Episode 9 - Porn Scenes from an Italian Restaurant
30 August 2010
Synopsis: Peter Berg agrees to direct Airwalker and put Sasha in it at Vince's request. Vince tells Sasha but she still wants to star in an adult film forcing him to say he loves her. Ari is spending more time with his wife and is becoming increasingly stressed out. The news that Amanda Daniels is going to bring an NFL team to LA drives him crazy and he yells at her in a restaurant humiliating himself. Carlos is mad at Turtle for talking about his tequila company. He offends Mark Cuban who threatens to buy the company from him. Eric's assistant Jenny and his mortgage help convince Johnny to accept the network offer for Johnny's Bananas.
The Good: Again the Vince story was solid. He decides to circumvent his management to get what he wants and Peter Berg accepts. It's perfectly plausible because the studio had already let a director go in favour of Vince so why would Berg not want to keep him happy? I also like the escalation in Sasha's story. Of course Vince is being controlling in not wanting her to do a porn film. But to add to Vince's side of the issue now one of the guys will be her ex-fiancé. So yes he is being manipulative to get what he wants, but could he have a more understandable reason for doing it?
Their strange interaction in the restaurant was interesting. It was ambiguous enough that I don't know if Vince actually loves her or if she loves him. I'm not sure if her demand for him to have sex with her right there was a test or a way to avoid conversation or something else entirely. I'm not sure the show has the depth to explore their dynamic adequately but it was a certainly an attempt to do something the show has never done before.
Ari's humiliating implosion was also decent. The conflict between his work and family life was brought into focus nicely. If he had been allowed access to his blackberry all week then he would have spoken to Amanda, solving his media leak and NFL problems at a stroke. However his dependency on the blackberry is destroying his marriage. The story has now put Ari in a corner. If Mrs Ari is to have any credibility as a character she needs to force him to quit his job or drastically change his lifestyle for their marriage to survive. If he wriggles out of this situation and goes back to normal then this season will have been another waste of time.
Poor Phil Yagoda. It was only a short scene but a very sweet one as he went all out to convince Johnny to accept the pitch for Johnny's Bananas and Johnny didn't even look at it. It was a very nice tribute moment to those who work tirelessly behind the scenes to bring entertainment to life.
The Bad: The Turtle story continues to feel like a lot of fluff. The explanation for why Carlos is so skittish about publicity was fine (his brother has been looking to sell it for years). But his rudeness to Mark Cuban was beyond foolish and didn't seem like realistic behaviour for a cautious business man.
Eric's assistant Jenny has not been given enough time on screen yet for her advice to Johnny to have a proper context. It felt like chemistry between them was being forced on the viewer rather than developing naturally. Similarly if we had actually seen Johnny's apartment any time recently (last seen in 402 as far as I can remember) then the foreclosure might have acted as a more convincing lever on him.
Comic Highlight: Ari hiding his blackberry in the bathroom of a restaurant was pretty funny.
Victory?: Meh. It's still tough to see where the show is headed. The idea of season eight or nine seeing Vince make another comeback is distinctly unappealing. Plus what is there left for Ari to do at this point?
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