The Entourage Review: Season 5, Episode 12: Return to Queen's Blvd.

Posted by Tim Livingston on 11.24.2008

Don't you dare call it a comeback. But if you insist, please take this episode as proof that this was the best show on television this year.

The season finale of Entourage was done in a way so extravagant yet so simple that when you look at it within the confines of the show, it's about rebirth. Rebirth of a career, rebirth of a man's life and the rebirth of a once-great show.

The story of Vincent Chase as the man once thought as the greatest star in Hollywood took the sour turn that most great stories do, when he got too prideful, turned down the sure thing, took a chance and then failed. This season was about redemption, and somehow, those in charge of writing this show found the way to get back to where it was before it had its downfall. The first part of Season 3 was what made Entourage popular. It was the season that, much like the career of Vinny, hit its stride and its peak.

So after last week's collapse that saw the movie that was supposed to be Vince's bounce back flick become his death knell, Vince returns home to New York to try and figure things out.

Vince and the crew are in the middle of party central with girls, shots, everything they'd ever want. De La Soul blares in the background as the boys are so happy to be back, including Drama, who seems especially happy. They party til 6 in the morning or so, and then they catch a cab to head back across the Queensboro Bridge to the place where they grew up. I really loved the shots the used to set this up as I've never been to Queens and it looked pretty beautiful.

When the boys walk in the door, Vince and Johnny's mom is already up, making breakfast as she was worried sick about her boys. She even gets a nice dig in on Drama about drinking and partying like they were at his age. He then tells Turtle that his mom wants him home right away, but Turtle wants to stay because the food is better. Cue Turtle's mom! She basically does everything short of pulling Turtle out by her ear to take him home. Momma Chase is worried about Vince, and asks E if everything is okay. E lets him know that it's been a rough patch before Mom mentions the opening in the new Gus Van Sant movie. Joaquin Phoenix broke his arm (IRONY!) and now he's out, so Vince has a shot. This might be the best opening set-up to a show Entourage has ever done.

In L.A. at Ari's office, Ari lays the hard facts on E about Gus not wanting him, and once again, you see Vince's growth as a character as he tries to toe the line between hopeful and being pissed off. E encourages Vince to take an audition, and Ari likes it. This alone shows that Vince knows he has to fight for what he wants, which is a welcome change to what happened earlier this season when Vince was expecting things to turn his way. He's come a long way from standing in Ari's office and wondering why he couldn't get a film, and now, he's trying to prove them wrong.

As the boys walk around Queens, even Drama gets noticed as one guy shouts "VICTORY!" That was phenomenal. They're on their way to a house when all of a sudden, it turns into a giant surprise welcome home party for Vince. Got to love the sign that shows Vince as a movie star and Drama as a TV star in small print. Every one breaks balls while E gets a call from Ari. Meanwhile, Turtle continues to text Jaime in secret as Ari tells E there won't even be an audition for Vince. E implores Ari to call, but when he refuses, he says he'll call himself. The tension continues to build. Drama continues to bug Turtle about who he's texting, and then he gets it swiped so that Drama can figure out who it is...but Turtle deleted the other texts. No phone being auctioned off today, unfortunately. Then, Cara shows up, Vince's ex, who is hot, of course, and they talk a bit before E breaks the bad news. Vince is in shock, but Cara suggests fun like the old times. E says he'll go to the city and see Gus, and Vince agrees he should try. Notice the dichotomy in this scene: Vince can try and have fun and forget about things, but E is always working his ass off to try and get what Vince wants.

So then E battles through traffic and heads for Van Sant's offices and meets his assistant Sean. E tries to force his way in, but Gus hasn't arrived. E then decides to wait on him. E continues to be a bulldog.

Vince and Kara walk under the Queensboro Bridge as Vince wonders what happened to him this year. He can't take another year like he did, and now he wonders who the hell he can listen to. Vince has always been somewhat insecure about his acting, but this seems to be almost a complete breakdown. Vince has had them before, but this seems more major than other times.

Now comes the other part of this E/Vince sandwich, as Gus finally arrives and E walks and talks. Gus exemplifies what the acting world thinks of him: He's not right for a big part in a big director's movie. He's very forthright with E in talking Vince down, but E continues to be somewhat desperate, but as he quotes: "Desperate, but I'm not wrong." The break comes when Gus agrees to look at Vince's Smokejumpers screens, which is something nobody outside of Warner Bros. have seen, and they've seen it with prejudice on top of that, even with Dana and John saying they thought he was good.

As E walks back to the subway, Ari basically lambasts him. (Sneaky awesome cameo as E bumps into MICHAEL PHELPS on the way and does a double take.) E tells Ari that he needs to get on the horn to Dana Gordon and get that footage to Gus as soon as possible. Once again, E continue to work his ass off for Vince. Continue to let that marinade.

