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Entourage: Amongst Friends - Review

Amongst-Friends.jpg

One week after roaring back with the highest ratings Entourage has received in two years, once again I'm impressed with the entertainment value of this show. This episode had an impressive film premiere, great banter, hot girls, a Seth Rogen obsession and even had the beginning of a love triangle for the main character. No, it's not Vince . . . Meanwhile, I'm still waiting to get some of The Macallan Fine & Rare Collection 1971 Vintage scotch whiskey that Ari was drinking last week. But I digress . . .

Forget all your preconceptions, this show is centered around little ole Eric Murphy. The second episode of the sixth season of Entourage, aptly entitled Amongst Friends is a pretty good barometer of the direction the show is heading.

As Vince and the boys get ready to attend the premiere of Gatsby all of them are scrounging around for dates, except Turtle who appears to have a rock solid relationship with Jamie-Lynn Sigler. I just can't imagine she will stick around for long if Turtle, aka Sal, doesn't get his act together and come up with a solid life plan, right?

On to the recap and review . . .

The guys are helping E move into his new house and Turtle is fixated on an ugly Seth Rogen in Knocked Up and how he gets such a hot girl. At first glance it appears that this is a very dated reference but by the 2nd time Turtle brings it up you'll understand why. More on that later. After Drama asks Sloan if she thinks Turtle is cute and she says he is, all attention turns to E. Sloan picks up a call on his cell and is greeted with silence and then E asks if she wants to go to the premiere that night and he's treated to some great scorn by Drama and Turtle. Sloan agrees to go just as friends which also draws scorn from the guys. It's obvious to them that E's still in love with her but he denies it all the way which just makes them give him more grief.

Meanwhile at Miller Gold, Andrew (Gary Cole) is concerned about Lloyd's crash diet of eating one grape an hour when Ari approaches. Andrew tells him that he wants Ari to sit on a meeting with some show runners he's wooing and Ari reluctantly agrees. Talk quickly turns to the Gatsby premiere and Andrew informs him that his wife isn't coming and Ari flips out. Seems that Ari wants Andrew's wife and Mrs. Ari to become best of friends and sets a plan in motion to make it happen. This is not a good idea as we find out later.

The guys are having a walk and talk on the way to pick up their suits for the premiere and Turtle and Drama are giving him massive grief over the "F Word" the one word every guy except E dreads: friends. Once inside Drama hits on the sales girl Kelly, and she responds with an "I don't think so" look and E just says "that's creepy" which shows how desperate Drama is. Reality really hits home with all of them when Turtle proudly announces that he's the ONLY one who's guaranteed to have sex after the premiere. Vince immediately says he's got a date with a girl but can't remember her name and Drama asks the sales girl if she wants to go and she reluctantly agrees. Little does he know who this girl really is or what will happen!

Ari asks his wife out to lunch to pitch her on becoming friends with Andrew's wife, Marlo played by Jami Gertz. He convinces her with some backward logic to have a "Mani/Pedi" session with her and is full of himself after his victory, per usual. Dum, dum, dum.

The guys are all back E's new house when just then a very cute young girl who they met at some beach party named Ashley (played by the infinitely hot Alexis Dziena) drops by to give E a house warming gift we get to see some of the patented E awkwardness. She is totally into E and when she kinda asks him out that night he tells her that it's Vince's premiere and more awkwardness ensues, especially with the guys standing right behind him just shaking their heads. She reminds him that she left her bracelet in his luggage and he claims he hasn't found it yet. Apparently this is one of the girls that E already hooked up with that wants more than a one night stand. I don't know about you but I don't know if I can take much more of E's awkwardness around girls, it's already getting pretty annoying only two episodes in. The guys try their hardest to get E to admit that he loves Sloan and wants to get back together with her but he's not budging even after some very compelling arguments. There's lot's of great banter which shows how good friends these guys really are.

Ari is giving Lloyd some grief when Mrs. Ari calls and tells him that he hates Andrew's wife. Ari starts to freak when she reveals that she's only joking and they are getting drunk midday much to Ari's relief. Cut to the meeting Andrew setup and his hot, young junior agent named Lizzie (a beautiful Autumn Reeser) is pitching to the show runners when Andrew seems to get a little too friendly with her. Of course none of this is lost on Ari who has had way too many office romances himself. After the guys leave Ari goes into overdrive and asks him if they are screwing and Andrew denies everything. This is why Andrew doesn't want his wife going to the premiere he wants to take his hot junior agent. Funny that on the way back to his office Ari screams at Lloyd to lose twenty pounds. Awesome.

