Entourage

My name is Matt Mitovich, and it is my pleasure to be guest-blogging the season finale of Entourage because, well, this show represents the dream, baby. Outside of sports, it's perhaps the best TV-candy for men.

It was a real seesaw tonight as the boys entertained big offers from people they had little interest in doing business with and little offers from bigger fish with better distribution. In the end, they were forced to take the absolute littlest offer — Harvey's singular dollar — and while that was a bit sad, I prefer that finale to a truly happy, $75-million outcome. It was somewhat validating to see "Medellin" actually pegged as the crap it appeared to be in the fleeting glimpses we got over the past season. To have had the Cannes crowd come forth, unified, and proclaim Vince sporting bad prosthetics and worse acting to be the bee's knees would have been very tough to swallow.

It's funny: In his TVGuide.com Q&A earlier this week, Adam Goldberg teased that moneyman Nicky was in a bad place. I just never thought having two naked bombshells draped on each other was that "bad."

One of my favorite recurring themes in Entourage is the Ari-Dana relationship. I almost wish we could get a prequel spin-off chronicling their torrid past, because each run-in between them sheds such an interesting (if vulgar) light on what they once had.

"I was full of s--t when I told you I had a condom at Live Aid; this is real."

"She made me split the abortion."

Ouch.

I read in every tune-in alert that Drama would draw some attention in Cannes for his "Viking Quest" run, but never did I think it'd be in the form of such a sweet insta-love story. And he got the girl in the end! I'd love to see Jacqueline return to L.A. Our little Johnny is in love.

All in all, a pretty darn good cap to the split season, and I'm sad to bid the gang adieu for another several months. Before I bid you adieu, some bullets:

• The episode did a superb job of selling me on the boys actually being at Cannes (perhaps because they actually shot there during the film festival). Things like that make Entourage seem all the more genuine.

• The asides to Lloyd's vacation with Tom were fleeting blasts. A shame I cannot recount here Ari's specific directive on how to hype "Medellin" à la JT.

• Ari to Yair: "Not unless you still have the Mossad on retainer."

• The ice sculpture pouring Lloyd his drink — oh my!

• Ari "hugging" Harvey to goose Dana into dealing

• That was one cool white Yankees hat Turtle was sporting!

• Ari professing to Dana, "I am Nicky" — only to realize that when it comes to Yair's speed dial, he isn't.

See you next year, boys!

For once, I am on the same page as Turtle. I too am terrified to fly and I also make myself crazy by doing impromptu profiling as I wait for my flight. Nuns and children make me feel safer; pretty much anyone traveling alone raises my suspicions. But I admire Johnny’s pragmatic approach: not taking sedatives so that you can effectively fight back if needed. And if anything could get me over my flying issues, I’m sure it would be a first-class ride on Kanye West’s private jet. That’s what I call living the dream.

Tonight’s episode provided several laugh-out-loud moments. This is the Entourage that I always enjoy — the one that features Sydney Pollack in the same episode as Sam Nazarian and offers lines like, “We’re at code red every time the president has a loose stool.” (Though I would have enjoyed that more if I hadn’t heard it in the promos all week.)

Eric’s ongoing relationship with his “clush” Anna took a wrong turn. Giving in to pressure from Vince and Billy, he tried to convince her to take a role in the movie. However, as they shared a moment, he came clean that he didn’t feel it was a good script, so she apparently kicked him to the curb. Poor Eric. His failure to sustain any type of relationship with a woman seems to always come back — in some direct or indirect way — to Vince.

Meanwhile, Ari tried to reconcile his domestic guilt with his wild-man impulses and ended up getting in trouble with both Mrs. Ari and Lloyd. “A wife is like a herpes sore — she comes and goes when and where she pleases.” Unfortunately for Ari, she also knows how to shop. But lucky for him, he didn’t have to fund Lloyd’s trip on the Rosie cruise — just his favorite truffles.

Hopefully this streak of quality episodes will continue as Team Chase invades Cannes next week. I want a reason to come back for Season 5.

As I prepared to wrap up my marathon evening of blogging tonight, I was especially cranky. Like, Dana Gordon cranky. Thankfully for me, Entourage delivered a slam dunk with an episode that was fast-paced, funny and well crafted. With only two episodes left, I hope they keep it up.

