Call me a cynic, but tonight’s show might have been the worst in the history of the entire series. I’m all for filler episodes where the “Entourage” crew runs around town getting into all sorts of shenanigans, but what in the world was the point of them tripping on some shrooms in the middle of the desert? If you think it was to help Vince decide on whether or not he should do the Benji movie, I have some bad news: Vince was never going to make that movie, no matter how much they paid him. He was always going to hold off for “Smoke Jumpers,” and though Alan Gray has made it quite clear that he will never work with Vince again, next week’s previews suggests that might not be the case.
As for their trip to the Joshua Tree, well, there’s not a whole lot to say. Eric Roberts’ cameo was probably the best part about that whole storyline, and even that felt like a rehash of previous episodes involving Gary Busey and Val Kilmer. There are only so many times you can invite B-list celebs on to the show to prove that they’re hip, and between guys like Busey, Kilmer and Bob Saget, we’ve already had our fill over the last few seasons.
Perhaps worse, however, is the fact that none of the main actors are very good at playing high – to the point that Eric’s big trip-out moment was that he was literally speechless and Drama thought Arnold the bulldog was a rock. Jeremy Piven came the closest to nailing the experience (or at least what I’d expect that sort of experience to be like), but it’s virtually impossible to play Ari stoned since one of his main character traits is that he always appears in control, even when he’s not.
So why would the writers even produce such an episode? You got me. They probably thought it would be fun to watch the gang act all philosophical while under the influence of Eric Roberts’ homegrown magic mushrooms, but it wasn’t. I sat around waiting for something to happen, but with the exception of a mildly entertaining sequence involving Lloyd coaching Ari through his trip, nothing ever did. You’d think that between the “Smoke Jumpers” fiasco, Eric’s aggressive new clients, the bidding war with Amanda, Bow Wow’s comedian character, and plenty of other discarded ideas (like that Ramones biopic), there’d be plenty to talk about. Instead, we get this, and while I was more than willing to forgive the writers a few weeks ago for abandoning all story development to have a little fun, after tonight’s episode, they’re officially back in the doghouse.
