Entourage “Crash and Burn”

Last night’s episode of Entourage did neither crash nor burn. I think it might have been one of the strongest episodes to date. Here’s what went down.

With help from Ari and Eric, Vince puts the heat on the studio to delay “Aquaman 2” so he can film his dream project, “Medellin.” They manage to buy a 65-day window, but “Medellin” director Paul Haggis can’t see himself chopping his script or trimming the shooting schedule. Eric comes up with a solution, convincing the director to shoot part of the script after Aquaman, and everyone’s happy. Vince sets up a meeting with the head of Warner Brothers to tell him the good news.

Meanwhile, Ari is still preoccupied with his daughter’s burgeoning romance with Max. He undermines one of his own kid clients, recommending Max to Penny Marshall as the lead for her tween terror film shooting in Kazakhstan. Turtle requests a sit down with Ari when Saigon starts getting heavy play on the radio and the calls from labels come rolling in. When Drama calls “shotgun” on Turtle’s lunch with Ari, he finally gets Mr. Gold Standard to agree to represent him.

They’re all in for a surprise when Vince meets with the studio head, who has changed his mind on “Medellin” — he can’t have Aquaman “snorting crack across the multiplexes.” Beside himself, Vince demands $20 million to do the sequel. “What’d I miss?” Ari asks when he arrives late for the dinner.

It’s kind of redundant to say that Ari Gold was on his game last night, because come on, when is Ari not on his game? But last night Ari was the guy in the circus doing the crazy juggling act. Turtle and his emerging career, Drama and his lack of one, Vince and Eric with the Aquaman/Medellin drama, and of course his little girl’s new boyfriend…it all culminated in a fast paced episode with great momentum from beginning to end.

And once again Entourage handles cameos like no other. Last season it was James Cameron playing the hot shot director, and now it’s Crash writer/director Paul Haggis. Throw in a little Penny Marshall and you’ve got special ingredient that makes Entourage so damn cool…the crossover between TV life and real life Hollywood.

This show has come so far since Season One. It’s really incredible. I do have one complaint though. Would it kill HBO to actually air 30 minutes of this show? It doesn’t star until 10:02pm, and then there is a 2 minute “previously on”, and then the show ends at 10:25pm. I feel like we are getting screwed a bit. Come on…a full half hour for one of the best shows on TV. Is that too much to ask?

Final thought…who knew “shotgun” could apply to so many settings?

(Source: HBO.com)