Entourage Review: A Not So Surprising Twist

A revealed in the episode title, we’ve only got about 40 minutes of Entourage left to enjoy. This season started out rocky, and though the road was getting rough for the boys, it looks like the last several surprises could change everything.

After a fling with Melinda Clarke last week, Eric (Kevin Connolly) continues to struggle with getting over Sloan (Emmanuelle Chriqui) and forces Scott (Scott Caan) to fire Johnny Galecki for sleeping with her. Scott struggles with the rash nature of this decision, but Eric can’t seem to let Sloan go.

In fact, after sleeping with Melinda again, the two confront Sloan and Galecki at lunch. Harsh words are exchanged before Sloan lets E know she was never sleeping with Galecki, and in fact came to lunch to tell him nothing’s going to happen. Galecki fires E, and when he later goes to apologize to Sloan, she tells him her plan is still to go to New York…even though she’s pregnant with his child.

CBS gets on board with Vince (Adrian Grenier) and Billy’s (Rhys Coiro) movie for Drama (Kevin Dillon), but with a different star in mind. After his big strike on his own show, Drama isn’t exactly the network’s favorite person, leading Vince to put up $100,000 of his own money to get the project going. Meanwhile, Ari (Jeremy Piven) ends things with Dana after he realizes he’s still in love with his wife, and the two of them share a cry over Billy’s script for Drama.

Turtle (Jerry Ferrara) tries to woo two east coast friends and owners of Don Pepe’s into letting him open an LA franchise. The duo celebrity stalk and head all around town before finding a place they love for the restaurant that costs twice as much as what Turtle’s raised from investors. Lucky for him, Avion tequila went public and Vince bought his shares to hold onto, making Turtle a millionaire.

So, wow things are really changing with less than an hour to go. Turtle, formerly the lecherous member of the quartet, is now a self-made millionaire thanks to his entrepreneurial instincts (and Vince saving him last minute), and might soon be a big restaraunteur. Drama, who got a little too cocky with his success, once again needed his brother to bail him out. But everyone seems to be reacting very well to the script, so could this be his third chance at a big break? Or is it four now?

Vince is the only one I’m really worried about, who starts the episode randomly videotaping interviews with his ex-girlfriends and sending the completed package to reporter Sophia (guest star Alice Eve), who still refuses to date him, pretty much just because he’s a celebrity. After some testimonials from Turtle and Drama, she agrees to meet him for drinks before going out of the country. Is this just one more addiction for recovering Vince? Can he handle being in a serious relationship this soon? What might happen if she rejects him?

I take it back, I’m worried about Eric too. He and Sloan haven’t been able to make it work for 8 seasons now, so I’m torn about whether or not I want them too. It’s like they’re trying to walk the fine will-they-or-won’t-they line of TV relationships, but are far from a couple I really want to root for. I probably only want them together just to be done with that storyline.

And a baby? I’m guessing we’ll have to wait for the Entourage movie to see how that turns out. While I was sad that Ari’s marriage was falling apart at the end of last year, there’s something about him getting with Dana that I liked. Let’s hope we get some final resolution to these stories in the series finale next week.

Season 8, Episode 7 “Second to Last” (original airdate September 4, 2011)

Entourage airs Sundays at 10:30/9:30c on HBO.

Images courtesy of HBO.