Entourage: Season 2 Recap & Review

Entourage is a show that has been dubbed as the male equivalent of "Sex and the City." Having never watched "Sex and the City," it's hard for me to make the comparison, but if they mean is that the show's a witty, guilty pleasure that allows the viewer to live vicariously through the characters on screen, than yes, it is the equivalent. If every twenty-to-thirty year old woman wants to hang out with the "Sex and the City" girls, than every guy in that age range would surely love to join the "Entourage."

Season Two saw Vince, Hollywood's newest "It" actor, attempting to secure a role in "Aquaman," a film that will be his major breakthrough and place him on "the list" of top Hollywood actors who get the multimillion dollar paydays. Vince navigates his way through the hilariously insidious world of Hollywood with the help of his three lifelong friends from Queens. Eric, the level-headed one of the crew, serves as Vince's manager.

Vince's older brother Johnny Drama is also an actor, and is desperately seeking to reignite his acting career which peaked with a stint on "Melrose Place." Turtle, a lovable stoner always armed with the proper punch-line, and Ari, Hollywood super-agent played to perfection by Jeremy Piven, round out the crew.

The first half of the season depicts life as an emerging Hollywood star as an idyllic utopia of hot women and expensive toys. The boys enjoy a trip to the Playboy mansion, a beach party at Jamie Presley's house, courtside seats at the Lakers game, and some house-sitting for Jessica Alba. Life in paradise gets a little complicated when Vince buys a 5 million dollar house before he has secured the role of Aquaman. James Cameron, playing himself as the director of "Aquaman," has not heard of Vince and needs some convincing in order to commit to Vince as the lead.

Eric and Ari decide that the best way to impress Cameron would be to show him Vince's last film, an independent opus helmed by a young auteur that embodies the stereotype of the egomaniac director. The director refuses to let anyone see his film before its premiere at Sundance, thus Vince and the gang head to Aspen to see the film with James Cameron. After Cameron walks out after only a few minutes, the boys panic, only to later learn that Cameron left because he had seen enough and wants to offer Vince the role. And that's when things change for Vince and the crew, as Vince goes from buzz-worthy indie actor to a verifiable superstar.

Things take a turn when Vince, the perpetual ladies man, falls hard for Mandy Moore, who plays herself with adorable likeability. Mandy is playing Aquagirl, which complicates things on the set due to the fact that she and Vince have a previous history (years ago Vince proposed to Mandy after only a few weeks of dating only to have his heart broken). Turns out Vince never got over her, prompting a rekindling of their romance. The good times don't last long, however, as Mandy soon dumps Vince and breaks his heart yet again.

Corresponding his Vince's personal heartache is Ari's professional heartache. Ari gets the axe, in a "Jerry Maguire" sendoff where he takes his assistant and nothing else to go start his own agency. Just when you think that the privileged life a live with no downs, reality smacks the show's two stars right in the face; as Vince and Ari both get dumped in an episode that reminds us that the fall does still exist in the hedonistic utopia of Hollywood. No one is untouchable, even those we ostensibly envy.

Season Two ends with both Vince and Ari crawling back to their feet and dusting off their shoulders. The show does a great job of humbling the two driving forces of the story, Vince and Ari, and then setting the stage for a Season Three full of redemptive possibilities.