Art Scatter friend Whitney Otto has been following Entourage on HBO, part of her ongoing submersion in the television soup for strictly professional reasons. OK, maybe not “strictly” and maybe not “professional” and were not sure that “reason” has anything to do with it, either. Nonetheless, before the final episode this year, she sent us her take on the season — which was a difficult one for Vincent and the boys. Then, she sent us an addendum after Sunday’s finale, which we appended (something about appending an addendum just makes us a little giddy). Mostly, though, we couldn’t be more excited about having her join us!
By Whitney Otto
Oh, Entourage! What happened to the golden days of moving from mansion to mansion, Malibu to Cannes; teeing off from your multimillion dollar roof, playing video games, and watching porn but only until the weed and willing party mates arrive? Where are the luxury cars worth hundreds of thousands of dollars? The endless freebies? The cavorting on movie sets, and the high altitude cavorting on private jets?
In short, when did this show cease to be a guilty pleasure that even a viewer far outside the show’s demographic could love, and turn into something less fanciful, a harsh lesson in what happens when art and commerce collide?
The season began with Vincent Chase living for the last six months on a Mexican beach with one-third of his entourage, Turtle, and an ever revolving cast of temporary “girlfriends.†He had taken refuge from the very public debacle of Medellin, a movie fiasco into which he poured every million he ever made, along with his heart. That movie came on the heels of his greatest triumph starring in the most successful superhero movie of all time, Aquaman.
He’s persuaded to end his sabbatical with the promise of a role her would love to play — the only hitch is that it was never a genuine offer. It was a ploy on the part of the producers to secure the actor they really wanted for the movie. Though Vince handles the humiliation with aplomb, he comes to understand that this little scenario is an indication of where his career is at the moment — that is to say, nowhere.
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