Entourage Review: The Boys are Back in Town

When we last saw Vince and the Vincettes, things were looking up. Vince had rebounded nicely from the colossal flop that was Medellin, thanks to director Martin Scorsese and a little luck.  It looked as if the guys were becoming more independent and relying less on Vince.  Turtle planned to start a business, and Eric’s managerial prowess was expanding.

One thing I disliked about last season was that it really took a while to gain steam and “get good.”  I don’t think I’ll have that problem with the current season.

Vince is still riding high.  How do we know this? He’s actually filming a movie.  Loyal viewers of Entourage are familiar with Vince’s periods of inactivity, and we can remember when he almost had to resort to doing television.  All that is a thing of the past, as Vinnie is back in demand.  He’s working on an action movie with director Nick Cassavetes.  Things are going well until Nick suggests that Vince perform his own stunts to preserve the authenticity of the film.  He’s reluctant to do it, but Nick ratchets up the pressure, reeling off a list of other actors who were man enough to attempt their own stunts.  Vince is a professional, and he wants to be a team player – but risking life and limb isn’t exactly something he’s willing to do, if it can be avoided.  He asks Eric to intervene, and Eric calls Ari.  It’s rare to see Ari humbled, but even he can’t really get Vince out of this jam.  He already agreed to the stunt (involving a car), and Nick believes that he really wants to do it.  When he shows up on set to get Vince out of it, Nick makes it clear that he won’t kowtow to Ari, who happens to represent him as well as Vince.  The only other way to get Vince out of the stunt is to snitch to the studio.  When Ari subtly threatens to do just that, Nick responds by putting him in a headlock!  Ari gets Eric to tell the studio instead, as if Nick wouldn’t find out that Ari was really the one behind it.  Vince has always tried to be humble and approaches his craft seriously.  Plus, everyone is making him feel like a wussy boy about doing the stunt.  So, you know he’s gonna do it.  He botches the stunt but earns everyone’s respect on set as an actor who will do whatever it takes for his job.  Go Vince! Still a pretty boy though.

While Vince tries to save face, Turtle is adjusting to life as an entrepreneur.  He started a limo service, which specializes in providing hot chauffeurs for its clients.  One of his drivers is completely inept, and Turtle must consider letting her go.  Before he can fire her, he inadvertently sexually harasses her, and she quits.  The problem resolved itself, but if Turtle can’t make the tough decisions than his business may be short-lived.

I love him, but Drama has always been the anti-Vince, in every respect.  Less attractive; less talented; less successful.  Despite his holding deal with the network, he can’t seem to find a job.  He wants the same devotion to his career from Lloyd that Ari gives Vince; but that’s just not going to happen.  By the end of the episode Drama is resigned to simply “hang in there” and wait for things to turn around.

We didn’t get to see much of Eric and Sloan, but the premiere picked up nicely where we left off, and I thought it was a solid beginning to what hopefully proves to be one of the best seasons yet.  We’ve really watched the gang evolve, and I look forward to their new misadventures in Tinseltown.

Season 7, Episode 1: Stunted (originally aired June 27, 2010)

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Sundays at 10:30pm ET/PT on HBO

Photographs courtesy of HBO and IMDbPro