We are almost at the end of "Entourage", but it oddly feels like a beginning. Episode fifteen gives me the feeling that this season was perhaps meant as the first step on our characters' journey toward self-improvement, simply because of how little they have been developed and how late into the plot that development seems to accelerate. So let us see what we have here.
First of all, the man-baby himself, Yeong-bin (Seo Kang-joon) is still being coddled by Eun-gap (Jo Jin-woong). The latter is the victim in their dysfunctional relationship, drawing enough joy from the times when his star behaves and does his job to not realize he is getting the short end of the stick in this arrangement. Ho-jin (Park Jeong-min-I) has faced his first real challenge of morality and life choices, which is also the only element which brings Yeong-bin face to face with his problems.
Even our comic reliefs are starting to get somewhere just before the end. Turtle (Lee Dong-hwi) still relies on Yeong-bin's presence, but he is actively trying to find a job. He has learned how to organize and follow through. Joon (Lee Gwang-soo) is ruining his life with every complex-fueled decision and the severity of this is beginning to dawn on him. I can see where these characters would go in a second season, were involving enough to care about.
It is the writing and the choice of plot which have let these characters and the potential of this story down. The series never provides a strong motivation to care. Yeong-bin does favors for his friends, but he places personal grievances over responsibility. His bad outweigh the good, his stagnancy lasts too long for any progress to be engaging. The same goes for all the characters around him. It feels as if the creators assumed viewers would bite and wait patiently until the real story began.
I am not sure if Yeong-bin will have an epiphany in the finale, if Ho-jin will find a career, if Joon will seek professional help and so on and so forth, but I doubt any closure can be given which will make this feel less like a failed introductory season and more like a series. The industry commentary has been lacking, the slice-of-life approach alienating and the central character development too little and too late.
Perhaps the story can inspire something which can go above and beyond it. Perhaps a second season will really be made. Korea has rejected it, but I do not know how the series is doing in the markets it has been sold to abroad. The problem remains, however, that watching another season of this unfortunate drama would be quite a leap of faith.
"Entourage" is directed by Jang Yeong-woo, written by Kwon So-ra and Seo Jae-won and features Jo Jin-woong, Seo Kang-joon, Lee Gwang-soo, Park Jeong-min-I and Lee Dong-hwi.
Source:HanCinema
