"Entourage" Episode 8

Well, it took half a series for"Entourage"to provide relatable content and it mostly comes from Eun-gap andJo Jin-woong's performance, but I will take any comfort at this point. Our prickly agent goes through a big change and his top actor has relationship woes. Ho-jin has his hands full between dating and Yeong-bin's scandal and Joon goes through an identity crisis, so it is chaos all around.

"Entourage"could have been salvaged by its creators had it started off by providing a clearer plot or at least a focus on the every day issues its target demographic faces. The drama sadly opted for sanitized "sexiness" and style through a band of morons. While it is now too late to really raise sympathy for most of them, at least the drama tries to expand itself a bit beyond pretty and rich people bickering and going to parties.

I have spoken about the superficially designed women of"Entourage"before, so the focus on So-hee's (Ahn So-hee) career and relationship issues as a modern woman in South Korea is welcome. It also puts another nail in the coffin of any respect I could have for Yeong-bin when he turns into "that guy" and becomes oppressive. Yeong-bin's flaws are not developed andSeo Kang-joondoes not make any conflict between them and his caring nature stand out, if it even exists.

I assume it does, because he is now shown as a champion of loyalty for staying with Eun-gap (Jo Jin-woong). Which brings us to the man himself and his lonely fight to inject humanity into this. His relationship with Joy (Amber) truly is a joy to watch and his problems are not the most well developed, but they are miles closer to relatable than what we can get through Prince Sulk-a-lot. I feel as if everything but Eun-gap is designed without real consideration for the audience's identity.

Eun-gap's story also provides a semblance of a main plot, which the drama has lacked and which it has failed to replace with interesting episodic stories or better exploration of the entertainment industry. I assume a new agency going from zero to success through Yeong-bin is where we are headed, although he will clearly not make it easy for anyone involved. Ho-jin (Park Jeong-min-I) might have trouble with Ji-an (Kim Hye-in) as well, due to their respective power figures.

At this point, I will welcome a focus on Eun-gap's work, because I do not think focusing on Yeong-bin as a central figure is doing the series any favors. He is a perpetually spoiled man-baby and unless he starts moving forward, the story has to find someone who does. Episode eight gives us a glimpse of that and it creates rare engagement.

"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'