A couple months back I was given a HBO Max account. I’ve dabbled with Hulu and Disney+ but I’ve always been a loyal Netflix user. Of course there are a few shows that Netflix doesn’t have and because I’m not 45 like some people at Branded I haven’t seen shows like The Sopranos or The Wire. Until now. Euphoria and Succession were two shows that I love now that I just recently got to watch.
A few weeks ago I started watching Entourage. Another show on HBO that I’ve heard great things about but never actually saw an episode of. If you’re new like I was Entourage is a show based around actor Vinny Chase and his friends as he rises and falls in Hollywood. I was told it is loosely based on Mark Wahlbergs life, who is an executive producer on the show. I’m no Marky Mark expert but I don’t see it. The show has 8 seasons and I’m not sure how they did it when the show was airing live but on HBO Max they break season 3 into two separate seasons (3A, 3B).
I really liked the show. I mean I really really liked it. I finished the entire series in like 3 weeks. Now, it wasn’t a perfect show. He had his moments but I had trouble with the actor who played Vinny Chase. More towards the end of the series when his character got a little more serious he wasn’t able to pull it off. He’s a good looking dude and a fine actor which works for most of the show cause he’s just out there looking good and getting laid. There’s more to him than just that to be fair and I’m not saying he’s bad but in the later seasons it just didn’t work for me. The movie star in the show being played by a “just fine” actor was tough. Not that there were a bunch of Oscar performances here I think I’m picking on him just because of the character he played.
My next complaint is with Sloan. It’s not even her fault it’s all of the fans of the shows fault. From hearing people talk about this show and her over the years I thought she was going to be the best looking person of all time. Don’t get me wrong, she’s gorgeous. I think the internet inflated my expectations to an unfair level.
My biggest complaint about the show was the last two seasons. Season 7 was just not that enjoyable but season 8 was just bad. Spoilers ahead.
Season 7 Vince starts off becoming an adrenaline junkie after crashing during a stunt and it just continues to grow from that. He starts dating Sasha Grey, he starts doing drugs and really falls off the edge. It had its moments but overall it was very meh.
Season 8 I think could’ve been better but the execution was bad. They made this playboy actor fall in love and get married in like two episodes. What an awful way to end a show. Messing up shows finales is HBOs specialty I’ve noticed. The progression was just way off this season. Partly to blame was only having 8 episodes but also just bad writing.
I’ve definitely focused in on Vince’s storyline when there’s 4-5 other storylines going on at any given time but they start and stop with Vince.
The show was nothing but entertaining for the better part of 8 seasons. Like I said to start this blog I enjoyed it. I think going into season 7 I’d put the show as a whole at an 8.5ish. It was undeniably a very entertaining show. After watching seasons 7 and 8 I’d drop it to somewhere in the 7.5-8 range. The negatives from the first 6 seasons were amplified and the entertainment value had significantly dropped. I can’t say as a whole this show is less than a 7.5 though. That would be a lie.
I did just find out there is a movie. I haven’t seen it yet but I will.