Entourage "Second To Last" Review

Photo Credit: HBO

The purpose of the series came into focus during the penultimate episode. The eight seasons of Entourage were mostly fluff with little to no substance in any of the stories. However, with the show on the brink of finally ending, Ellin needs to say something about what the last eight seasons were about. And what is Entourage about at its core? Four friends who began their lives in poor families in a Queens neighborhood, who moved to Hollywood, worked and struggled until they achieved their dreams of success beyond their wildest imagination. If you and your friends move to Hollywood, experience tremendous amounts of luck, and don't pay your dues then you might stumble upon the same success as the four friends from Queens.

I appreciate the effort to re-contextualize the series before the finale. Some might find the sentiments genuine. Others might not. Through the lens of Drama and Turtle, Vince transformed into a selfless do-gooder who never expected anything in return for any acts of kindness he performed throughout his life. Indeed, Vince sustained the livelihood of his friends until they found their own success in the city of Angels (but, of course, that's what the head of an entourage does and the show's called Entourage). Vince's arc doesn't have urgency or direction. CBS bought the TV project and agreed to let Johnny star in it because Vince donated $100,000 to a charity. Vince made $4 million for Turtle and $15 million for himself because he never sold the Avion stock. There's no moxy or chutzpah in the ways of the character. Vince Chase throws money at a problem and it disappears. There's nothing triumphant about that. Nonetheless, Vince's success as an actor, a person and friend's cemented. The only thing left for Vince is assurance that he's a desirable romantic partner. Naturally, Sophia offered to share a drink with him.

Turtle's been the hustler of the show. Fortunately for him, he had obscene amounts of cash to turn to when his hustling met a dead-end. The Dom Pepe's project hit a snag when the Delucas demanded an expensive property out of Turtle's price-range. Turtle consulted his group of investors, which included Amar'e, Strahan, A-Rod and Teixeria but met resistance from all four athletes when asked to invest several more thousands of dollars into Dom Pepe's. A-Rod delivered the devastating news about Avion going public, resulting in millions of dollars for each share holder. Turtle's conflicts haven't been memorable throughout the series. Usually, his conflicts involved a female who wouldn't sleep with him or a female who needed to leave the country for a movie; however, Turtle was defeated. The Dom Pepe's dream died when A-Rod hung up the phone. Turtle lost out on millions of dollars. He took an aggressive risk and failed. For six seconds, I applauded the writers for choosing a difficult end to the Dom Pepe's arc. I stopped at the seventh second when Vince beamed that he never sold the stocks, thus validating Turtle's entrepreneurship in Avion and guaranteeing the successful launch of Dom Pepe's: LA. Even when a character makes a mistake, the character succeeds without learning a single lesson from the experience. I understand the show wants fans to feel good for the characters in the end but rich people lose tons of money because of poor financial decisions. Not the boys from Queens though.

In the romantic comedy subplots, Ari pitied himself each time he thought of the amount of money he'll lose due to the divorce. He confessed his love for his wife following intercourse with Dana. She didn't freak out. Instead, like Hollywood's dear generic romantic comedies, she delivered a pep talk and instructed he figure out what his wife wants from him that he hasn't given her for years. Eric, meanwhile, insulted Sloan's character when he crashed her lunch with Johnny Galecki. She stormed off. In the final scene, she revealed that she's pregnant with his child; that she plans on moving to New York; that Eric will never have a role in her life. She admitted her love for him hasn't disappeared but her families disdain for the Jon Tavares fan trumps her feelings. Ari and Eric's arcs are the only dangling threads heading into the finale. Thankfully, it isn't a 60 minute episode because it's going to be boring.

Ally Musika wrote the episode. Kevin Connolly, the Islanders biggest fan, directed it.

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