Entourage: Fire Sale

The latest episode of the much improved 5^th season of Entourage finds our intrepid hero Vince still struggling to rebuild his credibility as a bankable star after the nightmarish failure that was Medellin.  Turns out that in Hollywood, one solid flop can apparently negate the fact that you’re the star of the highest-grossing movie of all time, thus necessitating emergency meetings with every studio head in town to beg for a paycheck.  Even Ari agrees that starring in Benji Goes To Alaska is no way to make a comeback, and all eyes turn towards Smokejumpers, the indie script that the newly-enterprising Eric is itching to sell on behalf of two hilariously redneck screenwriters (Giovanni Ribisi and Lukas Haas) with less than zero business savvy.  Eric makes a somewhat questionable attempt to broker a deal through Amanda (the always excellent Carla Gugino), Vince’s onetime agent / lover.  Ed Norton wants the script, but Eric convinces the writers to ask for more money.  Vince makes the wise and humble decision to offer himself as a co-star, easing his way back onto the marquee.  Ari makes a deal that all parties concerned are happy with, until Amanda makes a last minute cliffhanger power play by offering said hillbilly scripters an outlandishly generous price.  Cut to credits.

Elsewhere, Johnny is coerced into airing his breakup laundry on The View, complete with guest appearances by Whoopi and company, which leads to tears, debauchery, and an arrest for stripping in a car and throwing his pants in a cop’s face.  Turtle mostly just sits around and smokes weed, but is that any surprise?  Give the boy another plotline, writers!  I miss his attempts to make it as a rap mogul.

If none of that sounds like the summary of a comedy, you wouldn’t be mistaken.  It’s not beyond Entourage to balance the hilarity of bromance and Ari rants with doses of compelling, if somewhat dry, showbiz machinations, but the scale tips too far away from the funny.  I do have faith in a show’s ability to be gut-busting while holding onto a serious plot thread (few do it better than Scrubs and The Office), so better luck next week.

Season 5, Episode 4: “Fire Sale” (originally aired September 28, 2008)

Sundays at 10pm on HBO

Photograph courtesy of IMDbPro