Eric officially joined the ranks of the grown-up world of managers tonight when he had to grapple with a distracted client, her narcissistic and slightly crazy boyfriend, and no cell reception. (Hello, Eric, welcome to Hollywood. What's your dream?) Meanwhile, back in the land of the living, Billy Walsh delivered a script that bore no resemblance to the book on which it was supposedly based and Ari had to go into troubleshooting mode. Two things I knew going in? Vince was going to love the script and Turtle would fall asleep during his Eric impersonation. Johnny delivering on the gourmet snacks was just a bonus.

As I’ve said before, I really enjoy Billy Walsh in small doses and tonight was just enough. I did panic a little when the girlfriend called Vince while Billy was in the bathroom. I was not prepared for a dark turn to that story, but luckily Billy was easily lured from his 15-minute depression when it became clear that Vince was committed to making his movie. I also like the dynamic between Ari and his nemesis Dana Gordon (Constance Zimmer). Often, these types of relationships are played for sexual tension, but in this case, I really do believe her when she says she hates him and wishes him bodily harm.

As the boys celebrated another victory for Team Chase, we are left to ponder whether "Medellin" stands a snowball's chance in Cannes. Pardon the pun.

Only two more episodes left, but check out the Online Video Guide for more Entourage.

If anyone ever decides to make the definitive Courtney Love biopic, they need to hire Anna Faris for the lead. With her platinum blonde hair and slightly slurry way of speaking, she is very reminiscent of the multi-hyphenate performer. Maybe Eric can broker that deal for Anna as her new manager. (And maybe someone can finagle me a cut for my excellent casting suggestion.)

While Eric was busy turning a fender bender into a career opportunity, Mrs. Ari was reinvigorating her soap opera career. As Kendall Scott, town slut, her kiss with her dreamy costar was too much for Ari to bear. Apparently, our favorite power agent prefers his woman home tending to the kids and his every whim. I love that they have given Perrey Reeves so much more to do this season because she is such a good foil for Jeremy Piven. (Interested in hearing more from everyone’s favorite trophy wife? Click here.)

While Turtle tended to the business of setting up house, Vince enticed him with some exceptionally good marijuana. And Turtle, perpetually trading on Vince’s celebrity, was able to pick up all the necessary "supplies" for a great party. I wasn’t sure how he would wiggle out of the traffic stop, but that perpetual rainbow that Vince lives under must stretch to include all the boys.

So how will Vince react to sharing his manager with other clients? And where has Billy Walsh been hiding? All will be revealed... soon. In the meantime, check out our Online Video Guide for more Entourage.

This season has been a real roller-coaster ride in terms of quality, but tonight’s episode was most definitely a high point in my book. First, we had Gary Busey using Johnny Drama as his body art canvas. Next, Mary J. Blige stopped in for her annual Make-Me-Understand-What-I-Pay-You-For meeting. And finally, Peter Jackson offered Eric a glimpse of legitimacy as Vince’s representation. All of these storylines were funny and entertaining and reminiscent of what I’ve always liked best about this show — how these four childhood friends navigate the ins and outs of Hollywood.

I don’t know if Gary Busey is as crazy as his public persona would have you believe, but he was pure lunacy tonight as he introduced Drama to the high art of body painting. Meanwhile, Ari prepped for his meeting with Mary J. Blige while mediating the sibling rivalry between identical twin agents. (Naturally, Mary J. was the only one who could tell which was which, and she happened to like the one Ari fired.) And then out of the blue we got a glimpse of our favorite long-lost publicist, Shauna, who set Eric up with a coming-out article that ended up exposing the evils of nepotism among friends in LaLa Land. In just one quick scene, Debi Mazar reminded me how much I miss her as Vince’s foul-mouthed marketing maven. Let’s please see more of her next season!

In the end, Vince and the boys did manage to snag Mickey Rooney’s former desk (with Turtle noting, “That’s ironic. We want it so another small Irishman can sit at it.”) and in the process set up a slightly more upscale shop for The Murphy Group. When Vince, Drama and Turtle have your back, who could ask for better associates?

