Entourage 8.7 – Second to Last

As far as penultimate episodes go, “Entourage” has done a pretty stellar job of getting all its ducks in a row leading up to next week’s series finale. The journey getting there hasn’t been quite as linear as I had expected with so few episodes, but the various twists and turns have at least kept things fairly interesting. Instead of my usual recap, however, I’m going to break formula a little this week by talking more about the potential outcomes for each of the five main characters following the events of tonight’s episode.

1) Vince finally settles down

Obviously, I don’t mean that Vince is going to quit acting, move to Connecticut and start a family, but it definitely seems like he’s ready to start the next chapter of his life. Though trying to win over Sophia’s approval by making a video of interviews from ex-lovers might not sound like the greatest idea, it still had the desired effect – at least when combined with Drama and Turtle’s personal anecdotes. I still don’t buy the idea that Sophia is the first woman that Vince has ever pursued this intensely (a case can be made for both Mandy Moore and Sasha Grey), but he does seem like a new man after leaving rehab, and it’s nice to see him finally focusing on the important things in life.

2) Drama gets his chance to be the star

The one thing that Drama has wanted more than anything else since the show’s first season was to be taken seriously as an actor – something that has eluded him even when he was part of a hit TV series. But this miner movie sounds like it’s finally going to get him the respect he so desperately desires, especially when everyone in Hollywood seems to love Billy Walsh’s script. Of course, a lot of them also think that it’s too good for someone of Drama’s abilities, but Vince is so determined to make the movie with his big brother as the star that he donated $100,000 to Phil’s favorite charity in order to convince him to move ahead with the project. Could an Emmy nomination be far off?

3) Eric wins back Sloan

Out of anyone in the group, Eric seemed the least likely to get his happy ending, if only because he and Sloan haven’t really spoken much since their break-up. It doesn’t help that Eric’s been acting like a world-class douche lately (i.e. sleeping with Melinda and refusing to work with Johnny Galecki), but even when he’s trash-talking Sloan, it’s obvious that he still has feelings for her. And now that he knows that she’s pregnant with his baby, you can be sure that he’s going to do whatever it takes to win back her trust and affection, although I’m not sure he ever lost it. Sloan says that she can’t be with Eric because her family hates him, but she clearly still cares about him or she wouldn’t be trying so hard to push him away. My guess? Eric will leave Hollywood to start a family with Sloan in New York. It’s not like it hasn’t been building towards this over the last few seasons anyway, and it’s the only way that Eric will ever truly be happy.

4) Turtle becomes an entrepreneur

I have to admit that I was never the biggest Turtle fan when I first started watching the show, but over the years, as the character was given more to do and Jerry Ferrara improved as an actor, he’s slowly become my favorite. Which is why I hate to see him always getting the short end of the stick, like in this latest season, which found him forced out of Avion by his partners, dumped by Alex, and then mistreated by the Don Peppe’s reps, who don’t seem to care how much work or money he’s already put into the restaurant because they don’t carry any of the risk. Learning that Avion went public was like kicking the poor guy when he was down, but thanks to Vince’s own belief in him, Turtle will have his day in the sun after all. It’s a little hard to believe that someone who started out as the ultimate celebrity mooch is now a multimillionaire businessman, but that’s the kind of fantasy ending that fans of the show have to come to expect.

5) Ari and his wife get back together (and we finally learn her first name)

When the season began, the sheer suggestion that Ari and his wife might get a divorce seemed preposterous, but as the weeks went on, it looked more and more like it was actually going to happen. As anyone who reads this blog already knows, I’ve never been fond of the idea of splitting those two up, but I’ve learned to accept that it’s a possibility, and was even looking forward to Ari starting over with Dana Gordon. But after that discussion between the two of them tonight where Ari admitted that he’s still in love with his wife, there doesn’t seem to be any other outcome save for Mrs. Ari taking him back.

So, what do you think about my predictions? Will everyone get a happy ending or are some of the guys primed for disappointment? Let me know in the comments section below and then come back next week following the series finale to see how it all ends.

  

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