TVSquad

(S05E02) "No indies E! Think of it like the Holocaust - never again!" - Ari

Ever since the beginning of Entourage, I've been waiting for this episode. As much as I love Vince, it's been a long time coming for his "I'll do whatever the hell I want" mentality to finally come full circle and bite him in the ass. His career is in the toilet, Ari even admitted that his worth as an actor "remains to be seen," and E is officially taking his own career more seriously. If Vince wants a comeback, then it's going to be up to him and I love that it's been set up that way. Up until now, his failures have been a direct result partly because of his reliance on Eric and partly because of his own laissez-faire, "what will be will be" attitude. If he screws it all up now, it's his own fault.

Ari made a great analogy when he said that, despite Colin Farrell's string of crappy movies, it hasn't affected his career because he's perceived as a movie star. The difference with Vince is that he's perceived as not caring. Vince has continually tried to buck the system and do things his way. He's had one major success (Aquaman) that was then stripped away because of his attitude (Jake Gyllenhaal in A2), along with one success that was bigger in his mind than the public's (Queens Boulevard). It's time to play the game. Enter Justine Chapin.

We haven't seen Justine (Gossip Girl's Leighton Meester) since season one when she was still on The Pure Tour pulling a Britney Spears circa-"Baby One More Time" virginity act. Now she's back after a few failed albums and she's taken the Christina Aguilera approach. Get everyone's attention by being trashy and slutty, clean yourself up, and then do a duet with Tony Bennett. Smart, actually. Her comeback has become the impetus for Vince's. If she can do it, he sure as hell can.

So here's my question - is he just using her? I'm inclined to say yes. Once the press finds out that he slept with her, it can only help him. I think his obsessive puppy love days are gone thanks to the fiasco with Mandy Moore. Nope, sex with Justine is "purely" a publicity stunt if you ask me. You want be a movie star? Start sleeping with pop stars. Play the game.

Now speaking of obsessive puppy love, I can't begin to say how happy I am that the Drama/Jacqueline relationship is over after only two episodes. This was arguably the worst Drama storyline yet. He was borderline annoying. While it was inevitable that he would become the jealous/obsessive one, I still can't help but think that it might have actually been warranted. Just because she was at the hospital with a friend this time doesn't mean that she wasn't still stepping out on him. Although, when a relationship is that long-distance... well, nevermind.

Moving on to E, I'm finding his story to be the best one so far. I get the feeling that LB (Lukas Haas) and Nick (Giovanni Ribisi) are going to be too much for him to handle. They're stereotypical rednecks who drink too much and shoot guns, but they've written a great script - in Eric's eyes. They seem like they could be high maintenance and I don't blame them for not understanding why E can't get them Vince. I probably wouldn't get it either.

However, E going to Amanda to try and help sign them and possibly sell the script is a huge gamble on his part. She no longer represents Vince, she knew better about Medellin, and Ari hates her. There's a lot of bad blood and E working with her isn't going to sit well with Vince or Ari.

More thoughts -

• Can we get Turtle a better storyline? Something like the Saigon plot? "Turtle wants to get laid" is officially getting old for me. And whatever happened to Kelly? Her dad was the one who owned the auto-body shop? Rufus maybe? Whatever, she just disappeared and I thought they had some chemistry.
• Vince was in a Mentos commercial? Did we know that?
• Ari on Vince's potential comeback: "Like Lance Armstrong, but with two balls!" Love it.
• I wonder if Vince will take Drama's advice and start working out? Might not be a bad idea because last time we saw Vince without a shirt on, he kinds of looks like me and last I checked, I'm no movie star.
• Maybe I'm being overly critical, but Nine Brave Souls sounded stupid. Sort of like a knock off of Ladder 49.
• I love how Ari was to blame for Mark Wahlberg doing The Truth About Charlie. Terrible movie.

I think it's safe to say that Vince has finally hit rock bottom. When all the roles he wants are going to Emile Hirsch, Shia Lebeouf, Tobey Maguire, and Leo DiCaprio, it's gotta make him question his value. Looks like we might see Vince doing a little bit of soul searching - you know, while he's schmoozing directors and execs. That could be interesting because Vince has never really had to grovel before and that's essentially what he needs to do now. He better get some knee-pads.