Entourage returned Sunday night – a fact that, in previous years, would have been cause for jubilation around my house. But over the last few seasons, what used to be a witty, cutting, edgy observational drama about four young friends navigating the halls of Hollywood power has instead become a sort of male-oriented Sex and the City – all dressed up with nowhere interesting to go.
I know that last week Jim wrote a little bit about his thoughts on the series – about how he tunes in now more out of obligation to the characters than out of any interest in the storyline. I agree with all those sentiments. In fact, I would take it a bit further: Entourage, the show that used to zip by in the blink of an eye, now seems to be watering down its material to round out a full half-hour. It feels padded; strangely short on ideas. It lacks all of that rebellious, anxious spirit that helped it to stand out in its earliest seasons.
For those who have watched the series in its entirety, I’m sure you can remember back to some of the high stakes that have marked its best episodes. The stress surrounding a new film’s opening day box office, the power struggle in the halls of Hollywood’s biggest talent agency, the disastrous Cannes premiere, the day Vince fired Eric. These were moments that boiled, that put friendships and careers to the test, that revealed that razor-sharp divide between the name-brands and the has-beens.
Now compare all that to the trivial season premiere Sunday night. Vince is debating whether or not to do a semi-risky stunt on the set of his big-budget movie. Ari is so busy running his new, super-sized agency that he can’t find the time to make it to a parent-teacher’s conference at his child’s school. Drama has a production deal with a television network, but thus far his pilots haven’t worked out, so he goes in to complain to Lloyd, demanding that the agency do more on his behalf. Turtle, running his own limo company now, struggles with romantic feelings for one of his employees.
Way back when, we had an up-and-coming movie star trying to make a name for himself, his three loser friends from the East Coast trying to fit in and Ari, the maniacal agent trying to master the politics of the industry. Now we have pretty people in pretty situations, all keeping their hands relatively clean.
Passively watching the season premiere, I couldn’t help but realize: The electrifying outsiders have become the pampered insiders, and what’s missing from the show now is any dose of tension. Just like Sex and the City, it’s about ogling the well-to-do as they go about their business – but this show isn’t called Lifestyles of the Rich & Famous, it’s called Entourage, and it’s supposed to be about celebrating a crew of unlikely New Yorkers taking the strip by storm.
I find it sad to say, but as long as the show is about victors basking in their spoils, and the occasional A-list cameo, it will remain stuck in neutral.
Want to revamp the series: How about Vince gets blacklisted. Ari gets divorced. Turtle gets sued. Eric takes on a client who falls apart in a Lindsay Lohan-eque PR implosion. Anything to get them out of their rut, into a new element. If shows like Breaking Bad and Mad Men have proven anything, it’s that mistakes and failure can ultimately be far more compelling than when everything turns out sunny. Right now on Entourage, the sun never stops. It’s midday every episode; blindingly, numbingly bright – all one, boring shade.