Can anyone say “déjà vu”? Maybe it’s just me, but with the on-again-off-again bidding war that dominated most of tonight’s episode, it sure felt a lot like last year’s Cannes-based season finale. Thankfully, it wasn’t as much of a letdown, and though not a whole lot was actually accomplished, it did bring up some very interesting story developments that will not only play a major role in the rest of this season, but next season as well.
For starters, Eric’s relationship with JB and Nick isn’t going quite as smoothly as you’d expect. The amateur screenwriters may have the hottest script in town, but at the end of the day, they’re still amateurs, and acting like a bunch of egomaniacal assholes isn’t going to help jumpstart their careers one bit. If anyone other than Eric was managing them, they probably would have already dropped them as clients. It isn’t enough that he’s gotten them a great deal ($100,000 with a $200,000 bonus if the movie is made) – Nick thinks they can get more money, and he’s not afraid to make his opinions be heard. As it turns out, he’s right, but nobody in town is willing to make the movie with Vince starring other than Amanda.
When Vince graciously removes himself from the project and gives Eric the chance to sell the movie for more, however, Amanda flips out at the suggestion that Edward Norton get into a bidding war with every other studio in town. Ari is quick to jump at the chance of making the sale, and he comes back with an offer that any other first-time writer would kill for: $500,000 and Vinnie Chase in a supporting role. Unfortunately, Nick is not like every writer, and when he hears about Edward Norton no longer being part of the film, he’s disappointed. How cool was it, then, to have Eric take charge of the call by not only telling Nick that he plans on accepting the deal, but that he needs to say “thank you”? Eric may make mistakes every once and a while, but you gotta hand it to him – he’s doing a pretty good job for someone that still doesn’t know all the ins and outs of Hollywood.
The biggest development of the night, however, was Vince accepting a supporting role in “Nine Brave Souls” (now being called by the ultra-lame title “Smoke Jumpers”). This could be a big turning point for him in the series, as just two weeks ago I suggested that it would be fun to see him have to climb his way back to the top without the luxury of having Ari hold his hand. Now, that’s probably not going to happen any time soon, but the fact that he’s willing to settle for smaller roles certainly shows that he’s ready to begin a new (albeit different) era in his career. Not only does Vince have the chance to prove that he can still sell a movie, but he’ll also get the chance to act. Whether this means he might get that Oscar nomination just yet remains unseen, but you can’t deny that “Entourage” at the awards show would make for one hell of an episode.
First thing’s first. Just when it looked like a deal had finally been struck, Amanda came back with another offer ($2,000,000 plus the chance to work with Norton) that Eric’s writers probably won’t turn down. To make matters worse, the studio behind the deal is none other than Warner Bros., and with Allen Grey (you know, the guy who fired Vince from “Aquaman 2”) still at the helm, it’s going to take one helluva miracle keeping Vince attached to the project. Until then, it looks like he’s seriously considering starring in a new Benji movie set in Alaska, but let’s hope it doesn’t come down to that, because I have zero interest in watching a show about a movie star who isn’t even the star of some shitty kid movie.
