Last week, we prayed for this final season of Entourage to get in gear and recognize that they only have a couple more episodes left; last night, we got our wish, courtesy of a great script from creator Doug Ellin and Turtle himself, Jerry Ferrara. Yes, you read that right. While some actors are known to direct an episode of their own show, Ferrara took that tradition on step further and contributed to the script. Read on to see why his first-time pulling double-duty was a success.
Vince gets put to the test.
No biggie since he's squeaky clean, right? Well, not so fast. In a wonderfully frank conversation, Vince admits to E (Kevin Connolly), that a week prior to their chat, he puffed a joint, to prove to himself he's not that much of an addict. Will the judge care about a miniscule amount of weed? Maybe not. But he'll definitely lose Airwalker, a potential $100 million cash crop.
"I tried one at the store; mine turned purple, too."
That hilarious exchange between Vince and Turtle about the home drug test the guys bought proved that Vince's two puffs are still indeed in his system, and, to make matters worse, the cops are ready to test him. There's no question about it: He's going to fail, and Drama's quick-fix ideas aren't going to solve anything. Vince needs a legitimate solution, so he goes to the only person who's been in this situation before that he can trust: Billy (Rhys Coiro). And boy does Billy have a solution.
"Things always work out for us."
The gang shows up to the testing to support Vinny, but, before he goes in, he pulls E aside to make good on the full disclosure pact they made earlier...and whips out a fake penis. Yes, E, we had the same reaction. Apparently Billy's friend's contraption is loaded with fake piss that has cleared Billy before and should clear Vince, provided he doesn't panic or that the cop watching over him doesn't notice his junk is plastic.
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So what's E the friend's, not E the lecturing manager's, advice? Don't risk it. Low amounts of weed from a movie star might garner some leniency from the judge, but if they catch him in this bizarre act it's over. Back at the Roosevel, the boys, plus a depressed Ari (more on that later) anxiously await the results. Of course, he passed—what'd you think the last episodes of the series would deal with? Vince in court? Against Eric's warning, though, he used the plastic penis. But it's still all love between the homies.
Ari's ploy blows up in his face.
Our prediction that Ari (Jeremy Piven) and Dana (Constance Zimmer) would ride out into the sunset is looking shaky. In the episode's only subplot, Ari starts off in bed, enjoying morning banter with the ever-bad Dana, followed by a couple's therapy session later. By episode's end, Ari has nowhere left to go but to Vince's penthouse. His attempt to stick it to his wife (Perrey Reeves), who doesn't believe that he too has found someone, by bringing Dana to Bobby Flay's works.
Therapy sessions between Ari and the wife used to be fodder for a funny, patented Jeremy Piven rant, but last night's was just ugly and the phone call was devastating.
"Whiz Kid" = The Season's Best Episode So Far
"Whiz Kid" had everything that originally made Entourage a hit: bromantic solidarity and Hollywood high stakes mixed with equal parts comedy and drama. Speaking of Drama (Kevin Dillon), what a great brother. He had Vince's back during last season's Eminem brawl, and last night he was endearingly supportive.
It's the vintage Entourage formula working within the context of the current season, and, surprisingly, it didn't rely on special guest stars to be a success. We love that Eric flipped a popular complaint against the show for the positive when he said, "Things always work out." This is a show where the losses are few—accept it or don't watch.
We can't end this recap without mentioning Adrian Grenier's solid work. Vince anchored the bulk of "Whiz Kid," and Grenier balanced the range of emotions well and his comedic timing was as good as it's ever been; his delivery of "I'm wearing a fake cock" was priceless.
So where does everybody go from here? We don't know, but fingers crossed that the show's producers keep up the good work.
Best Lines Of The Night
"I saw brains." - Turtle
"I can naturally secrete any substance from my body in thirty-six hours or less." - Drama
"Fooled a girlfriend of mine with it for a week." - Billy, re: the fake penis
"Well, I guess the bro code's out the window when you're f*cking someone's wife." - Ari
