Believe it or not, it was that GQ reporter from last week (as if anyone thought that was the last we were going to see of her), whose interview with Vince pegs him as a bit of a womanizer. You can understand why he would want to do everything in his power to prevent a piece like that from ever running, but I’m a little surprised at his overall reaction. Vince seemed genuinely shocked at her portrayal of him, which makes me think that they either erased his memory “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind”-style at the rehab center or he’s even dumber than he looks. Of course, at the rate this season is going, I’m sure that Sophia will eventually fall for Vince’s movie star charm, domesticate his inner wild child, and they’ll go on to live happily ever after.

It might seem crazy to think that Vince could ever adapt to that kind of future, but we’ve certainly seen crazier things happen – like Eric’s recent run of form. In fact, it’s almost as if the two friends have swapped bodies. Eric has been acting completely out of character lately, and after learning that Johnny Galecki might be sleeping with Sloan (isn’t she supposed to be in New York?), he gives Scotty the ultimatum to either dump Galecki as a client or say goodbye to their partnership. I get that Eric is still upset about his break-up with Sloan, but what kind of grown man acts that way? This definitely isn’t Eric’s finest hour, and only the writers are to blame, who have practically ruined one of the show’s most complex characters over the course of only six short episodes.

And while Eric’s business sense has seemingly gone down the drain, Ari has begun planning for the future by meeting with his lawyer about the possible financial ramifications of his impending divorce. Though he was noticeably disturbed by the idea that Mrs. Ari would be entitled to half of his earnings for the rest of his life (she is, after all, the wealthy one in the relationship), he positively balked at the idea that she might get a share of the company if he doesn’t pay back the $11 million that she invested.

Babs is more than willing to give him the money in exchange for a majority stake in the agency, which Ari simply isn’t willing to give up, so he instead decides to talk to Mrs. Ari about it face to face. Fortunately, Ari didn’t have a complete breakdown when he discovered that Bobby Flay was in his house, but he did manage to make Mrs. Ari feel really awful about the situation before leaving, claiming that she had changed for the worse. And though it was only for a fleeting moment, you could see that his comment hit her pretty hard. Who knows? Maybe those crazy kids really will work things out after all.

Other thoughts from the episode:

* The “Johnny’s Bananas” drama is finally over, and although I always expected it to end this way, it was nice to watch Drama stand by his values for once instead of selling out for money and fame. He could have easily given in after Phil threatened to derail production on the TV movie, but he stuck to his guns and proved that he believed in the show so much that he would rather walk away than make something of bad quality.

* Speaking of Phil, William Fichtner has been nothing short of great in the role, and tonight’s scene (especially the parts about replacing Drama in the TV movie with a look-a-like just to spite him) was one of his best.

* Just when it seemed like Turtle’s storyline might finally being going somewhere, the whole subplot turned out to be a bust, as the representatives from Don Peppe’s were more interested about seeing movie stars and receiving the four-star treatment than getting down to business. You have to feel bad for Turtle at this point, but quite frankly, I feel even worse for Jerry Ferrara.

And though it looked like his faith in Ertz was actually going to pay off after CBS agreed to produce Vince’s TV movie with Drama attached, it all came tumbling down when he realized that Ertz was only doing him a favor so that he could pitch him some crappy action thriller called “Tax Man.” Turtle knew right away that something wasn’t right, but Vince was determined to stay and help Ertz get through his latest drug bender without anyone getting harmed. I kept telling myself that it wasn’t going to end well, and sure enough, Ertz ended up locking himself in his bathroom and shooting himself in the head. Talk about scaring someone straight. I’ve never seen Vince that shaken up before, and that includes his recent brush with death on that Nick Cassavetes movie.

While Vince tried to play sponsor to Ertz, Eric and Scotty were busy making sure that Drama didn’t shoot himself in the foot by siding with Dice over his contract demands. Though Drama wasn’t exactly opposed to the idea of making more money, after Phil reminded him of a past gig he had (a ‘90s cop show called “Concrete Heat”) that tested through the roof only to last a single week on the air, Drama agreed that it probably wasn’t worth the risk. Unfortunately, Dice refused to budge, and though Eric told him that the network would just fire him if he threatened to walk off the show, Dice decided to take his chances. As it turns out, it was a lose-lose situation for everyone involved. Dice got the boot, and in trying to replace him with an impersonator (played by Jamie Kennedy), Phil may have just ruined the only good thing that “Johnny’s Bananas” had going for it. Drama definitely didn’t look too happy about his new castmate, while Billy Walsh threw a king-sized hissy fit and stormed out of the building in classic fashion.

As for poor Turtle, he got the short end of the stick again this week with yet another terrible subplot. The writers just haven’t been handling his character particularly well this season, and tonight’s episode was yet another example of that. During a meeting with Carlos while in town on Avion business, Turtle learns that a) he’s being forced into early “retirement,” and b) Alex is breaking up with him because she’s met someone else. Seriously? You want us to believe that this supposedly strong and independent female relied on her uncle to deliver the news to Turtle? That’s pretty lame. Thankfully, Turtle’s not wasting any time in moving on to the next big thing, and after cashing out on his stock options with the company, he’s planning to open a branch of famed New York restaurant Don Peppe in Los Angeles. Now that’s a story I can get behind.

At least someone had a little luck tonight, with Ari finally agreeing to go on a date after Vince suggests that it might help him get his mind off Mrs. Ari. But while the girl was certainly cute (although perhaps a tad young for Ari), he just didn’t seem that interested, even when she invited him up to her apartment for a little post-dinner sex. Instead, he called up Dana Gordon to chat, and before they knew it, the two were in bed together reminiscing about the good old days before he was married. I don’t think anyone saw that coming, but I’ve always been a fan of Dana, so if the writers did decide to make Ari’s separation permanent, she’d make a great replacement. Then again, I can’t imagine the kind of trouble this is going to cause when they try to do business together.

