Entourage 6.1 (Spoilers)

First, my thoughts/mindset on Entourage coming into Season 6. For the most part I enjoyed the first five seasons of Entourage. The show's strongest feature is its entertainment value; it's a very easy show to watch. In the past couple of seasons, however, I have felt a growing problem with the show, though it has never been a deal breaker. The problem being that essentially nothing changes. Everything that happens on the show happens so that eventually everything comes back to the same starting point. It works in a circle. It's not that I have a massive dislike for the show for this reason, but it does take away from its overall quality. It leaves me wanting more. Maybe the show is supposed to be light, on the surface, and about how movie stars hangout/party, but it has always had the potential to be much better.

At the end of last season, for the first time, I found myself annoyed with the direction of the show. After Vince has a colossal flop with "Medellin" (a movie he stared in and sunk his own money into) he attempts to rebound with "Smoke Jumpers" but production is shutdown by the studio. With his career in the dumps, Vince and E part ways and Vince moves back to Queens. We are left thinking that Vince is going to have to struggle to get his career back on the right track. Except in the final five minutes left in the season when Martin Scorsese calls up Vince and offers him the part of Nick Carraway in his adaptation of The Great Gatsby. Are you kidding me? First off, are we supposed to believe that Leonardo DiCaprio wasn't already going to play Carraway if Scorsese was to ever make the film? Secondly, Vince is offered the part because of some footage from "Smoke Jumpers" that E passed to Gus Van Sant, for his project, who in turn passed it to Scorsese who apparently saw enough to have Vince and his failing career play one of the leads in his next big film. In sum, everything turns out peachy for Vince and the gang once again. I am left wanting more once again. Quick side note: I am not the first to point this out, but isn't there a problem when your TV show is about Hollywood and the worst actor on your TV show is supposed to be playing a movie star? The footage that apparently sold Scorsese on Vince was largely unintentionally comically acted by Grenier. Hard to buy as a viewer. Anyway, I would have liked to have seen Vince struggle more to get back to movie star status instead of lucking out once again. All right, I've gone on too long, lets see about Season Six (my fingers are crossed)...


"Yeah, oh yeah, oh yeah..."

Not exactly the opening I was hoping for. It turns out we have warped all the way back to Season 2 (I believe) this time as Vince has moved back into his old mansion. I don't like where this is headed.

Vince has successfully completely Gatsby and his career looks to be in perfect condition. I really don't like where this is headed.

First conversation the boys have is about E's perceived quest for love, being a softy and not being able to play the man's role in a romantic relationship. This is the 80th conversation about this subject they have had. It's actually almost the same dialogue to boot. Man, I really don't like where this is headed.

E gets a call from Sloan. We are really moving backwards this season. E attempts to sneak away from the rest of the guys. Turtle and Drama, of course, try to follow him so they can hear his conversation. We have seen this particular scene about 80 times. She asks him if he is interested in subletting a house from her friend who is moving to Vancouver for a year. Side note: Sloan is in the hills outside downtown L.A. on one of the smoggiest days on record. At least, I hope there aren't many other days that are smoggier. OK, this is semi-interesting. E may be moving out of the mansion.

Then we get to some odd territory. Ari is on a high because the agent he vouched for, Andrew Klein, sealed the deal with the show-runner for "My Name is Earl." This episode had to have been filmed awhile back because "My Name is Earl" is canceled. Anyways, things appear to be working well at Miller-Gold.

OK, maybe things aren't great for everybody. Lloyd, Ari's assistant, demands to be promoted. We have now arrived at the most interesting storyline this season will have to offer. Ari dismisses Lloyd's demands and tells him to get back to work. Good stuff, shows some promise.

Vince is practicing his parallel parking as he is going into the DMV to get his driver's license so he can be "independent" and drive for his upcoming movie role where he is supposed to play Enzo Ferrari. His parking job is horrendous and he hits E's Aston Martin. Funny scene.

E is set to leave to meet with Sloan. The rest of the gang has the same reaction they have had for the entire run of the series as they tease E about falling for her. Yep, 80 times is about right.

Vince passes his driving test because he gives his test proctor free passes to the Gatsby premiere. Fair enough. We are at the DMV after the test is finished. The boys are all leaving when once again they give E a hard time about his relationship with Sloan. 81.

We get to Vince's appearance at The Tonight Show w/Jay Leno. Yes, this episode was definitely filmed a while ago. I get the impression that the studio audience was asked to laugh every time Leno spoke because I have never seen one of his audiences laugh this much. The Leno appearance apparently seals the deal on Vince's comeback.

At Leno appearance the 82nd installment occurs.

Guys get back to the house. Vince is drinking Budweiser. I don't know why, but I doubt many movie stars have Budweiser as their drink-of-choice.

Vince and E discuss living alone. We have definitely been here before. Which guy needs the other guy around more? Uninteresting.

Ari tells Lloyd to wait on his porch at 10:00 PM and wait for him to meet him. Ari wakes up at 1:30 AM and tells Lloyd he'll give him 100 days to prove himself. This storyline really has some potential. Hopefully it won't be squandered.

Vince and E meet up with Sloan and her friend that is offering up the house. Vince hits on her, she resists...I mean goes to Vince's Escalade so the two of them can be alone. Draw your own conclusions if you must. This happens about once every couple of episodes.

With everyone out and about, Vince comes home to a dark/empty mansion. Episode concludes.


All right, so, first episode of a new season. I realize it's time to setup all of the stories that will play out for the rest of the season. Lloyd trying to be an agent is interesting. Vince being alone, not very interesting. I just hope we don't have to hear Vince, Turtle, and Drama give E a hard time about his romantic life the whole season. Those scenes are tired. There were some good things and some not so good things. Again, it was entertaining, left me wanting more, and I am still interesting to see where it goes from here.

Episode Grade: C-