Entour-fail

I have a history of being disappointed with Entourage.  Last night's final season premiere is no different.  Per usual nothing bad really happened (almost).  Vince had a coke problem but avoided jail time and apparently became an even bigger star by going to rehab.  Drama's show is doing great.  Turtle is selling tequila (which you can buy!) and is still dating the very gorgeous Alex.  Even Billy Walsh is having a great time. 

While many like it that nothing bad ever happens, I believe it is a total failure of hammering home the message of the show.  When I watch it I see the creative team saying: friends stick together through the thick and thin; friendship is the most important thing.  Yet nothing on this show has tested their friendship.  The closest we've seen to characters being pulled in opposite directions is when Vince thought Medellin was good and E didn't.  This was the first time friendship and work mixed.  And it showed Vince had a surprisingly un-aware perspective on what makes a good movie.  They are trying to resurrect this storyline it seems for the final season, but the stakes aren't nearly as high and it doesn't feel nearly as organic.  For some reason Vince is mad a E for mixing work and friendship (I guess because he tried to stop his friend from doing coke because it hurt his professional image?).  But the big idea out of last night's episode was writing a made-for-TV movie about miners no one has ever heard of and a dog.  Seems like the exact same receipe for Medellin except Vince (who has shown little interest in the movie making process until now and little to believe he has the discerning eye needed to be a director) will direct instead of Billy, who like him or not has only had one flop.  This does not seem too interesting, especially since we know a) Vince has Airwalker to fall back on b) casted star Drama has Johnny's Bananas to fall back on and c) no one has ever hurt their reputation on a made -for-TV movie.

There are two characters who seem to have bad things happening.  E's engagement with Sloane ended because he wouldn't sign a pre-nup.  First of all: good for him.  Second: either way I don't care.  He can get back with Sloane that's great.  He can not.  That's great too.  The series has always tried to paint E as some sort of hopeless romantic who deserves some sort of happy ending.  I don't see it.  He is just a power-hungry, just as manipulative, just as ruthless as everyone else in the business (he threw his fiance's godfather out of his own management firm!).  He also has always been a terrible boyfriend: work always came first, which is why Sloane dumped him in the first place.  Most of his relationship misery is self-inflicted, so while it would be nice to see him break the self-sabotaging cycle, it's not something I am particularly invested in.

This leads me to the one, the only storyline I care about: Ari.  Yes, Ari is the ultimate in ruthless, manipulative, and deceitful.  Add in a serious anger problem.  But there is one thing Ari is that you really have to respect: a family man.  You can tell that his wife and kids mean the world to him.  The hurt in his eyes when Mrs. Ari told him she was seeing someone else was a true emotion (which this show has deftly stayed away from mainly due to the talent, or lack there of).  I am really rooting for the Gold family to get back together.  It may end up with Ari walking away from the business, but that is a sacrifice I would love the show to make if it really is about sticking together.

Also, it really hurts the show that Scott Caan has quickly become not only the second best actor, but the second most interesting character.  I just can't wait to see what quirky stuff he is going to do next.

All that being said: I've seen 7 seasons already; I'll be sticking around for the last 7 episodes.