He mostly just followed the rest of the gang around like he was part of Drama’s entourage – a scary thought, I know, but things are once again looking up for Vince’s older brother. Despite my personal feelings about “Johnny’s Bananas,” the guys seem to think it has the potential to become a runaway hit, even if Andrew Dice Clay has reservations about it performing well with the public. So when Phil drops by the recording studio to inform Drama and Dice that the show is being screened for a test audience, Dice practically begs him to tag along.

Unfortunately, that may not have been the best decision, because as soon as the Dice Man hears that “Johnny’s Bananas” tested through the roof, he immediately starts planning a mutiny to walk from the show. That’s pretty amateur behavior on his part, no matter how much he thinks they’re being underpaid. After all, the cartoon isn’t even on the air yet, and as Jerry Seinfeld (whose own show famously scored terribly with test audiences) can probably attest to, those scores mean very little in the grand scheme of things. Drama would be wise to keep his cool and not let Dice get into his head, because if he screws this opportunity up, it could very well be his last.

Meanwhile, Ari’s mounting jealousy over the news that his wife is seeing someone else takes him to his breaking point when Lloyd spots Mrs. Ari at celebrity chef Bobby Flay’s new restaurant while meeting with a potential client. But when he learns that her new beau might actually be a young waiter/actor with an upcoming audition for “Mad Men,” Ari makes it his mission to destroy the kid’s budding career. After Mrs. Ari catches wind of what he’s been up to, however, she marches straight into the TMA offices to confront him, only to discover that he may have pulled the trigger a little early.

It turns out that she wasn’t dating the waiter at all, but rather Flay himself, causing Ari to launch into a classic rant in front of his employees declaring war on the “red-headed fire crotch” and anyone who eats or recommends one of his “boy meets grill” restaurants. He’s definitely not helping his cause in trying to win Mrs. Ari back, but surely she has to recognize the extreme lengths he’s been going to just to get her attention. Their inevitable reunion can’t come soon enough.

Other thoughts from the episode:

* It may have been an almost blink-and-you’ll-miss-it cameo, but Christian Slater’s run-in with Drama ranks up there as one of the series’ funniest. I’d really like to know what his beef with him was all about, but it’s probably best left a mystery.

* I love the idea of Lloyd becoming the new head of the TV division at TMA (as he said, the department is defunct, and he wants to take over and “refunct it”), but he’s been talking about Steven Levitan now for two weeks and nothing’s come of it. What gives?

* We’ve already had an entire season where Turtle mopes over the loss of a girlfriend, so why in the world are we being forced to sit through the same storyline with a different girl? It’s hard to believe that Alex is becoming so famous that she can’t even pick up the phone and call him, so let’s hope that their relationship is resolved sooner rather than later so that Turtle can get back to doing something that actually matters.

* Is it just me or does this whole break-up between Eric and Sloan feel like a cheap plot device to delay their inevitable wedding for the season finale? They obviously still care about each other, and if there’s been one constant on “Entourage” throughout the years other than the friendship between the five guys, it’s been the on again, off again relationship between Eric and Sloan. She may be moving to New York, but that’s a hardly a deal breaker on this show.

Vince seems willing to put up with all the coddling, however, if it means he can get back to work. And amazingly, Warner Bros. still wants him as the star of that Stan Lee superhero film, “Airwalker,” as long he’s willing to take a drug test. But the movie doesn’t start shooting until March, and Vince is raring to go, so he suggests directing his own film about a real-life story of Romanian miners getting trapped underground. The rest of the guys think it sounds terrible (a Lifetime movie-of-the-week at best), but because they’re trying to be supportive, they refrain from telling him the truth. That is until Eric, who’s still a little pissed at Vince for ignoring him while he was away, speaks his mind.

You can hardly blame him for being so grouchy lately. Though he’s enjoying professional success after taking over Murray’s management agency alongside Scotty Lavin (who, despite being partners, still fight like a couple of siblings), Eric’s personal life is in the dumps following Sloan’s decision to call off the marriage when he refused to sign a prenup. I’m guessing it was more of a matter of integrity than Eric simply being greedy, but that didn’t stop Sloan from sending back the engagement ring in an envelope. And as the gang so humorously points out, “not even a padded one.”

In fact, no one seems to be having any luck with the ladies at the moment. Scotty Lavin struck out with a trio of hotties at Vince’s welcome home party (although that probably wasn’t the best pick-up line to try out), and Ari is currently 10 weeks into a trial separation with his wife, despite telling his son that it’s only temporary. You really have to feel bad for the guy, because of all the nasty things that he’s done over the last seven seasons, he’s always done right by his family. And that was quite the bombshell that Mrs. Ari dropped on him when she explained that the reason she wasn’t ready to get back together yet was because she was seeing someone else. Jeremy Piven handled the scene wonderfully, and the final shot of him with his back turned to the rest of the guys as they watched the house burn down was pretty heartbreaking.

Other thoughts from the episode:

* After Vince assured Eric that he wasn’t mad at him, but merely disappointed, he stated how imperative it was that he have a “big year.” I understand the need to put his past transgressions behind him and get back to work, but didn’t he just have a pretty big year working with Martin Scorsese and Frank Darabont? I’m just saying.

* We finally got our first look at “Johnny’s Bananas” in action, and, well, it’s just as bad as I imagined. How could anyone have realistically thought this would be a good idea?

* Turtle’s doing quite well for himself these days. Not only does he own a piece of Avion, but he’s still dating Alex, who also happens to be the new spokesmodel of the tequila. And do my eyes deceive me, or has Turtle slimmed down? Good on you, brother.