ENTOURAGE was originally the greatest bromance show on television. It was fresh each week, laugh out loud funny and accessible. We road the highs and lows with Vince and the gang, as we tasted a bit of success after a tumultuous journey.
Slowly, almost imperceptibly, the show abandon this formula and it became about Vince banging models, the gang engaging in unbelievable antics and everything miraculously coming together. Now it feels tired and boring, except for the home life of Ari Gold, which is fantastic and alone makes the show watchable.
It's not that I couldn't watch the boys enjoy the good life and their success. The problem stemmed from the fact the show abandoned its roots, in terms of witty banter, some sense of reality and captivating journeys. What we got instead were lame pop culture reference, flights of fantasy that are a stretch even in Hollywood and diverging stories that make ENTOURAGE ripe for spin offs, but make the show lack any focus as it spins off into a discombobulated mess.
HOW TO is cut from the same cloth of ENTOURAGE, in that they both were spearheaded by Mark Wahlberg and follow the struggle of good looking people living a good looking life. HOW TO is essentially the flashsideways (to borrow a phrase from LOST) prequel to ENTOUAGE, when Vince and the boys were back in NYC with talent and a dream to make it big as they hustled around trying to make success.
Except that's not what the show is at all. That would actually be a good show. I'd enjoy the gang in the rich atmosphere of NYC trying to eek out a life. Instead we get coincidental serendipity of ENTOURAGE, diverging stories that are crafted into a MAJOR A and B plots with a minor C story and unoriginal dialogue. Now let's take these things down one by one.
1. We have no money? I sold some skateboards and ran into a long lost friend. You hate my pants? You love my shirt! We have no fabric? You have a secret stash! We lost our truck! We found our truck!
Now I can appreciate a realistic progression of events. I understand that you go from point A to point B and so on, but you don't get there by pure coincidence. Ok, maybe you can luck your way once, but sooner or later things don't always work out. It feels like every week HOW TO creates some sort of conflict that is characterized as epic, but it ultimately circumnavigated around or is easily conquered.
Our heroes should be forced to get creative to find solutions. Ben and Cam should fail once in a while, even if it is an 8 episode season and things need to move fast.
In life when you go back one step you don't always move two steps forward immediately after. Some times you toil in failure for a little while.
Some people might argue that Ben and Cam make their own luck, which is true to a point. And yes, hard work and gumption has allowed them to get their foot in the door. Luckily, though, that foot is in the writer's room, who end up cooking up hair brained schemes that usually rely on the kindness of strangers for advancement.
A great thing about ENTOURAGE is when Medellion bombed. Vince was on the outs for a little while, with his future in doubt. Granted, they made too big of a deal about his predicament, but he was faced with an obstacle that he gradually climbed over. On HOW TO, the characters would be granted a free pass on any challenges.
I could go on an on about the convenient way things happen, but it's no use. You either agree with me or don't have a problem with the way things go down.
2. What I'm referring to about the plot lines is how formulaic it feels. I can imagine the writers each week trying to find something big for Ben, while deciding which characters will be involved in the B story and who will be relegated to scraps in C.
If the show really wants to be an ensemble it needs to either level the playing field or commit to Ben as the star and just let everything else fit in where they may. (The former is LOST and the latter is old SCRUBS.) The way it is now, we get lost on what the show is about. Is it really about people going after the American dream or is it Ben's American dream? Either one is fine, but they need to commit to an idea and stick with it.
3. So the writing on the show is boring. It tries so hard to be hip and relevant that at points it becomes all about being hip and relevant, regardless of the character.
SO that's what i really don't like about the show, but I do come back each week and here's why...
Luis Guzman: Years ago I put together a list of underrated actors (included Clive Owen at the time), and Guzman appeared on that list. In HOW TO he plays a parolee who is trying to go legit as a energy drink distributor. But even while he plays office CEO he's still in touch with the streets he came up on, to the point where he basically recreates a fight from high school on a playground.
In the role Guzman is charming, a little scary and enchanting. With his eyes set deep back in his face you are forced to take all of him in as you watch his complicated performance.
His shining moment came when he brought his parole officer to a business meeting. It was funny and creative, in keeping with the best parts of ENTOURAGE. Speaking of ENTOURAGE, Guzman is sort of being pigeon holed as the Ari Gold character. He doesn't scream and yell, but he's the big name who appears to be transitioning into the other major player opposite Ben. This was a good move for ENTOURAGE, and i think it could work for HOW TO, if they can commit to the myriad of perspectives approach.
This approach would mean incorporating more of Shannyn Sossamon, and her character Gingy. Gingy is the rich girl who is trying to make it on her own, which is an interesting perspective. Mainly, though, I'm in love with Sossamon and just want to see more of her.
The same can not be said for Lake Bell and her character Rachel, who is Ben's ex. She is the character who seems poised to rise through the ranks of her institution, which is design. Unfortunately she's unhappy with her life, even though it seems perfect on the surface. During this year we've had it slammed in our face how you can't judge a book by its cover, with Rachel eventually throwing her whole life away to go travel.
All of it seems so clichéd and like i'm being force fed a lesson about what's really important in life. Bell, who actually grew on me during the last episode, is tragically being misused. Now that she's settled into the friend zone with Ben they need to bring her into his flock so they can go on adventures together. Hopefully this would minimize the terrible effects of Cam, who i simply can't stand.
It really is problematic how much I hate Cam (Victor Rasuk), as he is basically the second male lead on the show. He's so unlikable that i was rooting for his uncle (Guzman) to kill him off before the season one finale. Basically, just imagine a fun kid from high school who was involved in everything. Now imagine he wasn't fun, he wouldn't shut up and he may have been retarded. That's Cam.
Rasuk's presence as Cam commits a more heinous crime than wasting my time. His real crime is denying Kid Cudi a chance to shine as Domingo.
THis is another member of Ben's crew who appears in very limited scenes. He actually seems grounded in reality and is extremely likable. He needs to get more face time, and i don't care how it happens. Maybe he speaks fluent Japanese and Ben brings him to translate a deal. Whatever. Just make it happen.While I'm at it, I guess i'll just do some more tinkering with the show. I want to create a foursome like ENTOURAGE, which will include Ben (designer), Cam (annoying and terrible hustler), Domingo (x-factor) and Dave "Kappo" (finances). This four could be entertaining if thrown into a big pot and allowed to simmer with all the flavors intermingling. I can taste it now. Yum.
Sure, that makes Gingy into a secondary character, which i protested against originally, but that's only based on the current format. In my idea she could be like Shauna on ENTOURAGE.
(Editor's Note: Dave would basically like to create a series of ENTOURAGE spinoffs akin to the CSI franchise. HOW TO would be the NYC version. There would be a drug dealer one in Miami and a group of farmers in Iowa. Rick Gonzalez would do the drug one, since Dave is all about stereotypes, and Bret harrison would be the farmer.)
I left the ex off the show because she'll just come back as a recurring character to stir up trouble in season three when she returns from her trip around the world.
At this point I'm hooked on the show because it's not bad enough for me not to finish it, but I wouldn't recommend starting the show. If season two demonstrates some improvement, then I'll recommend it.
No comments:
Post a Comment