Entourage should’ve ended with the Season 6 finale.
That’s at least what I’m telling myself now that the series has drawn to a conclusion with its disappointing final season and even more disappointing finale episode.
Granted, the sixth season certainly was not the series’ best. In fact, at that point it was apparent that we’d never see the magic of the first three seasons ever again. However, that finale two years ago did succeed in tying up a majority of the loose ends without being too saccharine and without jarring viewer’s heads right off their necks, both things the Season 8/series finale was guilty of.
Let’s rewind a bit to discuss how the sixth season sendoff was in fact the point where the credits should’ve rolled for the last time. The scene? Coincidentally, a private airport, just like we saw last night (and in the great Season 1 finale). The agenda? Vince, career red hot, is set to depart to Italy to play the lead in yet another hit film. Drama? Oh, he was happier than a pig in slop after securing a holding deal with a network. E and Sloan? These two crazy kids just rekindled their love and are newly engaged, E’s annoyance Ashley now a distant memory. Lloyd, one of the show’s most under-appreciated characters, had just convinced Ari to make him an agent. And speaking of Ari, he had just become the most powerful agent in all of Hollywood, having bought out Terrence McQuewick’s agency.
I contend that everything that came after that the Season Six finale was merely an exercise in making a mess just to clean it all up again. Season Seven saw Vince, without his boys’ support, throwing his career in the trash for the literal and figurative high of life on the edge. Drama’s holding deal proved to be a bust and even when he caught a break, he struggled to get his TV series made. E’s on-again-off-again with Sloan went off again as the two presumably called things off over a prenup agreement. Ari had the biggest fall from grace after Amanda and Lizzie dragged his name through the mud and indirectly caused this separation with his wife.  The only character that did grow was Turtle, who hustled his way to a few million in the bank courtesy of the tequila company.
The conundrum lies in the fact that we love these guys and the prospect of seeing them through more adventures was too enticing to pass up (Networks and showrunners see this as an opportunity to create more content for the sake of selling subscriptions and DVDs). However, the mess that was made during Season 7 (which I felt was a good chapter) was too great to be cleaned up in a shortened, eight episode season, especially when most of said season was spent exploring more problems. Getting things to the finish line meant skipping logic and teleporting straight to the happy ending. This is something the series’ has been guilty of since Day One, but it was novel, brilliant and hilarious back in the early days.
Hence, my gripe with this mess of a series finale. To go over the particulars: Vince, apparently smitten by Sophia’s large vocabulary and British accent, decides to marry her after one date, chemistry or not. Sloan does a complete about face and gives E another chance, all without talking to him at all (his boys convinced her). And for the biggest turn: Ari reconciles with Melissa, only subsequent to giving up his entire stake in his agency after opera turns him to the light side.
Don’t’ get me wrong as we can all appreciate the prevailing message: love conquers all. But we didn’t need to be spoon-fed the most illogical and unbelievable ending in order to be satisfied. In fact, I believed the boys had each other’s back more so years ago in Vegas when they teamed up to beat the smug grins off of Seth Green’s crew.
Sometimes, you get what you ask for. Last week I wrote about wanting a happy ending for all. But I never expected the finish line to feel this cheap and unearned.
Loading …The only redeeming factor (besides some vintage Johnny Drama one-liners) was the epilogue, in which John Ellis tells Ari he’s retiring and offers him the CEO position, replete with enough power and money to last him a lifetime. We’re left to wonder if Ari would even take the dream job, now that he’s been stripped of everything that made him Ari in the first place.
The only thing that remains is the possibility of a movie, which Mark Wahlberg promises is in the works. If it’s a go, will it answer all the open-ended questions? Where did E’s jet fly to? Will Vince and Sophia go through with their nuptials? Will Turtle pay capital gains tax on his Avion shares? Will Ari take the studio job? More importantly, will anyone care 1-2 years from now, the amount of time it would take to get made and marketed properly?
What were your thoughts on the Entourage series sendoff? Were you a fan of the convenient fix-alls? Or did you long for the days of old, when the show ran on testosterone alone?
