The Entourage Review: Season 5, Episode 9: Pie

Posted by Tim Livingston on 11.03.2008

Lemme ask you a question, Jason Patric. Do you like...pie?

PREVIOUSLY: Ari is balking on the big studio head job, but he gets Dana Gordon the job instead! Next order of business: Vince is in “Smokejumpers.”

This episode is simply titled “Pie.” Drama wakes up the crew at an on-location cabin with pots and pans. Turtle is not happy about it, so Drama flips the bed up and wakes up him the hard way. E wants more sleepy, no wakey. Drama goes to wake up Vince...and he's reading his script. Drama just bypassed him on his way upstairs to bother the rest of the crew. Drama offers his usual breakfast, but Vince says no, which baffles Drama.

On the truck heading for the shoot, Drama thinks Vince ain't fine and does his usual Drama-speak to drive the boys crazy before Vince admits he's a bit nervous being away from a set for so long. He feels a bit off, as he's trying to figure out his character, but he hasn't even talked to the director yet. He's looking forward to working with Jason Patrick, though, and Drama talks about how into his characters he gets. Jason stuck needles in his arm for one role, and Drama can relate because he did coke for the Menendez brothers movie...except he was an extra. The crew arrives looking out onto a scenic landscape before getting to the site, as the director is in a helicopter helping to set off the fires on the hillsides that he'll use in the movie. Needless to say, the fellas are impressed.

At the office, Ari walks in and hears from Lloyd that Andrew Kline, his mentor and semi-contemporary, called to have lunch with him. Ari doesn't want to go because it just makes him sad everytime he sees him. Lloyd won't cancel, so Ari says that he'll just have to go to lunch with a cheaper watch.

At the set, Vince works through his lines with E, but Drama wants more oomph before Vince tells him he's just memorizing. E mentions he messed one line and says it's "eight brave souls," not nine. Drama and Turtle offer their own unique pneumonic devices. They finally meet the director, Werner (played by Swedish acting great Stellan Skarsgard) to discuss the character, but the director says it isn't necessary. They meet up with Jason Patric, who jokes about getting offered Aquaman. Vince asks when they're going to rehearse, but the director says there's no rehearsals, which peeves Vince, but fires up Patric.

This leads into a scene from the movie, which is in higher resolution and really vibrant. While they act out a scene as they head towards the fires, Patric ends up swiping one of Vince's lines. Werner cuts the scene, loves it, and moves on to the next take, as Patric continues to loveWipe into movie footage. Pretty cool stuff. Patrick snipes Vince's eight brave souls line. Patrick loves the one-take director. Vince, not so much.

At lunch, Ari meets with Andrew, played by Gary Cole. He gets Ari a scotch, which Ari thinks might be a little early. They reminisce about a girl Ari screwed while at lunch many years ago that was so loud they couldn't keep it down. The good times roll on with the old friends, but Andrew is sad, and Andrew getting a hold of Ari was not a friendly call. Ari goes back to the office with a bunch of moneybooks in his hands, saying that Andrew asked for a half million in loans. He passes the books off to Lloyd to go over while Ari storms away in his office.

At the lunch spread, the guys talk about the mistake. Vince needs to confront Jason about it, but Drama warns against it, saying Jason is like a fifth-degree black belt. The boys all can't figure out how to deal with the mistake, so Vince decides to just go talk to him as Drama offers "encouragement." Patric is in his trailer boxing around with his assistant as Vince wants to talk about the scene. Patric is downing protein shakes and all that, and since Vince wants to talk, he tells Vince to put the receiving gloves on. Patrick goes to town and keeps on talking, but Vince can't get a word in. When Jason finally stops talking, he goes to do a few crunches. Vince comes back with nothing and Drama is unamused.

Meanwhile, Lloyd is working on Andrew's books. Andrew has some good books, but the strike killed him and destroyed his cash flow, and Lloyd thinks there's some money with Andrew's company. Ari tells the story about how they grew up together in the business, but when the time came to pick a mentor, Ari chose a little bit wiser, because Jim Oliver ripped off Andrew while Ari went with Terrence, who allowed him to turn into what he is today. Ari says he'll give him the loan and tells Lloyd to call Andrew to do drinks tonight.

Back on set, Patrick comes up to sit in his chair, but there's no seatback for him. Turtle reveals he's hiding it under his shirt. The director lets the thief know to return it now without incident, but Turtle is mortified because of what could happen. Drama says not to do it because Werner is German. Vince is ready to get on with the scene and Jason is pumped up.

They go to the next scene as Vince comes over to do more and more lines, but Patric continues to steal them. Even when he asks for the shot to take another, Patric takes the line. Vince gets pissed off and goes to talk to Werner.

At drinks, Ari and Andrew continue the good bout of friendship they have with each other. Andrew is still looking for the loan, but Ari says no, because he wants to buy his company out. Andrew says that it's just a money flow issue, and that he doesn't really need to be bought out. They bounce back and forth before they get more drinks.

At Patric's trailer, Turtle talks up an assistant while Drama hides his chair in the trailer and adds a little bonus: he took a dump and didn't flush. While Werner goes over locations with his staff, Vince comes up and they discuss how things are going. Vince brings up the line problem and Werner says that he knows. He says he has to pick his battles wiht Jason and doesn't want to lose the war. He knows Vince is stable and that he promises Vince will have some growth with a scene in the third act. Vince really isn't happy and Drama promises to put a stop to it. Meanwhile, Patric stumbles out of his trailer and utters the following words: "Geez! Fucking flush!"

At the restaurant, the agents talk about missing out on Brad Pitt signings. Andrew doesn't want the big stage, but Ari promises Andrew that he could become big time because he has a lot of faith in what he could do. Andrew finally comes around and says yes to Ari, and Andrew leaves the table to take a minute about what just happened. Ari is stoked and orders more drinks. On the way home, he calls Babs to let him know that Andrew got bought, but Babs doesn't like the buy because Andrew doesn't exude the image they want. Ari is officially in a tight spot as Babs brings down the hammer.

At the first day's wrap dinner, Vince isn't happy with the fact that he didn't do too much. Drama continues to push about getting Jason Patric back. Jason comes by to give his regards, and Drama gives him a handshake and a pat on the back...full of BBQ sauce. It leaves a print on Jason's shirt as he walks away. Turtle tells Vince there's a piece of his favorite pie over there and that he'll get it for him, but Jason comes up and snakes the pie before Turtle can get to it. Turtle comes back with a cookie and ain't happy, so Vince finally gets up and gets in Jason's face. He lets Jason have it about the pie and the lines and what not, but Jason says that Werner gave him those lines, and that if he has an issue, to take it up with him. Meanwhile, Werner is on stage, alcohol in hand and thanks everybody for a job well done as Vince just stares him down with a pissed-off look on his face to end the show.

The 411: This episode just fell flat for me. There wasn't really a good balance with the show this time around, and it really was the definition of a set-up show for the final three episodes of the season. In all, it just wasn't what I wanted to see out of an episode, but I am intrigued to see what happens next week, as the previews are saying that the return of Seth Green, his hate for E and his love for Sloan in full force, is imminent. That could lead to some amazing stuff.

Final Score:  6.5   [ Average ]