By Buzz Byrne
When credit is due, it must be given. Last week, ENTOURAGE was great. Ari was back getting the deals done, Turtle and Drama were the perfect clowns and Vince and Eric continued to navigate around the sharks. It was truly enjoyable.
Because of the inconsistency of the show’s last two seasons — usually marked by a decent episode followed by a dog — I was prepared for a letdown this week. However, when the show opens with Eric telling Ari to perform a specific sexual act, you know it's going to be good.
When Turtle asks who wants to go see his cousin Ronnie for a business opportunity, I actually got giddy. The plot laid itself out in the appropriate structure, especially when Drama announced he would go with Turtle, and I thought the writers (much maligned by me, I’ll admit) had finally figured out how to maintain the momentum they had so carefully built.
Eric won’t talk to loony director Billy Walsh, so the guys are ready to throw in the towel on dream-project-of-the-moment, LOST IN THE CLOUDS, if they can’t get another director. Ari makes the case that if they won’t work with Walsh now, it sends bad noise out on MEDELLIN, which they can't afford. “I parted the Red Sea,” Ari tells Eric, “Don’t piss in the sand.” That’s why he has been so missed recently.
Ari even brings Billy and Eric together, and they put the leaked trailer brouhaha behind them and shake. It was Billy’s editor’s girlfriend who did it, although, I’m not sure I buy that. Despite the reconciliation, all is not well. Eric doesn’t think MEDELLIN is any good. He tells Vince this again, and goes so far as to say Billy’s best days are behind him. They can make LOST IN THE CLOUDS; they’ll just have to do it without Eric.
Vince says MEDELLIN is good, so he is on board for CLOUDS. He and Eric agree to disagree in a genial manner, but the
rift is there. Someone will be vindicated and someone will feel left behind. If MEDELLIN tanks, won’t Vince wonder if Eric was wishing for that all along? If MEDELLIN and CLOUDS are masterpieces, then what good is Eric to Vince anyway?
These are the tough questions the writers have shied away from until now. I give them credit for tackling them. Unfortunately, the Drama/Turtle B plot is useless, but that is forgivable. Ari’s assistant, Lloyd, has romantic issues, and Ari has to play matchmaker. That is much funnier than a bit involving an auction (the business opportunity). Doesn’t the auction scene end the same EVERY SINGLE TIME it is used? Lloyd calling himself an empty vase after his boyfriend leaves him was more the vibe of HBO comedy anyway.
Despite the kudos, it would be nice if the writers could find some flexibility in structure. They are so wedded to the dual story lines that it can be tiring. If the heat and energy of the episode comes from the deals being made and then broken, then stick with that. If the truly comedic thread is emerging from Drama needing a medical marijuana card, then let that be the episode.
Now that characters are established, structure can be challenged. And I don’t mean with another one of those behind-the-scenes, hackneyed tricks. They should be reaching for more.