s “one time thing” and ends up talking about it with Amanda, who admits she may like Vince after all. And when Vince hears this, he says he may like Amanda after all too…
I’ll say it again: Complication, anyone?

* Seriously though, it’s one of the great things about this show, Ari’s loving relationship with his wife. I mean, they have problems, but they really do sincerely love each other.

(Image courtesy of hbo.com.)