The time has finally come to say goodbye to our favorite guys from Queens. As the eighth season of Entourage rolls to a close, we see Vince and the crew trying to once and for all dig themselves out of the holes (self-imposed or otherwise), that they had gotten themselves into throughout the season, as well as the series.
We start with Vince (Adrian Grenier) hastily announcing to the fellas that he has fallen head over heels in love with the reporter, Sophia Lear (Alice Eve), and that they are going to get married. Wait, what?! That’s right, Vince all of a sudden is getting hitched, with this being possibly the first time he has even uttered the word “married” on the show.
Due to his impending nuptials, Vince continues his unceasing generosity by asking everyone to come Paris with him that night. This undeniably gigantic news was actually trumped by Turtle (Jerry Ferrara) and Drama (Kevin Dillon), who tell Vince that Sloan (Emmanuelle Chriqui) is pregnant. Vince’s face does all the talking for him with a hilariously surprised look after hearing the bombshell.
Meanwhile, super- agent Ari Gold (Jeremy Piven) is looking unkept in his office when his wife (Perrey Reeves) makes a surprise appearance asking for him to go to therapy with her. In his depressed state he agrees to the office visit, and while there, his wife suggests telling the kids about the divorce, which hits a chord with Ari. Immediately following the session, he calls his daughter, and after a realization that he has been ignoring his family, he finally begins to understand where his priorities lie.
The other character in relationship hell, E (Kevin Connolly), is cleaning out his office with the intention of moving to New York for the baby. At the same time, Vince tells E about the big marriage news, bringing about a worried state of mind in his manager.
Eric is reluctant to go to Paris and be Vince’s best man. Vince decides to take E’s situation into his own hands and calls Terrance (Malcolm McDowell) to calm the waters. This doesn’t exactly work out as Vince lets it slip that Sloan is pregnant, something that Terrance didn’t know.
Drama and Turtle go over to Sloan’s house behind E’s back to ask her to come to Paris with everyone for the wedding. Although not interested at first, the two put on the charm and convince her to meet them at the airport. This visit is all for naught however because of the above mentioned information leak to Terrence. Right before Vince spilled the beans, Eric hears it from Terrance himself. Knowing that he has screwed himself yet again, E becomes a bit despondent and takes his leave.
We then find Ari in search mode for an Italian opera CD his daughter had given to him months ago that he never listened to. Tearing his office apart, he searches out Lloyd (Rex Lee), who luckily has the music. While listening to the smooth melodies at the same time as Babs (Beverly D’Angelo) is droning on and on about her majority stake, Ari suddenly has an epiphany. He decides that his family is more important than work and walks out on his job once and for all.
Doing his own damage control, Vince makes a visit to Sloan’s house to put on the big squeeze and get Sloan to forgive E and come to the airport. Being the super likeable guy he is, Vince says all the right things and leaves Sloan with a lot to think about.
With his new outlook on life, Ari goes home early and makes a final plea to his wife. Serenaded in the background by The Jonas Brothers of opera music, Ari finally convinces his wife to get back together with him by promising her a year in Florence. After a touching moment, Lloyd inexplicably shows up and announces the marriage and baby news that Ari has somehow not heard. Everything has finally started coming together.
We end with a common final scene for Entourage….all of the guys standing in a private jet hangar waiting to get on a plane. Scott (Scott Caan) is present to see them off and is not very happy about his business partner leaving for New York, but, oh well, too bad. Ari and his wife then drive up with their own travel plans.
Before getting on board, E gets what he has wanted all along, Sloan shows up to fly with him to the big apple.
In closing, we hear a familiar line from all the guys before they walk up the stairs into their plane. Liftoff. Roll Credits.
But it’s not over……
After the credits run, we find Ari and his wife’s glorious backside living it up in Florence. A phone call from John Ellis (Alan Dale) disturbs the paradise with the big man offering Ari HIS job as CEO of the entire media company. Wanting him to get back within a week, we close with Ari in the inevitably difficult position having to decide between of living a lazy life of luxury or running a multinational media conglomerate. Will he choose to be a master of the universe, or embrace this new family man lifestyle? Perhaps we will see in the movie.
The season ended in just the way that you would expect, with all the major storylines being resolved in a relatively simple manner. It was a little underwhelming that all the crazy problems which had been building for eight episodes could be solved in less than fifteen minutes, but “The End” was a good sendoff for Entourage.
The episode brought a sense of sentimentality back and reminds you of why you love all the characters on Entourage. It was pretty safe for a finale, but considering the misguided sendoffs we have seen in the past, which have tried to do too much, this show kept it simple and to the point.
That being said, Entourage has provided so many laughs and great moments throughout the past eight years. Even with the disappointing later seasons (i.e. 6 & 7), the show has continued to hold my interest, and I always found it to be thoroughly enjoyable.
Although not a groundbreaking ending, Entourage finished the way it started, with four guys from Queens living an extraordinary life and with us happy to be along for the journey. Entourage has come full circle, and I am happy to have had the chance to enjoy such an entertaining show. Thank god for syndication.