Entourage: Episode 4

by gummimochi

Finding success in the entertainment industry is never guaranteed, so it’s a good thing our hotshot actor is surrounded by his buddies and an agent who will work to the bone to ensure his future. Hard work and persistence can only go so far in this fickle business where so many variables can tip the scales in an instant. Sometimes all it takes is a bit of careful planning, a bit more dumb luck, and a lot of hoping for the best.

EPISODE 4 RECAP

Our foursome hits the gym on a Sunday morning, though Young-bin and Joon are the only ones breaking an actual sweat. Joon shows off his barely existent pelvic cut, much to the others’ disgust (Turtle swears he saw pubic hair).

He guesses Young-bin is still upset over the meeting between War Terminator director Lee Jun-ik and Kim Soo-hyun. The reminder alone is enough to damper Young-bin’s mood while Turtle sticks around to check out the ladies on the treadmill.

Spotting a guy lifting weights, Joon samples Turtle’s earlier words about how having a great body means nothing unless you’re beautiful. But he stops mid-sentence upon realizing who he’s criticizing: actor Jin Gu, who’s optimistic that Young-bin will be in War Terminator.

Joon squeezes in a salute à la Descended From the Sun before Jin Gu leaves, and when Turtle points out how Joon didn’t even watch that drama because he failed that audition, Joon snaps, “I didn’t watch it because of Song Joong-ki.” Heh.

Upon hearing that Eun-gab hasn’t scored a meeting with the director, Young-bin tells Ho-jin to set it up instead. He thinks it’ll be a great opportunity for Ho-jin to impress, and if his buddy doesn’t do it, he’ll just move back to Busan and run a manhwa café.

So Ho-jin slips away to check in with Eun-gab, who tells him in an irritated voice to meet him at his church. Hanging up, Ho-jin softly apologizing to the class that started around him.

When he rejoins the guys, Joon reminds him to talk to Eun-gab about following up on his auditions because he hasn’t heard back. Ho-jin chuckles that it could be that Joon’s too old now, and Young-bin reminds him about that meeting with the director.

Joon and Turtle are all eyes when a pretty female personal trainer takes over to help Young-bin. She helps Joon first with his posture, instructing him to press his butt up against her thigh. But when he misinterprets one of her instructions as sexually suggestive, she walks away in disgust.

Eun-gab sneaks out of service to chat with Ho-jin, who relays how Young-bin has been losing sleep over this movie. Eun-gab says he’s been stressed too, but he does take Young-bin’s threat about moving seriously. They have to act quickly, but Eun-gab would rather walk than ride in Ho-jin’s bucket of bolts.

They arrive at the church director Lee Jun-ik attends, and Eun-gab instructs Ho-jin to stay put so he can pull off the deliberate visit as a fortuitous happenstance. Unfortunately, the meeting is a bust—the directly flatly refused, saying that he wants to work with a “real actor.”

Judging from his drama performance alone, Young-bin is no better than a handsome model in the director’s eyes. Just then, Eun-gab gets a call from his wife who sees right through his flimsy excuse that he’s out converting a friend.

Elsewhere, Young-bin is still in a dismal mood, but because misery loves company, Joon is hit with bad news: he’s failed his audition. A mutual friend (Lee Eun) recommends that they see a famed guru who reads celebrities’ fortunes with chopsticks.

There, the guru tsks over how Joon is full of yin energy, which explains his den mother attitude to his buddies. He’s flabbergasted when she claims that he’s practically a woman and guesses that he has trouble getting an erection. In order to boost his yang energy, he needs to stay away from all women and other “nightly” activities.

Young-bin and Joon silently snigger when Turtle is told that he’s destined to be a beggar mooching off of other people’s lavish lifestyle. Her advice? Get married.

When it’s Young-bin’s turn, she describes him as a charmer with a streak of luck; however, he ought to give up on his current plans because they’ve already been taken away from him and being stubborn will only come back to bite him.

Meanwhile, Eun-gab and Ho-jin sit down with CEO Jo, and this time, he doesn’t beat around the bush. He knows CEO Jo has been stringing them along while striking deals with other people, and when she says his words will make casting his actors difficult in the future, he retorts, “We can’t leave our actors in your hands if you keep going behind our backs.” Oooh.

Eun-gab later explains he spoke that boldly because they’d already lost the project, but he’ll take care of it before Young-bin finds out. He tears a new one into another employee, but immediately stutters when Young-bin checks in with Ho-jin, who lies that he’s driving.

Although Young-bin finds it strange that there’s no news to report, he suggests that they all go blow off some steam. Joon refuses to go anywhere that has women, and that’s how they end up at a League of Legends Champions Korea (LCK) event with an all-male audience.