In the limo on the way to the premiere the guys all have dates except E who is meeting his "friend" Sloan there and it's now Turtle's turn to be picked on. Drama's date Kelly tells E she could have hooked him up and then offers up a three-way right in front of everyone. Freak alert!

They arrive at Grauman's Chinese Theatre to a rousing reception. The whole gang is there except director Martin Scorsese which is very odd. For the first time I can remember a photographer actually calls out to Drama and as he's talking to him Kelly hits on the guy. Poor Johnny Chase. Also on the red carpet Ari is telling Mrs. Ari to not get too close to Andrew's wife as he now realizes hooking them up was a huge mistake. Jamie-Lynn introduces Turtle to the paparazzi for the first time and we get to see how much she really loves him as she says he let her see some dailies of the film, introduces him as her boyfriend and then lays a big fat kiss on him as everyone takes pictures. Turtle is clearly nervous and it's apparent why he's so obsessed with Seth Rogen, it's because he sees himself in the actor with people always wondering how someone like him got such a hottie. Sloan meets E on the carpet and we get the first scene of the year between Vince and Ari who tells him "let's go reintroduce you to the world." This scene was extremely well shot and edited and is reminiscent of the Cannes premiere scene.

Unfortunately, we smash cut to the after party without seeing a single frame of Gatsby or even a brief appearance from Marty. I now doubt if we ever will see a single frame. Creator Doug Ellin has let us down!

The E storyline continues as Jamie-Lynn observes that E and Sloan are still in love with each other. Sloan and E go to the bar and Ashley comes up to them which means . . . cue the E awkwardness! Sloan goes back to the table and Ashley in a very stalkerish kind of way grills E about his relationship with Sloan. This could end very badly as it's obvious that Ashley is way too young and immature for a relationship. But then again E is immature so it could work!

Meanwhile, Ari and Andrew are having drinks with their drunk wives and Andrew gets a phone call and excuses himself. Ari rushes after him because he fully knows what's going on. So much for happy couples vacations, right? Ari confronts Andrew and he admits to having an affair with Lizzie and Ari goes ballistic. He feels betrayed and throws everything back in Andrew's face. The wives interrupt which sets up that this is going to drag on for awhile.

E can't find Sloan and is starting to freak out when Vince catches up with him and goes into shaman Vinnie Chase mode. E sees Sloan talking with a guy and after he calls him a jerk off she reveals it's her cousin. E gets the funniest look on his face and you can tell he feels like an idiot. Very nicely done Kevin. Sloan shows she can be catty as well when she asks who the "child with the bad attitude" is. They then have a heart to heart talk right there and he tells her that he wants to be more than friends and she shoots him down.

The night winds down with Vince, Turtle and Drama with girls on their laps and E is cuddling with Arnold. Yes, Arnold the dog is back! That should make diehard fans happy. While they are all sitting around talking about Seth Rogen, Kelly reveals she had drunk sex with him to Drama's horror. Ashley calls E to apologize just as Vince finds her bracelet in the couch and she asks if E can bring it over to her. So the episode ends with a great song by the Buzzcocks "Why Can't I Touch It?" and everyone rooting E on as he's going to visit Ashley while Sloan texts an apology. E deletes it and heads over to Ashley's place anyway. Big mistake!

Random thoughts . . .

Nicely done how the writer Ally Musika drew the parallel between Turtle and Seth Rogen as this works perfect in the show as it does in real life. Jerry Ferrara and Jamie-Lynn are actually dating in real life and I've heard many people say just that. Life imitates art, right?

The title Amongst Friends refers to just about everyone in this episode but is really about E relationship with Sloan. Suddenly Sloan seems like the odd woman out because of her noncommittal attitude with E. Later on in the season the incredibly beautiful Kate Mara will also vie for E's affection. As Drama stated in the pilot, it's the business card not the man. Oh, how right he is. Which leads me to . . .

Alexis Dziena. What great casting as they found a girl that is the same height as Kevin Connolly. It doesn't hurt that she is smoking hot either, right? I think we all recall her extremely memorable scene in Broken Flowers. If you haven't seen that Bill Murray movie, rent it today. Hope she sticks around for awhile, cause I want to see more of her!

Drama can't stand that Turtle has got someone like Jamie-Lynn and is constantly making it known. Jamie-Lynn tells him to back off and it's actually nice to see someone sticking up for Turtle. It's very funny how upset he is about Turtle's romance.

My prediction is that Andrew won't be able to break it off and Ari will insert himself when he shouldn't which will get him into tons of trouble. He'll probably end up trying to fire or bully her and she will strike back with full force. Anything to see more of Autumn Reeser.

