ENTOURAGE
Season 5 Episode 3
“The All Out Fall Out”
Written by Rob Weiss
Directed by Mark Mylod


Ahhh, there’s Mrs. Ari! And Shauna!
Woot!!!

The Vince-facing-bankruptcy subplot evolves into a Vince-making-a-paid appearance-at-a-sweet 16 subplot, with Fran Drescher as the sweet 16’s mother (Kevin Pollak plays the da), and pretty much the only bright spot here is Debi Mazar. (Drama getting drunk in his post-Jacqueline break-up depression and hurling all over the cake is definitely not a bright spot.)
Then there’s the Ari and Mrs. Ari anniversary subplot, where Adam Davies gets caught in the crossfire, and while the b!tchslap was priceless, the biggest bright spot here has to be Perrey Reeves.


Oh, and Carla Gugino’s also in the house, to relay the message that Nine Brave Souls has caught the attention of Ed Norton, who wants to rechristen it Smokejumpers and turn it into a studio picture…
Hrrrm… can we see where this is going?


(Images courtesy of hbo.com.)

ENTOURAGE
Season 5 Episode 2
“Unlike A Virgin”
Written by Doug Ellin
Directed by Mark Mylod


Now this is more like it.
After a passable opener, we get an episode that establishes this season’s narrative thrust: Vince’s comeback.
There’s a great scene in here towards the half-hour’s end, where Vince visits Ari’s office, and realizes that even Ari doesn’t think he’s a good actor (yet), but acknowledges that he can be a big movie star, if he only plays the Hollywood game.
And Vince is ready to play, if only to get another chance to rise above the Medellin fiasco.
And this sudden flip in his mindset puts his decision to so publicly leave a paparazzi-laden event with Justine Chapin on his arm in a very interesting light.


Yes, Leighton Meester—having been saddled with the suffix “of Gossip Girl fame” in the time since she was last on Entourage—is back, in an episode filled to the brim with guest shots, so much so that Meester and legend Tony Bennett actually get lost in the mix.
The other names that make this installment a solid winner include Mark Wahlberg (been awhile since the Pilot), who plays a cool scene on the golf course with Ari, the always sizzling Carla Gugino, and Lukas Haas and Giovanni Ribisi as screenwriter brothers L.B. and Nick, who E is thinking of representing, after having read their script, Nine Brave Souls.


While the rekindled fire under Vinnie’s a$$ is fantastic (he’s actually reading scripts now!), Drama continues to grate, his subplots always resorting to the overplayed “Drama sabotages himself” riff.
Now, his laptop relationship with Jacqueline (cute in the season opener) implodes after he lies to her about his whereabouts, then goes off the deep end when he imagines all sorts of scenarios when she doesn’t answer her phone.
I’m really hoping the show finds something more fresh to do with Drama, because I’d much rather see him just hanging about (as Turtle seems to be doing lately), than running through variations of the same subplot over and over again…
Oh, and where is Mrs. Ari?


(Images courtesy of hbo.com.)

ENTOURAGE
Season 5 Episode 1
“Fantasy Island”
Written by Doug Ellin
Directed by Mark Mylod
(WARNING: SPOILERS)


Well, that was okay. Not particularly the opening bang I was hoping for, but not terrible either.
I suppose what annoyed the frak out of me was the apparent irresponsibility of Vince, and in particular, Turtle, as they whiled away their time in Mexico, as Vince licked his wounds from the Medellin disaster, its Cannes screening likened to the Hindenberg by episode guests Roeper and Phillips, even as E and Ari busted their a$$es back in L.A.
Though I guess I should give our boy some slack, given the bomb his vanity project turned out to be…
And though it was nice to see Drama continuing his Jacqueline thing over the laptop, his whole “my right side is my bad side” thing grated.


Meanwhile, yay, Rex Lee is in the main opening credits now! Of course, the same thing happened to Debi Mazar and she subsequently seemed to just fall off the show that season.
Let’s hope Lloyd’s fate is a whole lot sunnier!


Not much else seemed to go on in this one: some sly Hollywood tactics involving a genre project called Danger Beach (“It’s a working title!”) which gets Vince back to L.A. under false pretenses; a slight awkwardness to Vince and E’s friendship in the wake of Medellin.
Far more interesting is the portrait of Vince as La-La Land pariah, untouchable following his fall from grace.
Where to from here, boys?


(Images courtesy of hbo.com.)