Entourage: Your Boy Is Back

“No one on the corner has a swagger like us.” The oft-quoted M.I.A. line should be the motto of Vincent Chase’s entourage, because apparently you can’t keep a good man (and his agent) down for long.

Last week’s episode left us at a crossroads in Vince and Ari’s relationship, and left a big question mark regarding their respective futures. Ari was mulling over a new job opportunity at a major studio, the acceptance of which would leave Vince agent-less but would probably land him the role in Smokejumpers. Ari is an a$$hole, but that’s part of his charm, if that makes any sense. He cares about Vince and turns down the studio job, which would have netted him about 10 million dollars. His old nemesis Amanda was being considered for the position should Ari reject it, and if she was at the studio then Vince wouldn’t have a snowball’s chance in hell of getting the part in Smokejumpers. Amanda hates Ari and Vince based on the way her relationship with Vince ended a while back. She was his agent temporarily, until she slept with him. It was all downhill from there.

When Amanda refuses to mend fences with Ari, he knows that although he doesn’t want the job, there’s no way he can let her have it either – not if he wants to protect Vince’s interests and revive his career. Meanwhile Vince is momentarily dejected after a Busch league meeting with Josh Weinstein. Fearing that Ari has accepted the new job and he’ll be left out in the cold, he marches down to Miller Gold for some answers. To everyone’s delight, Ari pulled a bait and switch on the studio, declining the job offer while ensuring that Amanda didn’t get the gig either. Ari’s old pal Dana Gordon will occupy the position of power, and Vince is back on EZ Street, where he belongs.

This was quite possibly the best episode of the season thus far. The show is really going in a great direction. It would be implausible for Vince to bounce back right away, but viewers don’t want to see him struggle for too long. He’s a movie star; the show is about life in the fast lane. No one wants to watch a pathetic, washed-up has-been try to resuscitate his career. Then again, I guess we have Drama for that. Speaking of Drama, he’s a real hater. He loves giving Turtle a hard time. The funniest part of Sunday’s episode was Turtle hooking up with “Meadow Soprano” on a first class flight back from Hawaii. I know it sounds far-fetched, but they actually did *ahem* get to know one another very well on the flight, if you catch my drift. Drama made it his mission to disprove Turtle’s story instead of just letting it ride. I hope they give Drama a girlfriend again, because he’s starting to annoy me. Anyway, your Boy is back. Let the games begin.

Season 5, Episode 8: First Class Jerk (originally aired October 26, 2008)

For another take on this episode, check out Power Plays & Festive Leis by Paul Secrest.

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Sundays at 10pm ET/PT on HBO
Photographs courtesy of HBO