“A good book, a cup of tea and a nice, long hug.” According to Drama, that’s all Eric needs in the romance department. However, in the wake of learning that Sloane was off the market, Mr. Sensitivity decided to turn over a new leaf, prodded by the bet between Johnny and Vince. The British imports who Eric and Vince met at the hotel pool were more than willing to offer whatever sexual healing was required. Even Turtle’s chances were looking good until he realized that his Internet fantasy girl was into an entirely different kind of cuddling. Who would have thought that there's a limit to what Turtle will do for sex and money? Johnny, frustrated with his betting partner, was more than happy to step in and help.

We were also treated to a different, more sensitive Ari Gold tonight, as he tearfully pleaded his son’s case to the headmaster, played by none other than the voice of Homer Simpson himself, Dan Castellaneta. (This, after he treated the man to a barrage of obscenity earlier in the day.) I knew that this situation could be resolved by some kind of bribe, and in my mind, it seems like Ari got off rather easy considering what Mrs. Ari would have done to him had he not rectified the situation. Who knew that the private-school circuit could be such a precarious place to do business? Though clearly not as precarious as the playroom at the public school where Ari commented, "This is what inmates do when they are going to overtake the guards." It was nice to see Ari’s humanity emerge in his interaction with his kids, and I cracked up when his son was able to burst his parenting bubble with one wide-eyed plea to attend the same school as his friend. Ari's signature victory dance was hard-won tonight, but we've probably not seen the last of this particular drama.

Check out the Online Video Guide for more Entourage.

Before we start tonight, congrats are in order. Emmy nominations were announced this week and in addition to Entourage's nomination for best comedy, Jeremy Piven and Kevin Dillon were nominated in the best-supporting-actor category. Way to go, boys!

Tonight’s episode left me kind of cold as, once again, Turtle and Drama went off to deal with some nonsensical situation. This time it involved Turtle's cousin Ronnie and a sports auction, and Eric and Vince disagreed over Vince’s next project. For all the Billy Walsh haters (I am quickly becoming one of them, by the way), it looks like he will be sticking around to direct Vince’s next film, though Eric is taking a pass on the producing gig. I do need someone to explain to me how to differentiate between Eric the producer from Eric the manager.

While Eric and Vince tended to their oddly interdependent relationship, Ari tried to help Lloyd mend his broken heart. Naturally, being Ari, his motivations were purely selfish and his solution involved lies and subterfuge, but he did save the day covering for Lloyd’s indiscretion and returning Lloyd to his assistant duties. While the entire story line was a humorous diversion, it certainaly didn't seem very organic to Ari's character. A high-powered agent so desperate to keep his assistant happy that he will play matchmaker in a sneaker store? I doubt it.

So far for me, this season has been disappointing. In the first few years, I remember frequently laughing out loud during episodes and enjoying the fresh take on the life of a Hollywood up-and-comer. These days, the show seems to be so mired in the details of the deal-making that we are getting away from all the fun. Strawberry pancake waffles surely can't be the only highlight in the life of a hot young actor, can they? What happened to the clubbing, the trips to the Playboy mansion and the dalliances with the Mandy Moores of the world? I really hope the show returns to form soon, but in the meantime, it still provides an entertaining alternative to summertime network programming.

Check out the Online Video Guide for more Entourage.

It looks like we have not seen the last of the artistic triumvirate behind “Medellin.” Tonight, Ari, in characteristically underhanded fashioned, paved the way for Vince to reunite with Billy Walsh and Eric for his next project. This would be good news were it not for the growing animosity between “little E” and the apoplectic Walsh. For a little guy with a “Napoleonic complex,” Eric strikes me as someone who could certainly hold his own against a much bigger adversary; that was definitely the case as the two came to blows in the middle of Barney’s. But when the newly tattooed Billy (sporting a full-on Pablo Escobar on his back) showed up at an important interview with a T-shirt reading “Suits Suck,” I thought for sure the dinner was going to go south. Thankfully for Vince and the good of the movie, the two held off from killing each other. I can’t wait to see what happens when Ari starts negotiating with Walsh. That should be something to see.