At the bar that the boys were at the night before, Drama and his buddy Ron continue to talk investments, mainly stemming from gambling and such, and the bar, owned by a guy name Phil, needs some money thrown into it. Drama said he's not ready to lose money right now, but as always, keep the ears open when it comes to Drama and investments. E arrives and drops the news about Gus seeing Vince's Smokejumpers stuff to him and Cara. Meanwhile, Turtle gets a call from Jaime, but doesn't want to say, so Drama and Vince play hot potato with the phone before Drama finally answers, and Jaime gives Drama the business. Drama can't believe it, and the look on Vince's face when Drama hands Turtle the phone is priceless. Jaime misses Turtle, so Turtle suggests phone sex. SHE AGREES. Yeah...this is pretty amazing. Drama then stands up and says to Ronnie that if he invests in the bar, it's going to be named Johnny Drama's. DONE. Drama then says the drinks are on him...better yet, they're on the house. One of the great extended scenes in Entourage history right there. I think I wrote "awesome" in capital letters at least four times in my notes.

Drama makes breakfast the next morning, but Mom comes down and is too nervous not to cook. There haven't been any calls from Gus, who received the footage. Cara and Vince walk in from partying all night as Gus calls E. He liked the footage and wants to talk to Vince. He then proceeds to let Vince down like a schoolgirl crush, saying the footage was good (You're a really nice guy...) but he wasn't right for the movie (But I don't like you like that.) and that he will work with him in the future. (I hope we can still be friends.) Man, I hate calls like that. Vince is obviously not happy, and then shows some actual passion when he chucks the phone against the wall! He storms out for a walk, but E follows. Vince blames E for the entire thing, saying that if they had listened to Ari, this would not have happened. E tells him they need to stay positive, but Vince can't. He doesn't think E was looking out for his interests, as he feels the Gus thing embarassed him. So he fires him on the spot. E gets the last word in, but Vince continues to walk. The firing might be a bit over the top to some, but it works great in the context of Vince getting fed up with how things are going. In a sense, it was tension from the whole season boiling over and the frustration that Vince had been feeling just wasn't going to be held in. This was what people were looking for when they asked Vince to be a part of their movie: passion. Vince has shown this.

Now we get to the end of the show and a great little montage. E lands alone at LAX so he can get back to work. Johnny Drama's officially opens in Queens. Vince gets off the L Train with Cara and leaves E a message. Jaime and Turtle have phone sex...but it's on the house line, so TURTLE'S MOM PICKS UP ON THE OTHER LINE! Turtle has to scramble to try and get her off the phone, but he can't. Phenomenal stuff right there. E and Charlie meet up, as E arranged for Charlie to do a stand-up bit on Jimmy Kimmel to get the new show out there. E sees a phone call from Ari, but just ignores it as he crosses the street.

So now cue the next scene, WHEN ARI SHOWS UP IN QUEENS. That's not even the biggest surprise in this scene. Ari tells Lloyd to make sure somebody is on hold back at the office. He enters the bar and sees Drama behind the bar and Turtle playing pool with Vince and Cara. Ari says that he has someone on the phone that Vince should talk to. Lloyd's ready. Ari's ready. Vince better be ready, because the man on the other line is one of the greatest directors in movie history...who just happens to be a New York boy himself: Martin Scorsese. Absolutely the greatest cameo in the history of the show. Vince can't believe it. I can't believe it. So it turns out that Gus sent Martin Vince's footage because Martin is looking for a lead in his next project: A modern day reenactment of The Great Gatsby. He loved the footage of Vince and says he wants to offer him the role of Nick Carroway. THAT'S THE LEAD, FOLKS. Needless to say, Vince accepts it. Then Ari tells Vince that it wasn't him who did it. He can thank E for this one. In a season full of great moments, it's fitting that the season's best moment comes in the season finale. It also might be the single greatest moment in the history of the show.

Back in L.A., E talks with Charlie and once again ignores a call from E as he walks to his office. His secretary notes that there's a big package in his office. Of course, it's Vince, who's peeved at the ignored calls. He flew in to apologize and wants E to manage him again. E balks until Vince tells him about the Scorsese lead and how he got it for them. They hug it out as the rest of the crew hid in the other room. They burst in because "It was getting a little too gay in here." God, I love Ari. The boys are back together again, on top of the world in Hollywood, and they're all going to get wasted. A perfect end to an amazing season.

The 411: For fans of the series like myself, we love it when a good thing happens to the characters of this show. This season finale, though, I'm not sure how you top it in the end. What has happened to this show over the course of three months is pretty remarkable. It was panned in Season 3-B and Season 4 was a huge letdown to many. When you look at the entirety of this season, everything has clicked. The writing has been superb. The weaving of so many stories together has paid off. Everything each character has done has had a purpose, and in the end, it all pays off. This is the happiest of happy endings, and for a show that had the pressure of being HBO's top dog for taking over the spot that "The Sopranos" and "Six Feet Under" left behind, it delivered beyond anybody's wildest expectations. I have never thrown out a perfect 10 for anything on this site, but considering the magnitude of this episode and how it wrapped up three months of superb TV, I have no problem doing so now. Go catch a replay. In fact, if you have On Demand, go watch all 12 episodes. I have loved reviewing this, and I hope to be here for when Season 6 starts up next summer.

Final Score:  10.0   [ Virtually Perfect ]