The Entourage Review: Season 5, Episode 6: ReDOMption
Posted by Tim Livingston on 10.13.2008
One returning character gets the sympathetic push, while another gets the kind of push that, well, to put it to you one way, if you're a fan of Vince getting a part in "Smoke Jumpers," this episode just might be something you could be interested in.
LAST WEEK: Bye-bye, cars. Hello, Benji? Welcome to Joshua Tree. Good-bye, happiness in the Gold household. Hello, “Smoke Jumpers?”
“ReDOMption” is now. Already, the title...not that great. E and Ari talk about how to get Alan on board with Vince to get into the movie. Ari's strategy is to bring up a prospective role for Vince in a bet, even though Alan won't be happy about that.
In the loft, Turtle can't find a job. He thinks he could be Drama's assistant considering Drama has been asking about getting one for a while, but he wants a female assistant. You know, so they can have sex. Turtle is still wanting to do it. E: “I think he's saying that if you want to, you can fuck him!” Phenomenal. Vince is behind Turtle on this one, and Drama says he'll give Turtle a shot. E then tells Vince he has to go to a network meeting with Charlie, leaving Vince with nothing to do, as he won't go with E. Vince suddenly gets a call and it's Dom! He calls...during a police chase. Vince turns on the news and there he is. The cops set up a barrier, Dom has to scramble off the phone as he gets arrested, and E is suddenly in a tight spot with a busy day ahead of him.
On the golf course (probably out in Malibu or something) Ari's on the driving range when Alan meets him. They exchange pleasantries and then things get interesting when BOB RYAN is out on the range as well. Awesome. Yes, that WOULD be something I might be interested in. Alan brings him along to spite Ari and bring up the tabled “I Wanna Be Sedated” script about The Ramones. To complete the foursome, Alan brings along his pro: Phil Mickelson. Poor, poor Ari.
On the set, Drama sets the rules to his new assistant Turtle. That means that he starts making ridiculous demands involving bran cereal and raisins from Raisin Bran. Not just simple Raisin Bran. What a surprise.
E has to calm Charlie down as he and Vince arrive at the L.A. County Jail, but E promises he'll be at the meeting. Dom explains that he got paranoid when a cop came up behind him, thinking he had weed in the glove compartment. He didn't, of course, but then he started evading the cops. He has two strikes against him already. This doesn't help. He says that he's changed when E gets skeptical, talking about how he married a nice Oriental girl, has a 4-month old baby girl, goes to church, and helps run a business. Of course, E doesn't get less skeptical once he hears the bail demand: $100,000. E wants no part of it as he and Vince leave, presumably to get the money, and Vince asks him to trust and believe Dom like E does with him. E reluctantly agrees to get the money.
Phil coaches Alan on the golf course a bit, adding aiming tips, and Alan sinks the putt. Bob is impressed, but Ari ain't exactly liking what's going on. Alan gets to hear another pitch from Bob. Fill in the taline yourself, folks. Ari gets bugged by all this and by the trash talking the trio is giving him and he chokes on a putt, losing his ninth straight hole. Needless to say, Phil is loving it.
On the set, Turtle returns with breakfast as Drama is working on his lines. Drama is ungrateful, saying he can tell the difference between Raisin Bran raisins and Sun-Maid. No sugar coating, says Johnny. Johnny trashes the breakfast and storms back to the set. Turtle gets a little talking to by Brandon's assistant, saying she pops a Xanax in his coffee every morning to keep him calm. Turtle gets ideas going in his head.
The guys pick up Dom and they all have to go to Charlie's meeting. They're met by Amy Martin, who's all about Vince, naturally. Dom wants to leave, but they all go in for the meeting. Vince says he's there to support Charlie make racially sensitive jokes (Charlie: “I think of myself as Steve Martin, not Chris Rock, E!) but Dom needs to head for the bathroom. As he goes, E follows because he doesn't trust him. Amy Martin isn't happy, but Vince is still there! In the bathroom, the duo small talks, but Dom notices E isn't going. Dom wants to leave, but not really. Vince is there to help Charlie out. Vince and Charlie barge in and are happy to report that Charlie will get a chance to sell a script! He says Vince helped him get it. So Charlie finally catches a break. That might be fun.