Speaking of Mr. Gold, it has been a while since we've had a really good (and printable) quote from him. Tonight, he was the proud owner of the evening's best line, as Lloyd offered to repair Eric’s torn shirt. “Save your homoerotic slave labor for me, Lloyd, and E, don’t take your shirt off. I don’t want anyone going blind from the reflections off your translucent boy chest.” Classic Ari.

Unfortunately, Johnny and Turtle landed in another far-fetched and convoluted story line that had Johnny coveting a trucker cap available for sale at a medical-marijuana establishment. Naturally, Johnny needed a doctor’s prescription for access to the clinic, so he and Turtle ended up in the office of an unscrupulous doctor who helped Johnny navigate the ins and outs of prescriptions on demand. While I always enjoy some good Johnny Drama wisdom, I prefer the story lines that don’t send him and Turtle off on their own misguided adventures. Tonight’s silliness was no exception.

Finally, I am really enjoying these trailers that HBO is putting together for "Medellin." It's very clever marketing and I'll be curious to hear if anyone has taken the time to visit the site. Also notable tonight, in an episode that ended with Johnny and Turtle getting completely baked, was a guest appearance by Snoop Dog, attempting to figure out the correct pronunciation of Cannes. For the record, it's pronounced "can." Fo' shizzle.

Check out the Online Video Guide for more Entourage.

So when exactly is the right time to tell a powerful and moderately unstable studio owner that you are going to screw him over… again? Is it while he is browbeating a waiter over a late-arriving salad or while he's haranguing a bartender for insisting that he order a cranberry drink? Watching Eric try to come clean was certainly making me a squirm a little. I had to agree with Vince that Eric looked extremely uncomfortable walking into the club, dwarfed (literally and figuratively) by Harvey’s intimidating presence. (I have to figure that Maury Chaykin’s Harvey Weingard is a spoof on another intimidating, and allegedly volatile, Hollywood Harvey, but I don’t want to make any assumptions.) Luckily for E, Harvey’s short temper got him “escorted” from the nightclub and Johnny took the opportunity to add some fuel to the fire by telling Harvey about the broken "Medellin" deal. Somehow, I don’t think we’ve seen the last of Harvey, and I have a feeling that hell hath no fury like a megalomaniac scorned.

Tonight’s episode definitely helped to renew my faith a little. I’ve said before that I feel like the wheels have come off the cart with these recent episodes, but tonight was definitely a step in the right direction. Actually, two of my requests from last week were addressed — less Billy Walsh and more Ari — so I can't complain too much.

I loved that M. Night Shyamalan was willing to be so self-deprecating about his purported obsession over guarding his top-secret scripts. I’ve been a fan of this Philly boy since before The Sixth Sense, and it is good to see that despite some rough going at the box office the past few years, his sense of humor is still in tact. (And Night, if you are actually reading this, I can't wait to see what you still have up your sleeve!) If I were Ari, I would have also panicked at the notion that a misplaced Shyamalan script could be traced back to me, though the minute he drove into the driveway of the guy who had gotten his car, I knew that no good could come of it. (“Deny until you die!”)

Finally, the story line with Johnny, the mayor and the transvestite left me a little cold, especially that last scene with the video, though I guess it was a clever play on the ubiquitous crotch shots we seem to be treated to these days. Again, I like it when the story focuses squarely on the boys and their adventures. I can't wait to see this crew in Cannes!

Check out the Online Video Guide for more Entourage.

Raise your hand if you are officially sick to death of hearing about "Medellin." Is it just me? I feel like this story line has dragged on forever with no resolution in sight. It is like an anchor weighing down all the humor and fun. So tonight, for your consideration, I offer you my top three suggestions for getting the Entourage back on track:

Ari: Everyone’s favorite agent doesn’t seem to have much to do lately. Where is the verbal sparring with Lloyd? Why isn’t he hanging with the boys? For me personally, Jeremy Piven is 50 percent of the reason I keep tuning in week after week, but I need more than just a cameo to keep me interested (and no, that contrived story line about his son’s school does not count).

Billy Walsh: I enjoy this character a great deal, in small doses. But these past few episodes he has completely dominated the action. Please take it down a notch… and soon.

