entourage season 5 episode 2

Vinny’s quote above, while coming late in tonight’s episode, sets the tone for what looks like an incredible uphill battle for the Aquaman star to get his superstar status back.

Entourage 5.02 Recap Unlike a VirginTonight’s episode of Entourage, Unlike a Virgin, succeeded in 2 areas. For one, it made us realize that Vinny Chase really might not be the actor that everyone around esteems him to be. And secondly, it has shown that the writers have no intention of making Drama more than a periphery character, relegated to one-liners and subpar story-lines. I mean, am I supposed to care about him and his girlfriend? I really don’t feel anything but aggravation when watching their already-tired long-distance-Apple-Product-Placement Scenes.

We also are reminded that all Entourage cameos are not created equal. Mark Wahlberg steps back in front of the camera in an instant-classic golf scene with Ari. It’s a rare time that we see Ari seriously in doubt about Vince. The other cameo is a pretty lame one from Tony Bennett that threatened to completely take Season 5 out of the rhythm it’s built thus far.

And then there’s the celebrities not playing themselves. Gossip Girl Leighton Meester was back as Justine Chapin in another round of “Let’s Tease Vince.” Carla Gugino was back as Amanda, who E goes to in order to get his new clients’ script sold. And those new clients are played by Giovanni Ribisi and Lukas Haas, who joined the show in low-key fashion tonight. Expect more from these in upcoming episodes.

Back to Justine, she plays an integral part of this episode, making Vinny a little more insecure about himself than he already was. When she pawns Vin off on her girlfriend, we are taken to one of the best scenes I’ve seen Adrian Grenier act in Entourage. He confronts Ari and asks his agent for some candid thoughts on his career. Was he really that bad in Medellin and is this what happens after one bad movie? And Ari gives it to him straight: When asked if he could return Vince to the top, Ari answers “I don’t know.” We find out that Ari believes more in Vincent’s movie star potential than his acting. The end result is that Vince wants to rise to the challenge and get the status that he once so apathetically held.

The all-too-short episode ends with Vince convincing Justine that they should finish the ‘business’ they started years ago. Drama breaks up with Jacqueline (while the rest of us in front of our tubes scream a collective hoorah!) and gets a little too friendly with a bottle of Jack Daniels.

In reflection, this wasn’t the best Entourage episode, but the shift in tone was deliberate and honestly, quite refreshing. The whole Medellin plot-line was more of a gimmick before. Now its aftermath is really where we feel like irreparable damage has been done. You can’t watch this 25 minute short and wonder if Vinny has what it takes to make it back. And if he’s truly not a great actor, what chance does he really have if Hollywood is over him?