"Entourage" Episode 12

Careers are booming in episode twelve of"Entourage", but Joon's has become the most stable one. After a dare, Turtle accepts a job as his manager, but the new star has tough mentoring to give. Meanwhile Eun-gap tries to help Yeong-bin while the latter continues doubting his choice to leave his agent. Ok-ja is relentless and I have a feeling we have yet to see how far she can go in order to win.

When I talked about Turtle's (Lee Dong-hwi) lack of development, his focus in this episode is not what I had in mind. Unfortunately, his big moment is not well written and instead makes him even less relatable. Joon's (Lee Gwang-soo) behavior is cruel, but the work demanded is not obscenely difficult and so Turtle's behavior comes off as immature and spoiled. This is hardly the honest look at life without work and goals his character could provide.

The biggest problem is that we are not privy to his thoughts and aside from his sadness over being bullied by Joon. It is actually his "boss" whose character and reasoning is made clearer. I do welcome this mature side of Joon, mostly because I have grown tired ofLee Gwang-sooflailing and talking about his member, but it is sad that Turtle's work crisis seems to be written for the sake of elevating Joon. It is a waste of a character many could relate with.

The big goal of the episode is reuniting Yeong-bin (Seo Kang-joon) with Eun-gap (Jo Jin-woong) and this reunion is not at all surprising. Yeong-bin has been "consistently inconsistent" and abandonment has become his default way of sulking. The writing continues to show us why Eun-gap is a good agent and person by making Ok-ja's (Choi Myeong-gil) scheming more aggressive. Eun-gap is manipulative as well, but he has learned to respect the wishes of those he works for.

Yeong-bin fades to the background as all of this takes place and it is a nice break from his incessant whining. The writing and actor try to portray Yeong-bin's dilemma and his attachment to Eun-gap, but it just does not deliver the impact it could have. It is nice to see them back together, but "nice" is not a compliment for what should have been an important and emotional part of the story.

I assume the final episodes will be about Yeong-bin gaining prestige and Eun-gap regaining his standing in the industry. I do wonder how far Ok-ja's antagonistic behavior will go and whether we will find out why she is so bitter towards Eun-gap, however. This has been a mystery very teased in her dialogue with her former pupil. You at least have to give us that, series.

"Entourage"is directed byJang Yeong-woo, written byKwon So-raandSeo Jae-wonand featuresJo Jin-woong,Seo Kang-joon,Lee Gwang-soo,Park Jeong-min-IandLee Dong-hwi.

Written by:Orionfrom 'Orion's Ramblings'