Entourage: Season Five is by far and away my favorite year of this saga of the boys from Queens who make good in Hollywood because unlike previous years, bad things actually do happen to them in their fifth year! For four straight years we sat back and watched as everything magically worked out for them despite enormous odds and frankly it got really annoying. But now, it's the reverse. It seems like no matter what they do they keep ending up on the losing end of the stick and I just love it!

We begin on some topical island in Mexico where x-superstar Vincent Chase (Adrian Grenier) has entered a self imposed exile from the world following the dismal failure that was his passion project, Medellin. With trusty pal Turtle (Jerry Ferrara) by his side ever ready and eager to enjoy his cast offs the two try to hide from real life until an urgent call from super agent Ari Gold (Jeremy Piven) and best friend Eric Murphy (Kevin Connelly) persuade them to return and face the music.

The season is full of sad opportunities for the once powerful respected actor like Sweet 16 appearances, fashion photo shoots and a string of general meetings with studios heads that yielded nothing but an offer to star in a Benji in Alaska movie. Vince is finally forced to accept the possibility that he may not be as good of an actor as he thought he was and that his cavalier attitude toward the business side of things may very well have cost him his future. It's definitely the most compelling of the seasons and finally gives poor Turtle and Johnny Drama (Kevin Dillon) the chance to seem successful by comparison.

Drama still has his TV show though I do think successful Drama is a bigger prick than washed up Drama as he now actually has some power behind his pathetic ego tripping indulgences. In previous years you could feel sorry for him because he insisted on everything being a certain way but never got anything close to it. Now that he can have things his way he's just annoying to watch.

Turtle on the other hand while not successful in any way shape or form finally manages to find a girl that likes him and turns out to be none other than Jamie-Lynn Sigler of Sopranos fame. It's nice to see Turtle happy for a little while even though we know the inevitable break up is right around the corner.

E is still struggling to make a career for himself outside of working with Vince but runs into some Seth Green type problems along the way; all in all though he manages to stand a little taller, figuratively speaking of course, this year to be more of his own man and enters into an interesting place in his friendship with Vince where

for once it seems like his prospects of working are greater than Vince's thanks in part to E's suggestion of the movie that killed his best friends career.

That leaves us with once again the only real reason to watch this show, Jeremy Piven as Ari Gold with his faithful assistant Lloyd (Rex Lee) at his side. Ari's scenes are always the glue that holds each and every show together. The kids may be off having their troubles and woes, but it's only when Ari sweeps in to save the day that the situations hold any weight. I'm not sure if it's because Piven is hands down a far better actor than the rest or if it's because the character is just more compelling. Whatever the reason, Ari Gold is someone I would kill to have on my side through life.

Unfortunately for Lloyd he's still stuck as an assistant but his devotion to Ari despite his gruff exterior is always a blast to watch and the reappearance of boyfriend Tom, played by the impossibly hot Brandon Quinn leads us to believe Lloyd may actually have more going on for him than meets the eye.

One thing that I've always liked about this show is the fact that they use real actors names and movie references throughout the show. I've always thought that it sucked for Adrian Grenier because we're supposed to buy him as this huge movie star but then you mention names like his Aquaman 2 replacement Jake Gyllenhaal and you're immediately reminded of what a real movie star looks and acts like; but overall it's a great aspect to the show. It's especially fun when actors come in to play themselves and don't mind being depicted as total asses like Seth Green or total space cases like Eric Roberts or Gary Busey for example.

The special features on this set are pretty well put together. One thing that this set offers that I think all season long DVD's should is a season by season recap of what came before; making it possible for those of us who may have seen them but forgotten what happened a quick refresher course before diving into the new season. Also we have a great featurette called The Celebrity Factor that has interviews with the cast and crew talking about all of the various guest stars they've had on the show and how that's impacted its success.

If you've been watching the show for four years you're not about to stop now so go out and pick this up on DVD. If you're just starting out though go back to the beginning because watching the demise of the King is far more gratifying after you've experience the feel of his reign.