Everyone knows about the Final Episode Curse.
The ability of a TV show to wrap up hundreds of hours of brilliant television in one final episode that can and will live up to the climax of its expectations is no small feat. A show's finale is almost always received to mixed reviews and harsh criticisms (e.g. Roseanne and the whole dream thing, Seinfeld and the whole 'get it... show about nothing!' thing, Lost and the whole... lost thing. Dare I even mention The Sopranos?). Nobody likes the end. But when it comes to Entourage, I feel like season 8 was just one long succession of non-ends.
I can only assume the writers were sitting at their desks going '"Hmm. Maybe we should have stopped last year and made the movie then? No. Let's drag this on for the money." Thank God I had Curb Your Enthusiasm before and True Blood after to settle my nerves.
Vinnie and the Boys
Let's recap. So Vinnie dated a porn star, did too many drugs, went to rehab, got out of rehab. He proclaimed that he wasn't an addict and proved it by smoking a joint and not being addicted. I found his new 'at peace with myself' thing really tedious. Oops: Turtle burned down the house. He struggled with yet another business venture. Drama got involved in some drama and made stupid career decisions that had the audience thinking he was too idiotic to even laugh at. Eric was with Sloan, then he wasn't. Then he was? No, just break-up sex. Or was it make up sex.
Essentially, the boys were up to their old tricks the entire season, without really leaving any kind of room for character development. Turtle and Drama's earlier ability to deflect the bigger problems and main issues at the centre of the story became worn and didn't actually add anything defining to the plot line. If anything, it seemed like they stretched out the tequila thing and Johnny's Bananas as far as they possibly could without really doing anything, and then tried to confuse us with a guest appearance by Andrew Dice Clay. Where was Bob Saget! I need answers.
If anything, as Vinnie became a little bit more movie-star insufferable, it only contrasted more painfully with the master-servant dynamic that we all see and try to pretend isn't there in the name of friendship. And then there was the last-ditch attempt to throw in a meaningful relationship between Vince and That British Woman who was completely immune to his shallow charm. She was a professional with principles and substance, not just a pair of legs for Vinnie to part--oh, wait: and then she was. But you shan't worry: Vinnie will make an honest woman out of her.
The Sloan Situation
Eric is loyal and loving and caring. Until he executes a professional coup d'etat on his uncle-in-law, sleeps with Melinda Clarke (things have been slow since The O.C. wrapped a million years ago) and ambushes Sloan's date with that guy from Big Bang Theory. And then there was that thing about Seth Green. Again. The amazing thing about E is the fact that at the end of last season, his character seemed to have come full circle, in a sense. His career was picking up, finally independently from Vince, he got engaged--it was all good. But then, back to square one. I could have appreciated a new, fiercer, more cunning E: the kind who would call his ex a sl*t, sleep with her stepmom and screw over her family. But then he had to keep going back on his word and not having the balls to own up to his actions. His character is so stagnant it almost hurts.
Side note: no self-respecting woman would ever forgive a man for sleeping with her stepmom, pre or post divorce, and they would certainly not wait in a beautiful dress at the airport like a bride-to-be. This makes Sloan's character a lot less cool than I thought she was, despite still being a sharp dresser.
Ari Gold
The complexity of Ari's character has always been the driving force behind the show, perhaps even more so than the bromantic attitude of Vince and the boys. He is the only character who has consistently grown with the plot line in a realistic way. He was fired, then started his own agency, then he became the most powerful agent in town. We all saw the divorce coming, perhaps from the first episode, and I thought it played itself out quite well throughout the last season. It was probably the whole marriage conflict which kept me going until the end, from the point where his many slurs were leaked to the press at the end of last season, to the point where he called Bobby Flay a genetic anomaly.
This whole subplot brought a self-awareness in Ari which he generally lacked in a hilarious-to-watch kind of way. When he got together with Dana Gordon, it all made sense! But then, at the very last minute, he realizes everything, quits his career, leaves Dana and goes back to his wife. Except does he really quit? For a show which has dedicated 8 years to exposing behind-the-scenes of Hollywood in a realistic take on the industry and its players, the whole opera scene was just so... Hollywood.
Don't get me wrong, I still love Entourage. I still laughed about the whole prosthetic "limb", when Johnny showed up with a t-shirt saying 'I'm on strike, b*tches' and when Turtle was confused about his girlfriend's Brazilian. I liked the fact that Billy Walsch came back with a new lease on life, and despite my misgivings and general disappointment about the final season, I remain a big fan. Hopefully I am completely missing the bigger picture and the movie will prove me wrong by setting everything right.
...Stay tuned.
Shanna Roberts-Salee - Shanna is 24 years old and at a loss for describing herself. She enjoys off-colour jokes, Douglas Coupland and all things Bob ...
