Entourage – “Gary’s Desk” Review

Entourage Review

“Gary’s Desk”

This is an important step for Entourage, because Eric has been a fairly worthless character for quite some time. He’s been Vince’s lackey instead of being Vince’s manager for pretty well the entire season (Ari’s exact words are that he’s spend the last few years hibernating in Vince’s ass), and now he’s finally trying to break through on his own. The result is a refreshing combination of Eric being uncomfortable and the return of my favourite Entourage cameo actor, Gary Busey.

The writing seemed sharper this week, compared to the last few weeks worth of episodes. I’ll admit it right now, I’m a sucker for the eccentricities of Gary Busey; it’s one of those aspects of the series that made me laugh the first time around. In fact, the episode was chock full of celebrity cameos: Mary J. Blige, Peter Jackson, and of course Busey. Combine it with the return of Debi Mazar, if briefly, and you have quite the episode.

I like that the episode provided some sort of structure to move forward with for E’s character. As a manager, a real manager, he can actually have something to do other than simply walking alongside Vince. The article about Nepotism is Variety is entirely true: Eric has worked hard, but he got where he is entirely based on his relationship with Vince. Now, he has to test that out in new horizons.

The episode wasn’t a complete hit: Ari’s storyline never really lived up to its comic potential except in a few small moments, for example. However, the important thing is that it was at the very least contextual for his character as an agent who represents real people and who deals with real problems. So, even with a lack of straight comedy there was at least a nice precedent set for returning to some of the show’s old stomping grounds.

And that’s what it felt: it felt like the show was finally returning to Eric as a worthwhile character, Ari as a real agent, and a world in which celebrities and Gary Busey know the names of our heroes. And, well, that’s the Entourage environment I’m interested in.

Notes

– I must admit that I’ve always liked Entourage’s director cameos because they’re not just some sort of half-assed shot of a director sitting somewhere. Peter Jackson in a full out motion capture suit with pirates (Why pirates? Who knows) was a neat little touch I always appreciate.

– Mary J. Blige was also given an actual character to play, and her role in the storyline felt natural and charming even when the entire twins thing was kind of annoying.

– Drama’s days of being the center of attention appear to be behind us: he hasn’t been on the set of his show in weeks, and it is clear that Eric and Vince are now back in the forefront. On one hand, I miss Drama as something other than comic potential; on the other hand, I like Drama getting sprayed with paint by Gary Busey.

– Turtle has an office now? To do what? I think driver is his actual job title, but we don’t even see him doing that anymore, they just show up places.

– I see that Vince has returned to his pattern of random hookups with women he meets, or buys things from. I like this, personally, but I don’t want it to wear too thin.