The final season of Entourage is now upon us and it opened up with a strong first episode that set the stage for what will hopefully be an improvement over season seven.
We start at the Murphy/Lavin Group, where it seems that Eric (Kevin Connolly) has been moving up in the world, but unfortunately not with Sloan (Emmanuelle Chriqui). He had an issue with being asked to sign a prenup and the couple is now pretty hostile towards each other, with Sloan sending her ring back to E in an envelope. Ouch.
It also doesn’t help that he and Scott (Scott Cann) somehow forced Murray out of his own company, where the two are now running things. So things are a little rocky on that front. But, business seems to be good and their newest potential client is none other than Johnny Galecki, who shows up in a nice little cameo.
As for our favorite fake movie star Vincent Chase (Adrian Grenier), he is fresh out of drug rehab in California after being arrested for cocaine possession at the end of season seven. Vinny comes out of it all with a fresh perspective and an impressive quaff of hair, ready to get moving on his next silver screen opportunity.
Drama (Kevin Dillon) is preparing the house for Vince’s arrival with a now skinny Turtle (Jerry Ferrara) and he immediately goes into his hyper-irrational routine as he tries to rid the house of all illicit substances. We learn that Turtle is chilling, apparently on a protein shake only diet, and living the life of a tequila company shareholder, while Drama is in the process of rolling out Johnny Bananas, his animated show that Billy Walsh created.
The whole crew meets Vince at the rehab center with everyone walking on eggshells trying to act way too nice to the movie star. Eric is upset that he was the only one that Vince didn’t call about his release from rehab (he even called Scott and Ari), but he still shows up to support his longtime friend.
They get right to business and Vince pitches a movie idea about Romanian miners that sounds like a movie of the week feature. Nobody thinks it’s the right move for Vince but they act like they’re behind it as they seem to think that Vinny is in a fragile state and all they want to do is support him.
Next, Ari (Jeremy Piven) is still having marital problems with his wife. He shows up at the house only to have her verbally assault him about some charity. We then hear the bombshell that she has been seeing someone on the side. Ari takes this surprisingly well at the time but quietly leaves to go get hammered at Vince’s.
A gatorade and coconut milk party (yes, this is a sober party) ensues at the Chase house with the expected quota of gorgeous females. E and Vince finally talk over their problems and E tells him that the miner idea is horrible and Vince shouldn’t do it.
Vince, pissed off that everyone is walking on eggshells around him, fakes a drug overdose to prove that everyone is going too far with the way he is being treated and that he is not going to go on some bender.
In fact, he wants to get started on rebuilding his career and he thinks the miner movie idea may work. He still has Airwalkers coming up but in the meantime, he seems set on his new movie idea. Eventually, the gang comes to a compromise and they tell Vince that if it was on a network and Drama played the lead role, it could work.
Suddenly, Arnold starts barking and Drama asks if anyone smells smoke. Turns out Turtle’s joint has started a fire and as the fire department arrives to put out the flaming house, the gang watches as they decide where they’re going to sleep that night. Cue Eminem‘s Till I Collapse.
So what did we learn from this episode? Well, it looks like we are going to have some relationship issues throughout the season with both Ari and E. Sloan, being seemingly the most perfect girl in existence, will most likely find her way back to E. I really don’t think he will mind signing a prenup to lock that down. They may be pretty hostile right now but I wouldn’t doubt them getting back together.
As for Ari, he has a more complicated issue and considering I am not a huge fan of Mrs. Ari, I’ll let that storyline play itself out for the time being. She’s already seeing someone else and I can’t see her getting back together with Ari, at least not for a while.
Drama seems to be doing fine, with Johnny Bananas screening well. That being said, based on past experiences, his good fortune likely won’t last long. Something will surely happens that will set him off and end his string of good luck.
Turtle is still doing what he does best, blazing and engaging his terrible business sense. Apparently his Tequila company is doing alright though and he’s still together with Alex.
And finally Vince. He looks like he’s on the up and up and his past problems truly seem to be out of the way. There may be a couple speed bumps here and there, but I don’t think we’ll see Vince fall back into his old ways. Unless it’s all just a front, he really looks like he wants to get his life together again. Plus, with this being the last season, I can’t see the writers ending things off for Vinnie on a low note.
What I do want to happen is for everyone to loosen up so we can have an Entourage season that stays true to the excessive fun that the show has been known for. I guess it was only natural to have a tense and awkward reunion, considering the situation, but let’s hope that ends with episode one. For the next couple weeks I want everything to go back to normal and for the writers to give us the Entourage that we’ve come to know and love over the past few years.
Overall, it was a solid season premiere with some very funny moments, mostly involving Scott, and an excellent choice for the closing song. It served as a nice springboard for the rest of the season and hopefully next week we get a better idea of where the season is headed.
