On July 24th, our long abusive relationship with "Entourage" starts its last chapter. As much as I'm looking forward to seeing Ari, Drama, Emanuelle Chriqui's body, and the couple of recurring characters that usually bring their best (Marvin, Shauna, even Scott Caan) I know that I am not alone in dreading the outcome of Vince's drug/porn downfall, Turtle's ridiculous storylines involving way-too-hot women and too-good-to-be-true businesses, and of course the further shenanigans of legendary douchebag Eric "E/Pizza Boy/Ari's Bitch" Murphy. I'm going to watch it out of a sense of loyalty - and because I've seen far worse shows through to their end - but my hopes for this season are not high. FOCUS: This was always one of the more commented shows over on the old board. Discuss.
Yeah, I will watch it like you, out of loyalty. I am not expecting much after last season though. I just hope they get the Vince on drugs story-line over with as quickly as possible. I can't watch much more of Adrian Grenier trying to "act" like a drug abuser.
That was initially my feeling about the last season as well. I just went back and watched the entire season, and I found that the first 6 episodes weren't too bad. Once Sascha Grey entered the picture (as much as I like some of her other roles...) the whole thing went downhill. I have a feeling they'll come back pretty strong and finish the series well, if for no other reason, to leave the franchise intact in case they do a movie later (a la Sex in the City).
In case they do a movie? So much potential in this show through out the years squandered on meandering story lines. I kind of hope they give Drama his due and he finds a comeback staring role. Shit to have the series go out with him on top would be hilarious, since no one seems to want to root for Vince (with just cause).
The flip side is, the final season has nowhere to go but up. There were so many things that just didn't work last season: Ari's NFL bid, Drama's cartoon, Eric's "successful" career, Eric's impending marriage to Sloan, Eric's ridiculous stupid face, anything having to do with Eric, and so on. Turtle's tequila storyline was actually a mixed bag: I enjoyed seeing him over his head in a business deal that (as always) hinged on his access to Vince, however I did NOT enjoy watching Mark Cuban try to "act". And strangely enough, I thought the new and improved Billy Walsh was a surprisingly good addition to an otherwise weak season. Not that anyone has asked me, but I think the key to success for "Entourage" this season would be an innovative take on what made the crew interesting to watch in the first place: Turtle trying to cash in on Vince's celebrity while still remaining a loyal sycophant, Drama desperately (and hilariously) searching for the attention and credibility his brother so easily comes by, Eric trying hard to prove he's not a feckless failure by throwing tiny little tantrums and dating way above his station, Ari relishing the power and excitement of being a super-agent, and Vince...well, actually all Vince really needs to do is show up be the raison d'etre. Much of what has gone wrong the past few years has been to deviate from this basic formula, and the viewers have noticed.
Somehow, the two ideas you mentioned first were both solid but executed pretty poorly. If Kevin Dillon can sell Drama's realization he's never going to be a leading man in feature films like Vince, and then actually embraces the Johnny's Bananas gig fully (instead of tentatively), it could provide some awesome recording sessions, show clips and back-and-forth between Drama and Walsh. Turtle's tequila deal? Ugh, just a huuuge mess. At no time did I think he was gonna get snuffed by a Mexican hitman, so I'm not sure what emotions they were trying to get out of me. And Sloan needs to be in every episode in the final season. What else is Emmanuelle Chriqui doing anyway? Sure, Sloan's presence makes Eric even more of a whiny douche than usual, which is a feat in and of itself, but it's a sacrifice I'm willing to make. Oh, and if the final season for Ari is fully spent trying to get his wife back, it will be the biggest mistake HBO's made since Tell Me You Love Me.
Tell Me You Love Me had some of the hottest and most graphic sex scenes ever put on non-porno film. Though it was only about relationships it was still pretty engaging for a cable drama I was kind of disappointed when it wasn't picked back up. The biggest mistake was giving David Milch a full season of John From Cincinnati instead of another few seasons or the final two movies of fucking Deadwood. Entourage blew multiple story lines through out the years because they refused to grow any of the characters. Almost two seasons were wasted on wether or not Vince would even do Medellin only to have it bomb and go straight to DVD (seriously how many fucking seasons were focused on Vince maybe doing some movie and going nowhere?), Ari's potentially kick ass plots of being president of a studio or bringing an NFL team to LA died quick and lame deaths, Erics many ventures in running his own business.... also went nowhere. Turtle running Avion was made uber pointless when I found out they were just schilling one of Doug Ellin's friend's tequila.
I will watch the final season. The show's been just good enough to keep me as a viewer, but not much more. If Entourage were a BBC show it would have run 16 episodes; they would all have been great, and that would have been that. The BBC model does not, however, fulfill the Entourage producers' need to generate enough shows to extract the full profits, and position the show for syndication and thus we get alot of filler and nonsense. I'm not being critical. Making television is about making money. However, it is very hard to produce more than a dozen quality -- and non-repetitive -- episodes of a television show, especially one like Entourage that is built upon such a thin premise.
Wow anyone else pretty underwhelmed by that trailer? Im now expecting LESS than I did before I saw it.
They are lowering our expectations before they hit us with the best season of Entourage we've ever experienced. ... Yeah, I got nothing.
Andrew Dice Clay this season. I'll bring me back in, haven't watched since the 3rd season. But fucking Dice Clay.
Because the show hadn't completely jumped the shark and they needed something to put it over the top. She didn't realize he was a meany head potty mouth, and somehow that was the final straw. Or something. It won't matter 2 episodes into this season because just like every other plot point they'll give up on it and never mention it again.
Well that was the lamest premiere episode the show has had thus far. I have zero hopes for this season.
I figure it has to be because he went nuts at the restaurant towards the end of last season, plus the fact that her sister came in and basically equated calling women whores to sleeping with whores. It really didn't make much sense to me either. I had hoped that, in the wake of the prior three seasons, everyone involved would try to right the ship, but given the first episode it doesn't seem like that's going to be the case, just more of the same.
If her kicking him out didn't do it, dating already and telling Ari only 90 days after kicking him out sealed the deal. On next week's Entourage, Turtle is going to jump a hammerhead shark on a jet ski, in slow motion, while spray tan bottle blonde bitches look on, Jay-Z plays in the background and Vince yells "Friendship!" over the closing credits.