Entourage 5.12 – Return to Queens
Apart from the end of last season, I can’t think of a lower point in Vincent Chase’s career than where it stood at the beginning of tonight’s episode. After being fired from “Smoke Jumpers” only to discover that the entire film was being shut down due to the fact that it was “over budget and overcomplicated,” Vince went on “vacation” to New York and is now living at home with his mother. Though Vince isn’t taking the whole “out of work actor” thing as seriously as he probably should be, Ari and Eric are still busy trying to find him another job. When Vince’s mom tells him that Gus Van Sant is looking for a replacement for the new movie he’s shooting in town, Eric suggests he audition for the part. Ari, however, is quick to inform them that he’s already spoken with Gus, and though he likes Vince’s work, he doesn’t feel that he’s right for the role.
Never one to take rejection so easily, Eric heads to Gus’ office to meet with him about reconsidering. He’s even managed to convince Ari to have Dana Gordon send over some dailies from “Smoke Jumpers” for Gus to check out, but though the director seems sincere about the fact that he really does like Vince as an actor, he still doesn’t want him for the role. Clearly embarrassed and feeling like a failure in front of his friends, Vince blows up at Eric for not trusting Ari, and relieves him of his duties as manager. Personally, I don’t think Vince had any right blaming Eric for his problems, and he came off looking like an ass for doing so. Eric may have made some mistakes in his days, but they’ve been trivial when compared to the things he’s done (or at least tried to do) for Vince’s career. Heck, it was Eric who tried to warn Vince about “Medellin,” and look how that turned out.
Eric has better things to do than sit around and take that kind of shit from Vince, so he heads back to LA to take care of his other clients – namely Charlie, who’s still shopping his pilot around town. I actually thought they already found a studio to produce the show, but maybe things fell through after Charlie sucker punched Seth Green in the waiting room. Whatever the case, it’ll be interesting to see where this subplot goes next season, as it certainly has the potential to take Eric’s career to the next level. Unfortunately, he’s not around for the big news that Ari brings with him to New York, and it’s in the form of a very important phone call that he just knows Vince is going to want to take. And no, it’s not Gus Van Sant on the other line, but – wait for it – Martin fucking Scorsese!
Now, there have been some pretty cool cameos on “Entourage” over the years, but no one even comes close to Scorsese’s appearance on tonight’s episode. And if that wasn’t enough, the Oscar-winning director is actually calling to offer Vince the lead role in his upcoming re-imagining of The Great Gatsby. Apparently, Gus Van Sant forwarded Marty those dailies of Vince from “Smoke Jumpers,” and he was so impressed that he decided to offer him the role. Huh, I guess Vince isn’t the terrible actor that Ari made him out to be. Vince is quick to thank the super agent for whatever voodoo magic he used to convince Scorsese to choose Vince over Leonardo DiCaprio, but Ari actually gives credit where it’s due: “Don’t thank me, thank E. For once in his life, the little McNugget came through.” And that’s all Vince needs to hear before he’s on a plane to LA to apologize to Eric and hire him back. It’s a good thing he did, too, because Vince’s entourage just wouldn’t be the same without his best friend at his side.
Vince isn’t the only one with a happy ending, either. Eric’s association with the project will no doubt earn The Murphy Group a little more recognition, while Ari is probably just glad to have his number one client back. Drama, meanwhile, now owns a local bar (appropriately named Johnny Drama’s), and Turtle’s big secret is finally out of the bag. The scene where Drama intercepted the call from Jamie-Lynn (“Hey Drama, it’s Jamie. We’re fucking.”) was classic, but the one where Turtle’s mom picked up while Jamie-Lynn and him were having phone sex was even better. Plus, did anyone notice the banner that was hanging at the family reunion the gang attended? It read: “Welcome Home International Movie Star Vincent Chase,” and then in small letters, “And TV Star Johnny Chase.” Good stuff.
All in all, those hoping for a more uplifting ending to an otherwise bleak season had their wish come true, but I can’t help but feel like Vince’s fall from grace should have been a little more difficult. That isn’t to say that I’m not happy with how things turned out – in fact, it was probably one of the best episodes of the year – but if the writers wanted to put Vince through the ringer before making his big comeback, why not just stick with the idea that he would earn back the respect of his careers with an award-worthy performance in “Smoke Jumpers”? The result is the same, and it wouldn’t feel so damn unrealistic. Nevertheless, it’s nice to know that Vince will be back to work when the show returns next summer, and it’ll be curious to see what kind of spoils (money, fame, awards?) brings him by working with the greatest director in American cinema.
