It’s finally over for Vincent Chase and his boys as their escapades in Hollywood come to an end. From Indie Features to Hollywood Blockbusters, Vinnie Chase has done it all; he’s seen the highs, he’s seen the lows and through it all he’s had his best friend E, Turtle, his brother Johnny Drama and his Agent Ari Gold at his side.
It’s just a shame that HBO couldn’t give Entourage enough rope to finish on the big 100 episode mark, as the show in all its seasons has clocked up ninety six episodes, which for a US TV show isn’t bad at all, considering that when a Fox Exec sneezes an entire show gets cancelled before its even had a chance to take root!
Entourage however has had the best of both worlds with an excellent cast, a number of star studded cameos; most of which are taken up by huge A List names with egos so big that they have their own gravitational field. Johnny Galecki and Melinda Clarke along with a number of smaller cameos are what really make it for entourage though. Whilst most may be enthralled by the glitz and the glamour of A-List celebrity, there’s nothing quite like directors you know and love throwing wobblers or indeed making a fool of themselves in order to bring a project to its conclusion.
When Entourage first hit the air it was a fun, dramatic romp into the star studded scene of Hollywood, with A-List cameos, call girls, fans who would do anything and a guy along with his friends at the centre of this whirlwind of success. However when season six came along, the good times appeared to have come to an end and the comedy quips and insults were severely lacking and this carried over to the events in season seven which took a serious stance on the relationships of the characters involved in this quirky little drama.
The group were drifting apart and the main story arc was totally ruining Vinnie as a character and as a result, the show as a whole. Here in Season 8 we move months on from the events in Season Seven but thanks to their severity they’re far from absent in this final season which will either split the group forever or ensure they remain in close contact for always, no matter where they are and what they do.
Entourage is a damn easy show to get into from season one onwards because the episodes are thirty minutes in length from start to finish; each one will have a quip or a joke that will make you chuckle.
Every fan has an idea of how they would want their favourite TV show to come to a close, some end abruptly and writers don’t have the time to bring all the story lines to a close, one good example for this would be Farscape who were cancelled mid season but the fans kicked up such a fuss that we ended up getting a mini series to tie things together.
Here in Entourage we get a shorter season than usual with eight episodes in total and although some of the humour that we love has crept back in, we’re also treated to the same dramatic tone of season seven which brought the feel of the show down to an all time low. Entourage is about fun and living the Hollywood dream, living the life we all wish we could have. Never truly having to grow up because there’s a world of managers, agents and a studio to keep you in line and look after you. Season Seven took that security blanket away and we were left stranded with drama and not a lot of laughs.
That’s not to say I didn’t enjoy the final season of entourage, in fact I really enjoyed it. Constance Zimmer who plays a very savvy female indeed has been through a lot as Dana Gordon, she’s gone through a number of jobs and ends up playing a major role in season 8 and thank the lord for that because she is fantastic. I love her character and I think she deserved a bigger part in the entire run of Entourage.
That’s not to say that all is well, the ending seemed rush and despite leaving things open there were a lot of twists and turns in season 8 that didn’t have any real transitional time. Let's call this “The Ryan Murphy Effect” when well written characters suddenly go into a downward self destructive spiral or go against what has apparently been their nature for the past seven years.
For example, Ari has always been a family man and despite the dedication to his work he has always been there for his wife and kids. Maybe a touch overbearing and protective but his wife has always known that whenever the family has needed him, he would always be there.
This season Ari meets a HUGE fork in the road when it comes to his marriage and he finds his personal life spiralling out of control when his wife makes a decision that could shatter his world, a decision that never sat well with me due to my long running interest in the show.
But here we have it, we’re given what we’re given and we can either love it or hate it but just because this season did attempt to return to what was in order to give the boys and Ari the send off they deserve, I’m going to be generous with my star rating and give it a hearty four stars not because I’m feeling kind but because the worth of the show over its entire run has been a great ride and season eight brings that ride to a swift and abrupt but open ending.
Will there be a movie? Will a character get a show of his or her own? The rest is still unwritten but the adventures of E, Drama, Turtle and Vinnie Chase are that of legend.
Goodbye boys it's been a pleasure!
Entourage Season 8 arrives on UK DVD & Blu-ray 11th June 2012, with the US release the following day on June 12th.