Entourage Season 5 Episode 2

In the days following the season 5 premiere episode, the talk around the Let's Blog It Out offices (OK, so it's really the Newsday office, but whatever) centered around the short duration of a down-and-out Vince on the beach.Joey Jitsu and I lamented how it didn't last the entire episode. Not because of the insanely hot women running around Vince's little Mexican beach hut (actually shot in Oahu). Rather, we wanted to see the hardship and struggle for the entire episode because of its unique plot twist.

What we saw here was a continuation of the movie star's fall from A-list to "movie jail," as Ari Gold put it. That's to be expected, since all we heard on the red carpet two weeks ago was how Vince is going to struggle this season.But what we also saw was honesty and legitimate vulnerability. Ari Gold confessed his true feelings about Vince's future during a round of golf with Mark Wahlberg. He did the same with Vince in his office a few scenes later. Even Vince, the typically unflappable fella, questioned his own career worth.

More importantly, we also finally saw Vincent Chase really man up. Gone was that "Dude, whatever happens happens and we'll go back to Queens and work at Sbarro if we have to if E and Ari can't figure something out" attitude.Arriving was a "Hey, maybe I should man up and take control of my life and make something happen for myself" attitude. Vince claims he's ready "to play the game" that Hollywood is.Honestly, it was extremely refreshing to see. I tend to view Vince as the shiny nickel in a handful of old dimes. It stands out more than the others in your hand because of its luster, but that dull dime has more value.

That's not to cheapen Vince at all. The premise of "Entourage" requires a movie star, but the other characters more often than not have better scenes and storylines. Granted, that's part of plot evolution.This week, however, Vince made a statement. How it pans out career-wise, we'll find out as this season unfolds. In the meantime, this should be a very encouraging late Sunday night/early Monday morning for "Entourage" fans.