I felt myself sitting through the half-hour grim faced, hoping against hope that things would get better.
Here’s a random fun factoid: Entourage first premiered in 2004. That was the same year that President George W. Bush defeated John Kerry to retain the presidency. Seems like a long time ago, doesn’t it?
So does recalling a time when Entourage was really fun or fresh or interesting.
There were moments during this seventh season that had a twinge of the magic and chemistry and freewheeling cocky originality of the early days, but the season finale had none of the above. I felt myself sitting through the half-hour grim faced, hoping against hope that things would get better, or that the clock would run out and it would simply end. And, if it’s consolation, the half-hour did in fact eventually expire.
That’s not to say that the show shouldn’t be commended for trying to stretch into newish territory: Vince (Adrian Grenier) is finally out of control to an extent that can’t be reined in after an Ari (Jeremy Piven) freak out and group bro out session. Vince is drugged out (and on coke, no less), causing scenes on the set of girlfriend Sasha Grey’s porn shoot, starting fights with Eminem, Marshall Mathers himself, and so on. And it’s interesting to think about how the success of everyone in Vince’s orbit – Drama’s (Kevin Dillon) resurrected television career (and new animated show, a subplot I found deeply annoying this season), E’s (Kevin Connolly) ascendency as a super-agent, Ari’s position as entertainment power player, Turtle’s (Jerry Ferrara) machinations with a tequila company (again, super annoying and meandering) – is very much dependent on his own success and Hollywood star wattage.
And the weight of that and how it might begin to affect and corrupt an otherwise amiable actor who ascended to fame’s heights might have been terrifically compelling and enjoyable to behold. But instead this season we saw a clunky series of events: Vince takes pain pills, Vince goes sky diving, Vince is partying a lot, Vince dates a porn star, Vince is doing blow and telling everyone to go f— themselves, Vince gets decked by Slim Shady and winds up in the hospital with the cops digging drugs out of his bloody clothes.</p>
Maybe the writers got tired of all the criticism – which I never agreed with, by the way – that the show was a lightweight frat boy fantasy and decided to carve out a more grimly lit vision at this late date. Again, that’s fine, but it really doesn’t work. I honestly didn’t care about Vince after watching his descent – I just wanted him to go away.
Oh yeah: we also got to see Mrs. Ari leave her husband, and E’s somewhat storybook romance with Sloan hit the rocks after Alex from A Clockwork Orange, er, her dad (played by Malcolm McDowell) stuck his beak in and asked his son-in-law to be to sign a prenuptial agreement.
I think I’m ready for a shot of Turtle’s Avion now.
Some stats and info about Entourage, “Lose Yourself”
TV SHOW – Entourage
SEASON/EPISODE – Season 7, Episode 10
AIRED ON – September 12th, 2010
NETWORK/STREAMING SERVICE – HBO/MAX
GENRE – Comedy, Relationship Shows
CREATED BY – Doug Ellin
CAST – Adrian Grenier, Kevin Connolly, Kevin Dillon, Jerry Ferrara, Jeremy Piven, Rex Lee, Perrey Reeves, Debi Mazar, Emmanuelle Chiriqui
This review originally appeared on TV Geek Army.