Back on the course, Ari's battling it out now that's he down big, talking about the stakes. Bob likes to raise the stakes. So does Alan. You know, between hurling insults. Ari bets the movie part and Alan is not happy because he heard Ari promise it wouldn't come up. After calling Ari a scumbag, Alan says he doesn't care because Ari will never win. One nice drive from Ari makes Alan believe that he's getting hustled. Bob agrees. Phil then lets Ari in on Alan's little secret: he hits better as a lefty. Ari's looks is priceless as Alan rips himself a beauty. Ari might be screwed, here.
On the set, Turtle didn't do anything on the list for Drama, but he did something one better, at least he thinks he did. Turtle presents and extra who wants to get it on with Drama in his trailer, but Drama is not happy because he has tons of sexual harassment lawsuits on his head! Strike two for Turtle. Not exactly the best day for the little toady.
Dom gets back to his house and nobody's home. E is on Dom's back, still, because he put up the bail money. Vince explains E's worries that Dom will skip out on them. Dom is grateful when he finds out it's E's money and not Vince's and reassures E that everything will be fine. Dom's wife Silvie comes home, along with their daughter and his mother-in-law, who is blind. Nice touch. Silvie says how great Dom is with their kid as the boys realize that Dom HAS changed a bit.
On the course, Ari is steaming as Alan whoops his ass some more. Ari has a long chip that he runs long that could have tied the match up as Bob and Phil offer “encouragement.” Alan continues to chastise Ari at every single little moment, and then even gets charitable as he drops a ball from where he stood, and if Ari can sink it, Vince gets the part! Of course, Ari misses the putt, and Alan really rubs it in his face. Ari questions why he'd continue to rub it in, and Alan just blows up on Ari, telling him how much he hates him. This, of course, leads to a heart attack, and Bob sits there telling Alan to think positive thoughts. Oh boy. Talk about your turn of events.
Turtle got the list done for Drama by the end of Drama's day, and Drama is happy he did, in his own way, of course. He says that Turtle proves something to him and offers Turtle the job. He even told Vince he did a good job, and that he'd never give him crap outside of the acting arena, and promises to toughen him up. Turtle then gets in the car, doesn't open the door for Drama, and then when he asks why, he flips him off, tells him he quits and drives away, leaving Drama to figure out his own way home.
At Dom's house, Silvie made a good dinner and the boys enjoy a brew afterwards as Dom can't figure out how he'll break it to his loving wife, knowing they tell each other everything. Vince says to go for the truth. He leaves to do just that and E agrees that Dom has changed a bit. No sooner does he say that does he hear a car screaming out of the driveway. They go outside to see it pull out of there...but it was the wife and the daughter. Dom is now left alone to his own convictions, and asks E to take him to jail.
Back at the house, Turtle explains his day to everyone, and Drama storms into the room pissed off at what Turtle did. E gets the call from Ari, and Ari informs them all that Alan died of a heart attack. Stunned, Ari gets a little misty talking about how even though he lost the bet, he's amazed at what happened, and is going home to spend time with his family because life is short. E's shocked with everyone else, but then Drama all of a sudden brings up the obvious: It's bad that he died, but as far as “Smoke Jumpers” goes, all of a sudden, he might be back in.
The 411: A serious turn in the events of the Entourage crew sees how flexible the show can be. The producers really wanted Dom to return, and in order for it to work, they wanted it to be something that the viewer could relate to, and considering all the bad luck in this episode, they did it. Now, in my mind, I'm under the influence that they took the easy way out with killing off Alan in order for Vince to get his shot at "Smoke Jumpers", but considering Alan's character, it's not out of the question. All in all, a well-written episode, and while this might be a little off considering how funny the other episodes have been this season, it's still vital to the story and well-written. Entourage continues to roll.