Eric: Kevin Connolly seems to have the market cornered on two emotions — peeved and perturbed. While it is still fun to watch Ari belittle him in clever new ways (“Do you know your man broke out of the Oompah Loompah factory and is up to no good?”), Eric’s role as perpetual straight man is making him increasingly unappealing.

Some things that are working? The guest appearances are definintely entertaining. Lisa Rinna's turn as a middle-aged, hot-to-trot ex-flame of Johnny's was unexpectedly good. (Nothing against Lisa Rinna, but little in her Dancing with the Stars performanaces prepared us for her potty-mouthed partner-swapping.) Dennis Hopper also deserves a shout-out, playing himself with self-deprecating humor. (I laughed when one of his guests made reference to his sideline shilling for a financial-services company.) Kevin Dillon continues to provide comic relief on a weekly basis. I think it is perfectly fitting that the boys are all crashing at Johnny's pad these days, since he is generally the caretaker of the group anyway.

I am anxious to see what happens once the movie gets to Cannes and what happens when Eric attempts to pull the rug out from under Harvey again. It likely won't be pretty. It looks like "The Suit" is in for a dressing-down.

Check out the Online Video Guide for more Entourage.

The saga of "Medellin" continued tonight as Vince and Eric tried and tried to see the latest cut of the movie, despite Billy’s rampant paranoia. Watching Billy come unglued, walking around the editing location with the film canister around his neck, I couldn’t help but think about how nervous I would be if my entire career were riding on the success or failure of this guy’s vision. According to Eric, Billy was right to hesitate showing the film. But surprisingly, he and Vince had different reactions to Billy’s cut, a difference of opinion that should prove interesting in the coming weeks. Frankly, I am ready to move on from this little chapter in Vince’s career. Hopefully "Medellin" will prove to be a huge success, but in the meantime it seems that Vince is going to get the chance to explore the inner life of a broke, unemployed actor. I guess that could be considered Method, right?

While Vince and Eric were trying to catch a sneak peek, Drama made plans for Vince’s homecoming at his new condo. It was completely and totally in character for Drama to be so overprotective of his new digs, but taking down the chandelier and dead-bolting the bathroom door? That seemed a little extreme. I did enjoy the Johnny-Turtle shopping trip to Costco. Johnny’s affinity for baby wipes, his plans to make exactly 12 chicken wings and his overbearing hosting all added much-needed comedy. I also enjoyed how he totally relaxed when the party moved to Vince’s hotel room.

The story line that fell flat for me tonight was Ari’s attempts to have his son admitted to the same prep school as his daughter. It was quite fitting for Ari and Mrs. Ari to assume that the problem was with their son as opposed to looking at themselves for a possible reason, though it seems to me that a school like that would have plenty of Ari-like fathers floating around. Correct me if I am wrong, but unless your kid is on scholarship, I imagine you’d have to be a pretty high earner to afford prep-school tuition in L.A., plus donations on top of that. My point being, people who can afford that lifestyle are generally fairly aggressive in other aspects of their lives. Either way, I probably would have reacted the same way as Ari when that headmaster made it sound like they were doing his daughter a favor by letting her stay. Mrs. Ari will not be happy.

So let me know what you thought of tonight's episode. Will "Medellin" turn Vince into a superstar or will he end up crashing with Johnny for longer than expected?

Need more? Check out the Online Video Guide for more Entourage.

Happy Father's Day to all you Entourage-loving dads out there. I hope you spent your day kicking it Chase-style with your own broods.

The fourth season started off with a bang… literally. The “boys from Queens” made their way to the jungles of Colombia to film the life story of Pablo Escobar, and despite the enormous odds against them it appears that they pulled off the impossible. But the task was not without its challenges and, from the previews, it does not appear that they are completely out of the woods just yet.

Since this was the first time we’ve actually seen Vince filming a movie, it’s hard to say how this Billy Walsh experience compared to Queens Boulevard. If Billy was this explosive, mercurial and insecure doing their first collaboration, I find it hard to believe that Vince and Eric would have been so eager to work with him again. But then, as Billy admitted to Eric in a moment of weakness, Queens Boulevard was a much smaller movie to shoot.

