Sorry for the lull, everybody. I won’t bore you with the details of my absence, but the point is, I’m back and better than ever!
Unfortunately, I can’t say the same about our beloved band of Hollywood players.
Even I, a stauch apologist for this show for the last two seasons, have to admit that we’re heading down some dangerous roads here.
Not dangerous, really, more like just confusing. I can’t say what we’re supposed to make of all this. We’re treated to that great Drama/Lloyd conversation last week, which led to the even better Drama/Ari talk in Ari’s office, and where does that get us? Another Drama melt down at an audition? I thought season two ended four years ago?
(Quick note: Though Drama’s meltdown arc was tired, the Dean Cain cameo was cash money. Particularly when it prompted Drama to mutter under his breath: “Fuckin’ Superman.”)
But last night wasn’t all bad. Serial relationship guy E was busy living the single life the right way, finally through with the Ashley the Nut. But he gets scared half to death when he finds he has been with a woman who may be unclean. It was fun to watch him squirm for a bit, and we even got a Scott Caan appearance out of the deal, but, again, no payoff. E’s not diseased, and he wants Sloan back. Again. What? By the way, remember when I pronounced the E/Sloan relationship dead WAY back when he deleted the “I’m sorry” text on the way to Ashley’s? Boy was I off. Again, where is this going?
I don’t even know if I have the energy to get into the Turtle/Jamie Lynn disaster. Although, to be fair, I think it’s better to pull the plug now than treat us to a few weeks of uninteresting, done-to-death “long distance” issues, a la Drama and the French bird at the beginning of last season. At least that’s what I thought until we were left with Turtle rushing off to leave Jamie a message. bad news. I guess what’s most troubling is that JLS came off looking like a real over-emotional, crazy mess. Not very becoming for her.
As always, the most interesting developments were Ari-related. I can’t complain any time Malcom McDowell is back involved with the show, and last night was no exception. He presented Ari with a buyout proposition, but the super-agent smelled a rat. After running some subterfuge with Terrence’s embattled wife, he quickly gained the upper hand, learning that Terrence was on the verge of a messy and expensive divorce. After some creative haggling, an offer is in the works. This raises some pretty promising possibilities. Aren’t you curious to see what sort of levels Ari would take his Lloyd-torturing to if he were to suddenly become his boss again? And what about the awful that awaits Adam Davies? Consider me thoroughly intrigued.
But again, the problem remains that we’re treading water here. Outside of Ari, there is nothing even remotely interesting happening on the show at the moment. Does Drama have a new lease on life after his heart attack scare?
I would be remiss if I neglected to mention easily the most stylized sex scene in Entourage history between Vince and the chick from the clinic. But even this otherwise enjoyable vignette was sullied by the oddly dubbed audio track. It sounded like Vince was in a warehouse. What does it say about the state of the show that I am actually critiquing the sound editing of the sex scenes?
This is the penultimate episode of the season, so I’m still hoping the show can pull a rabbit out of its hat, but the prognosis isn’t great. But I’ve got a special treat for you all in next week’s wrap-up review. I have figured out a way to fix the show. It’s fool-proof. But I’m going to save it on the off-chance that the show can go ahead and save itself without my help. And with that, I’ve said my piece.
What do you all think? Are you standing by the gang? Am I being too harsh? I’m only harsh because I’ve always held the show to a high standard, one that I hope it can return to soon.
I hope.