Posted in: Entourage, TV, TV Comedies
Tags: Adrian Grenier, Ari Gold, Bow Wow, Drama, Entourage, Entourage blog, Entourage season 5, Gus Van Sant, Jeremy Piven, Martin Scorcese, Smoke Jumpers, Turtle, Vincent Chase
Awesome episode. It was cool to see the guys in their old stomping grounds — have we seen them in Queens in previous seasons? I’m glad you mentioned the sign, because I laughed out loud when I saw that. Of course, a couple of seasons ago, Drama’s name probably wouldn’t have even been on the sign, so I guess that qualifies as progress.
Speaking of progress, it was great to see all four characters get some quality screen time this week. We know all about Vince and E, but Drama owning a bar that’s named after him is perfect, and now it would seem to be even more likely that JLS will stick around next season as Turtle’s girlfriend. Fingers crossed.
As for Vince and E, I loved the firing scene in the street. I’ve always felt like the show could use more tension between these two, and that was never more apparent than this season with Vince’s career seemingly circling the drain. I can see where Vince was coming from, feeling like Ari was pulling him one way, E was pulling him the other way, and he was still in career purgatory. The perceived embarrassment with Van Sant after Ari warned against the meeting was the last straw, and I thought the scene was played to perfection, punctuated with E’s parting “fuck you” (or was it “fuck off”?).
I also loved the fact that Ari came all the way to NY to give Vince the news. Very cool, especially the way they shot Ari stepping out of the cab and then walking into “Johnny Drama’s”. I had a feeling those dailies were going to come back into play after Dana said WB thought the stuff Vince shot for “Smoke Jumpers” was great, though I never would have guessed they’d get Vince a job with Scorsese!
It’ll be very interesting to see where they pick up next summer. I’m guessing it’ll be after the Scorsese flick has already filmed and premiered, since we just went through all the filming scenes for “Smoke Jumpers.” Either way, it looks like “Entourage” may be getting back to “living the good life” next season. Should be fun.
Oh, we both forgot to mention the Michael Phelps cameo. Wow, what a waste. Most people probably didn’t even notice that the guy E bumped into on the street was the Olympic swimmer. What was the point of that?
Honestly, I didn’t even see him. After the episode ended, I was wondering what happened to his cameo.
Apparently, Kevin Connolly really did run in to Phelps on the street while they were filming. It was a complete accident that they decided to keep in the final cut. I heard that they also filmed additional scenes with him, but I guess those never made it in the episode.
I loved the episode too. However I would have liked it to be an hour long so they could draw out the E firing a little longer. They were only apart for a total of like 3 minutes.
I agree with Jamey that when they come back the movie will be filmed. Maybe they’ll be making the award show rounds, that would be fun.
And that’s pretty funny if that Phelps cameo was a complete accident. I noticed it but had no idea what the point of it was. And I saw him on SNL though so I’m glad they cut all his scenes, guy has no (acting) talent.
Its unbelievable that its not going to begin again until summer though, what takes them so long? Lets get some episodes started in February.
Seeing as how HBO typically finishes filming their seasons before they actually air them, it probably means they’re in the process of writing now, and will shoot sometime early next year. This stuff takes time, bro.
I find it pretty hard to believe that one of the actors just happened to bump into Michael Phelpswhile filming a street scene in New York (and that Phelps just happened to look back so the camera could catch his face).
Anyway, I agree with Jamey that the scene in the street with Vinny firing E was terrific. It was probably the best scene of the season. And I agree with Travis that the two got back together WAAAAAAAY too quickly. Once Vinny fired E I found myself really interested in how each guy was going to do without the other. Maybe an episode would pass before the Scorcese news hit – build up the “E killed Vinny’s career” vibe a little more. I felt the ending was pretty forced.
I’m not surprised Vince and E got back together so quickly. Entourage has always gone out of its way to put a bow on its season finales, and this was certainly no different. I agree that it would’ve been interesting to see more of Vince and E on their own, so maybe an hour-long finale would have been more fitting (as Travis suggested).
I don’t know if I was “surprised,” but like you said, the season had a pretty little bow tied on it. That coupled with the lame scene where the gang bursts out of the closet and they all are walking on the sidewalk just made me cringe.
If anyone wants to re-see all the episodes of Entourage and relive the excitement, you can go to http://entouragevids.com and watch full episodes and seasons of Entourage. The site includes all the episodes and all the seasons streaming free.
Enjoy!
Another spot you can watch all the episodes online including season 5 is http://watch-entourage-online.com/