As far as the buzzed-about documentary-style episode, I found it a little jarring to frame the story that way and I didn’t necessarily think it added much to the episode. It was humorous to see Ari offering his long-distance wisdom, and Johnny had some funny moments, as always. I loved his cameo at the end of the movie; I laughed out loud when he suddenly popped on camera in military fatigues.

Despite the fact that I found the episode entertaining overall, there were a few things I found just downright unbelievable:

— Would an actor really rely only on makeup to achieve the weight gain needed for this role? Every time they showed Vince in snippets from the film, I kept thinking how distracting it would be to try to look past all the makeup. Wouldn't someone so dedicated to the movie be willing to gain the pounds like all the great actors before him?

— Is producing really as easy as it looks? Granted, everyone knew that Eric was a novice, but in the end, he sure did make it look simple by following two simple steps: coddling the talent and managing the budget.

— Do directors like Billy Walsh really exist? Do entire films get scrapped and rewritten during the course of production? Do they scream and curse and rant around movie sets like lunatics? Do they dress like escapees from a kindergarten fashion show?

There were also a few administrative items of note. For one, didn't Debi Mazar’s name previously appear in the opening credits? I was happy to see that Perrey Reeves has been promoted to full-time cast member, but what about belligerent, foulmouthed publicist extraordinaire Shauna? I certainly hope we haven’t seen the last of her.

So now that "Medellin" is finally history, what’s next for Vince and the boys? Will Johnny’s star continue to rise? Is Vince really broke? Will Turtle ever see any action from his hot new gal pal? We have all summer to let these stories... percolate.

Check out the Online Video Guide for more Entourage.

In the artistic spirit of Billy Walsh, I thought about writing tonight’s blog entirely in Spanish. But unfortunately, I doubt I could come up with anything as remotely eloquent as Johnny Drama’s parting words, so I decided to stick with my native tongue.

Normally, season finales make me nostalgic and a little depressed since I know my favorite shows won’t be back for a while. This is always especially true with HBO shows, which tend to go on hiatus for what seems like years. Oddly, that was not the case with tonight’s Season 3 finale, since the network has decided to kick off Season 4 in only two short weeks. So, luckily for us, we won’t have to wait too long to see what happens. From the looks of the previews, we are actually going to get to see Vince making a movie. That’s a new angle for the show to explore, and it looks like it could be interesting to say the least.

But first let’s talk about the action tonight. The crew was at a crossroads as they packed up the mansion and parted ways (albeit temporarily). Eric prepared to move into what he thought was a no-strings-attached arrangement with Sloane, but he quickly learned that her expectations were more complicated than he realized. While I have not been a big fan of Sloane, I do have to say that Eric was in dire need of a wake-up call. No woman is going to put up with constantly being moved to the back burner, no matter how atypical you tell yourself she is. Sloane has to see the writing on the wall: The only attachment Eric is able to sustain is with his friends.

Meanwhile, Drama waded into the competitive L.A. real-estate pool, with hilarious results. His version of haggling resulted in him actually paying more than the asking price for the condo of his dreams. And how great was that little snippet of a scene with new mommy Shauna as she advised him to rethink his rental situation to avoid looking like a "transient crack whore?" It doesn’t look like parenthood has softened her at all, especially when she advised her nanny not to let the baby nap because she didn’t want to be awake all night. (The actual language she used was, as expected, unprintable.)

Speaking of our intrepid Johnny Drama, my TV Guide colleague Raven Snook stumbled upon an interesting editorial piece that he "authored" for Variety Online. Check it out here and prepare to be amused.

It is also great to see Ari back, overseeing all the deal-making surrounding "Medellin." Financier Nick Rubenstein (Adam Goldberg), desperate to escape his father’s shadow, ponied up the 30 million Walsh was demanding in order to kick-start the movie. The entire scene with Eric and Vince trying to convince Walsh to do the movie while he filmed very adult entertainment was surreal. I especially enjoyed seeing Eric argue with righteous indignation while a naked little person wandered across the screen. I can’t wait to see what happens, since the hostility between Billy and “The Suit” will surely escalate when filming begins.