Speaking of Andrew . . . just watch, he will cause so much turmoil that he will nearly destroy Ari. Nothing good can come of this reveal. Coupled with his alcoholism and Ari is screwed big time.

Once again, the absence of Martin Scorsese and ANY footage at all from Gatsby lessons the impact of Vince's huge comeback. And while we're at it how about a storyline of Vince getting serious with a girl? Oh, we've done that before, never mind.

It was so funny how the guys constantly give crap to E about his personal life. The best dialogue of the show is when they are talking smack to each other. Keep it up!

Best Exchange and Drama Line:
Drama: Looking good Kelly. Looking real good.
E (laughs): You're creepy.
Drama: You kidding, she loves me. You should've seen her eyes bulge when the tailor was measuring my inseam.

Next Best Exchange:
Andrew: Lloyd, you ok?
Lloyd: I've eaten nothing but one grape an hour for the last two days. I'll be a stealth and sleek agent in no time.
Andrew: How's the weight loss coming?
Lloyd: I've lost sixteen ounces.
Andrew: Hang in there.
Ari: Mr Klein! What's the good word?
Andrew: You're gonna kill Lloyd and I have a proposition for you.

Tied with:
Mrs. Ari: Oh, Ari. How would you feel about the four of us, Cabo for New Year's Eve?
Ari: F*ck New Year' Eve. It's overrated, overpriced. I'm gonna be right back.
Marlo: Well, they suck.
Mrs. Ari: They do.

Overall, I give this episode 4 Hot Chicks Out of 5 simply because they skipped over Gatsby and are somewhat too focused on E and his terrible skills with women.

I've heard lots of criticism this past week about how the show is done, is past it's prime, is stale blah, blah, blah. I really like the show's direction. Yes, the guys are going their own separate ways but when they're together they act like like kids again. I think it's much more realistic now than ever before and besides it always brings a smile to my face when I watch. Can you really ask for anything more? Feel free to discuss below!

-- Janaki Cedanna

Next Week: "One Car, Two Car, Red Car, Blue Car" After receiving extravagant birthday gifts from Vince and Jamie-Lynn, Turtle contemplates his future career path, and seeks out Ari for advice. Meanwhile, Eric gets nervous about Charlie's pilot after getting some unsolicited feedback from his new fling.
Sounds like we finally get to see a Turtle centric episode.


Posted by Janaki Cedanna on July 19, 2009 11:30 PM
Permalink |






Hi janaki,

As usual, great, thorough reviews.

Really look forward to them every Monday afternoon in Australia.

Just a quick question, what is the 'Seth Rogen' obsession you refer to above? I don't recall hearing any jokes about him the premiere.

Cheers,

Entourage4Life

-- Posted by: Entourage4Life at July 20, 2009 5:28 AM

Hey Entourage4Life,

Australia huh? Cool!
Thanks for the compliment and for reading, it can get lonely out here for us Entourage fans!

In the 2nd episode of the new 6th season that aired Sunday night here, one of the plot hooks was that Turtle kept obsessing about Seth Rogen in Knocked Up. It was very funny. It wasn't in the premiere. You may very well be a week behind. If so, I hope you won't stop reading!

You can also follow me on twitter.com/Entouragefodder

Again thanks for the kind words, it's always nice being appreciated!

-- Posted by: Janaki at July 20, 2009 6:12 AM

Who played Vince's date for the Gatsby Premier? Was it Israeli Gal Gadot?

-- Posted by: Chewbacca at July 20, 2009 3:04 PM

Hi Janaki,

Thanks for the clarification - makes sense now. Looking forward to the new episode!

Cheers man, and looking forward to reading your stuff over the coming season.

-- Posted by: Entourage4Life at July 20, 2009 7:10 PM

My observation is that girls date ugly guys because they want to be the "hotter" person in the couple, and then they can turn around and say

-- Posted by: hot guys at July 20, 2009 11:25 PM

Chewbacca: I'm not sure if that was Gal Gadot but it sure looked like her.

Entourage4Life:
My pleasure, thanks again!

-- Posted by: Janaki at July 22, 2009 2:28 PM

Vince's hot date was Gal Gadot.

-- Posted by: janaki at July 28, 2009 4:03 PM

so informative, thanks to tell us.

-- Posted by: DedoVioheds at September 25, 2010 11:54 PM

so informative, thanks to tell us.

-- Posted by: DedoVioheds at September 29, 2010 6:38 PM

What was in front of the headlight on Erics car at the very end of the episode? They made a point of showing it. Maybe looked like a ball cap? Couldnt tell even on pause.
k

-- Posted by: kat at November 5, 2010 8:19 PM

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