Entourage Season 5, or Two Ways to Do a Cliffhanger

HBO via DCT

This season’s major film: Smokejumpers. Or that screenplay written by Lukas Haas and Giovanni Ribisi. The writers are just one problem, though. The bigger problem is getting Vincent Chase in the movie and he finds out the hard way that because he didn’t do Aquaman 2, he pissed off studio head Alan Gray, and now he can’t be a firefighter on Smokejumpers. And when I say “the hard way”, I mean with the help of magic mushrooms from Eric Roberts.

HBO

Joshua Tree. I don't see any trees, though.

The important lesson I learned from this season was how to do a proper season finale. This season has twelve episodes, and while watching the eleventh, I thought they might've made a mistake with the episode numbering, because this was the second to the last episode, but it totally felt like a season ender. Watch how douchebag director Verner Vollstedt (played very convincingly by Stellan Skarsgård) and Vinnie Chase fight it out, and get turned on by the fierce but not-so-attractive anymore Dana Gordon as she tries to salvage this movie.

HBO

And a great movie it would have been.

But then you get to Episode 12, and you realize that there are actually two ways of doing a season finale. The first is what they did in Episode 11, where they give you a really huge conflict and end it with a really big cliffhanger. And that cliffhanger is more of the negative cliffhanger, where the viewer experiences worry and anxiety over what happens to their favorite characters.

HBO

"I hate you and your weird "A" with the circle on top, Skarsgård!
See, you made me type it again! Bastard!"

What showrunner Doug Ellin has taught me from this episode is that there can also be a positive cliffhanger, which is what they did for the Season 5 finale. A positive cliffhanger will still leave you hanging, but with positive feelings of hope and excitement. And Martin Scorsese's offer to Vinnie Chase ends this season on a positive note indeed.

HBO

As well as the promise that Jamie-Lynn Sigler will still be here next season.

Entourage (Season 5). USA. 2008.



Original rating: 7.0 / 10
Shad a.k.a. Bow Wow Moss not rapping: + 0.1
Leighton Meester only appearing in one episode: - 0.1
Producer Mark Wahlberg appearing as himself: + 0.1
Drama throwing up on a sweet sixteen cake: + 0.1
Drama throwing his pants on a cop: + 0.1
Ari Gold bitchslapping Adam Davies: + 0.1
The return of Dom: - 0.2
Alan Gray's death: + 0.1
Jason Isaacs playing a gay man: + 0.1
Turtle being jacked off in first class by Meadow Soprano: + 0.1
Ari Gold v. Amanda Daniels: + 0.05
Jason Patric's douchebaggery: - 0.05
Seth Green's douchebaggery: - 0.1
Ari's daughter growing hotter: + 0.05
Emmanuelle Chriqui making a comeback: + 0.05
Ari Gold taking his role as agent very seriously: + 0.1
Andrew Klein joining Miller Gold: - 0.05
Seeing the boys in their hometown: + 0.05
Martin Scorsese's mediocre acting: - 0.05
Episode 11: + 0.1
Episode 12: + 0.1
Final rating: 7.55 / 10





You might also want to check out the reviews of Entourage Season 1, Season 2, Season 3 and Season 4.





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