Entourage: The Young, White and Stoned

August 12th's episode of Entourage seems to represent an upswing in the creative energies and motivations at HBO, Leverage and Closest to the Hole, the production teams behind the series. After a dismal run of episodes revolving around cheap, sophomoric gags like "rim jobs," "trannies" and "furries," it seems Doug Elin, et al. are finally back on track and serving up legitimate plot points that follow the bread crumbs out of the narrative quagmire of Medallin.

An entire half season arc dedicated to Perry Reeves' character "Walsh" and the team's production nightmares revolving around the Escobar bio-pic taxed the commitment of even the most loyal fans of the show, who can now finally be satisfied that the show is back on track and near the pitch-perfect levels of seasons 1 and 2.

Together with last weeks' episode, last night's installment "The Young and the Stoned" pushed us into new territory with the launch of Eric's new business and the prospect of another client. The writing was fresh, the plot lines were humorous and the tone was just what you needed to send your arms into the air and scream in the face of a dwindling summer, "VICTORY."

First time Entourage contributor Dusty Kay penned the script and along with TV director Ken Whittingham could claim primary responsibility for the show's return to excellence. Kay's been out of the game since his last contribution to television in 2002 for The Twilight Zone series. Clocking in at nearly 50 years old, Kay doesn't seem like the kind of person whose mind would provide the fertile soil for a plot line centered on "extinct weed." In the end though, he pulled off the pacing and came away with one of the finer episodes of the season.

Even more intriguing than the "cincogenarian" who grimaced through arthritis to pen the script is the presence of an African-American director for a show that, to my knowledge, hasn't had a black guy open his mouth on screen for a little bit now. Ken Whittingham last directed the marginally funny episode "Sorry, Harvey" which contained the memorable "trannicles" at the end. This time around the former director of episodes for more diverse shows like "One on One" and "Everybody Hates Chris" brought back the youthful exuberance that's made Entourage such a summer time hit.

Still, it's surprising to see a show whose title has primarily been associated with hip-hop stars storming the red carpet and brawls opening up in crowded Las Vegas lobbies center around only white characters whose closest encounter with an entourage most closely reminiscent to the nineties hip-hop prototypes ended with Wee-bey from "The Wire" dangling Drama off a hotel balcony in season 3.

Still, as white-bred as Entourage remains, it seems to be back on track. Hopefully the last 3 episodes will bring us out of summer on an exuberant wave that has us looking back on Season 4 with a fond and satisfied sigh of "Victory."