Tonight’s season premiere of “Entourage” was about one thing and one thing only: picking Vincent Chase up out of the gutter and getting his career back on track… again. After a 90-day stint in rehab, Vince is finally free to return home, but little does he know that Drama has been obsessing over making sure that his baby brother doesn’t relapse. Along with getting rid of all the real drugs and alcohol in the house, Drama goes so far as to even prevent any pill-shaped substance from being in sight, whether it’s an Advil or a Tic-Tac. It doesn’t take long for Vince to realize that the gang is babying him (even more than normal), and how could he not? Everyone was acting so awkward the minute he stepped out of the rehab clinic that it was only a matter of time before he called them out on it.
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.