As is often the case, the season wrapped up with the boys on top of the world. All the pieces seemed to fall into place for Vincent Chase once again. But Billy’s ominous phone call certainly set the tone for the trouble to come. All of a sudden, two weeks seems like a long time to wait. I'll see you then!

Need more action until Season 4 kicks off on June 17? For video of Entourage, visit our Online Video Guide.

After all the network-television season finales wreaked havoc on my emotional state this past week, it was nice to take it down a notch with the guys. I can always count on Entourage for good, mindless entertainment that doesn't shock (too often anyway) and doesn't require much thinking. There's something to be said for reliable mindlessness.

I suspect that there are a lot of guys out there who really wouldn’t mind having Vincent Chase’s problems. Sure, he had to sell his house to finance his dream project, but in the meantime, some billionaire Middle Eastern prince is ordering him to sleep with his hot wife. As Tony Soprano’s dearly departed mother would say, “Poor you.”

I have to say again that I’m really not thrilled with the direction that the show has taken over this most recent batch of episodes. I definitely have missed Debi Mazar (though I suspect that the filming of this arc probably coincided with her maternity leave). Shauna's lightning wit (and temper) along with her verbal sparring with just about everyone who crosses her path is always fun to watch, and I was happy to see her pop up in the previews for the next episode.

While Vince and Eric wined and dined their way into a 60 million dollar investment, Johnny cajoled Brett Ratner (playing himself) into casting him in Rush Hour 3. Despite the fact that Brett was really interested in Johnny’s younger cast mate, Drama seized the moment and finessed Brett through sheer force of will... and by refusing to leave his house. (I laughed out loud when Brett’s assistant announced that “Johnny Chase has arrived” and Johnny followed up with, “In more ways than one.”)

Turtle’s efforts with sneaker-loving Kelly continued much to the chagrin of her father, Rufus. Until now, Turtle’s attempts at romance have been limited to chatting up Vince’s leftovers, but he seems to have a real connection with this girl and maybe his new relationship will give him the jump-start he needs to make something of himself. (The precarious state of Vince’s finances would indicate that a fall back wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world.)

Next week we get a Memorial Day break and then we return on June 3 and head right into Season 4 starting June 17. Enjoy your holiday!

Need more of Vince and boys? For video of Entourage, visit our Online Video Guide.

Way to go, Johnny Drama. You have outwitted the universe. Who cares what the critics of the world say? Sixteen million viewers can’t be wrong. Now we get to sit back and experience the impact of success on our favorite den mother. Here’s hoping that Johnny is just as neurotic when his life is on an upswing.

I thought this episode was cleverly framed with the boys’ ongoing reliance on Drama’s culinary skills. I loved seeing Vince and Turtle sitting at the table, all set for breakfast, and discussing when Johnny was going to wake up to cook for them. Johnny’s existential crisis at the end of the episode was a bummer, but it made the good news that much sweeter when it arrived.

Johnny’s career wasn’t the only thing in turnaround tonight. While Ari warned Vince and Eric off of "Medellin," they continued to hold out hope that the project would reignite. “Sometimes, things just aren’t meant to be," warned Ari. "Sometimes, no matter how bad you want something, you gotta let it go.” Good advice for sure, but Vince and Eric could not be deterred. I guess it is a good thing that Drama will be generating some income, because with Vince using the house as collateral to finance the picture, the boys may have to give up the lifestyle to which they have become accustomed. (I also had to laugh when Eric commented, "How hard can it be to produce?" Oh, I suspect they are going to find out.)

Again, the numerous inconsequential subplots were kind of tiresome. While it was cute to see Turtle meet a girl who shares his passion for "kicks," I do wonder what they will talk about once they have exhausted that topic. (I’m certainly not an authority on the subject — for all I know, that could sustain a relationship for years.) Also, it was bad enough seeing Johnny take a side trip to a “massage” parlor (frankly, I’m not sure that I can repeat the phrase he used to describe the service), but then watching him storm the offices of Daily Variety to confront the critic was just silly. It is just so obvious that this show works best when they focus on the four friends (and Ari) and their reactions to the surreal world in which they find themselves. I hope we see more of that in the coming weeks.