As a life-long Entourage fan, Season 5 was by far the most disappointing season of the series for me. That's why the show’s 6th season was such a welcome surprise. Exploring what happens when the gang starts to go their separate ways, Season 6 was one of the show's most dramatic and most rewarding seasons. Continue reading for a full DVD review including more thoughts on the season and information on special features.
The main theme of the sixth season of Entourage is the characters' budding individual interests. Vince's next film is delayed, leaving him bored at home with nothing to do. Johnny Drama remains focused on his TV career. E moves out of the boys' shared home, pursuing a managerial career separate from Vince while balancing his interests for two different women. Ari focuses on prepping his assistant Lloyd to become an agent while tutoring his friend Andrew Klein into becoming an even more successful agent. Perhaps the best storyline is Turtle's, as he continues his relationship with his girlfriend, Jamie Lynn Sigler, while actively pursuing his own business career away from Vince and the gang.
While each member of the gang gets in depth individual storylines, some of the best moments of the season are still the groups shared outings. Whether it’s the guys’ reaction to Eric’s girlfriend Ashley, Johnny’s efforts to convince Jamie to join his TV show or the never ending mystery of who will end up going to Italy with Vince to film his next movie, the entourage as a whole share plenty of great scenes. This is all in addition to the regular features of any given season of Entourage like club scenes with pretty girls, impromptu Ferrari purchases and random run-ins with major celebrities like (real life Entourage producer) Mark Wahlberg or Tom Brady.
Many people criticize Entourage for its strict adherence to formula (see above: clubs, girls, cars, celebrities). While this season certainly has some of the most dramatic moments in the series’ run, it probably won’t do much to convert its critics. All the hallmarks of an Entourage season are definitely present. However I will say that the shows 6th season never becomes overly ridiculous or outrageous. While I felt that even as a huge Entourage fan the 5th season was too over the top, the 6th season dials it down a notch. Gone are the days when the boys make major life decisions on mushrooms in Joshua Tree with Eric Roberts. I for one prefer the (slightly) more realistic approach taken in the 6th season and really appreciated the shows more dramatic and intimate moments.
Given that Entourage is shown on HBO, you can probably catch these episodes on reruns at any time. However, the DVD actually has a few fun and interesting special features that make the DVD’s worth buying. First, the DVDs have season recaps for all previous seasons to help catch up the uninitiated. Even as a big fan of the show, I found the recaps fun and helpful to watch before I started on the 6th season. The DVDs also have three episodes available to watch with commentary from series creator Doug Ellin, producer Ally Musika and stars Jeremy Piven, Jerry Ferrara and Adrian Grenier. Two of these tracks feature star Kevin Connoly, one features star Kevin Dillon and two even include guest star Bob Saget. Given the huge group people assembled for these commentary tracks, they’re a whole lot of fun. The DVDs also have a Behind the Scenes featurette that shows interviews with the cast on set talking the viewer through the entire season and another featurette called “A Day At The Speedway” that chronicles the filming of the entourage’s driving scene at a racetrack. Lastly, the DVD features the Matt Damon directed PSA for ONEXONE starring Entourage character Vincent Chase. The PSA is hinted at during the series as a part of a very funny storyline where Matt Damon must convince Vince to donate to ONEXONE. The mock-PSA was shown on HBO last year on occasion and it’s very funny.