They can’t get a hold of Ho-jin, who is busy following Eun-gab back to the office. Eun-gab barges in on an impromptu meeting between CEO Kang and the company’s directors and asks to speak with her.

Once they’re alone, Eun-gab confronts her for trying to sell off their management company. She doesn’t deny it, and Eun-gab refuses to work for businessmen who know nothing about entertainment. She was the one who said they should run an entertainment agency—doesn’t she remember?

But CEO Kang has already heard back from CEO Jo and uses that failed meeting to scold him. Knowing this conversation will get him nowhere, Eun-gab reiterates that he’s against the idea of getting bought out.

He’s still fuming when he returns to his office and hands Ho-jin a stack of scripts to look over. He stresses that they need to find a replacement project today comparing this situation to a runaway bride the day before a wedding.

He’s certain that all actors love good projects, then carefully asks how Young-bin’s doing. Ha, you care so much.

Since Young-bin’s still in the dark, Ho-jin figures he’s fine. And lo and behold—he gets a text from Young-bin smiling with their buddies. Too bad that Young-bin isn’t all smiles as he waits in line to get the League of Legends players’ autographs.

He assumes that something’s gone wrong since neither Ho-jin nor Eun-gab picks up, but he’s happy to wait while Turtle geeks out.

While Young-bin helps Turtle score a photo op, Ho-jin wakes with a start when he finds Ji-ahn sitting next to him. He adorably scrunches his eyes to make sure he isn’t dreaming, and it takes a minute for him to register her explanation that she’s here to have dinner with her mother CEO Kang.

He can barely look at her, and she gives him the iced coffee she meant to leave behind. Aw, there’s a note telling him to re-energize himself with the drink. He beams.

But then she pops back in and he nearly chokes. Lol. She asks what happened to his friend who wanted to be set up, and when he says he didn’t talk to that (imaginary) friend, she flat out asks if he has a girlfriend. Omo.

His friends told her that he broke up with someone recently, adding that she’d like him to introduce her to somebody nice. Aww.

He treasures that drink when he rejoins Eun-gab, who hands him off a scenario to review. It takes hours for Ho-jin to read through the entire thing and comment that while the premise looks good, the writing needs a lot of work. But that’s the least of Eun-gab’s worries—they just need to get Young-bin onboard.

So they meet up with Young-bin and the gang at a bar, where Eun-gab boasts that he and Ho-jin have been hard at work all day. While they sell the replacement project — a cop movie with actor Kim Yoon-seok — a bit too hard, Young-bin stays on topic, asking Ho-jin about War Terminator.

Given the green light to speak honestly, Ho-jin explains how they tracked the director down, only to be rejected. He even tells Young-bin the director’s frank opinion of him because his friend needs to know exactly why they need to line up a different movie.

Young-bin says nothing, which makes Eun-gab uncomfortable. So when Young-bin says this just means he’s not that great of an actor, Eun-gab pulls the card that this movie just doesn’t mesh with him. But Young-bin knows he’s just trying to make him feel better and excuses himself.

Joon and Turtle follow suit, and even Eun-gab is too dejected to tear a new one into Ho-jin, telling him to look after Young-bin tonight instead.

Young-bin opts to tuck in early without a nightcap when they arrive home. He isn’t interested in hearing any more about the cop movie since he was putting his hope in War Terminator. Disappointment clearly written on his face, he retires to his bedroom.

Ho-jin is confused when Turtle mentions how eerie it is that every one of the guru’s fortunes came true today. When Ho-jin asks if they asked about him, Turtle jokingly answers that he’s destined to be forever with… his left hand.

Everyone’s dispiritedness gets on Turtle’s nerves, so he turns on an I.O.I music video to restore his spirit. Joon gets worked up at this violation of his no-girls policy, then plugs his ears.

The next morning, Ho-jin and Young-bin make note of Joon’s oddly hearty choice for breakfast: grilled eel. Ho-jin says Ji-ahn won’t start renovations until next week but also asks if she counts in this no-girls zone policy. Young-bin teases, “Why? Does not being able to see her upset you? Ask her out then.”

None of them believe him when Ho-jin says it’s about work, so he tells Young-bin to call So-hee and tell her that he won’t be her co-star. Young-bin says he’ll do it later and asks after the cop movie. To Ho-jin’s surprise, he agrees to do it.

He trusts Ho-jin’s opinion and he doesn’t have any other work lined up anyway. Ho-jin reassures him that things will work out. Young-bin doesn’t skip a beat: “Between you and Ji-ahn?”

The production company responsible for the cop movie Regional Investigation Unit is delighted to work with Young-bin. The CEO still remembers how Eun-gab once passed him over and regales the young men about how Eun-gab was once a nobody. He’s also an angler and gifts Young-bin with an expensive rod.

After their successful meeting, Eun-gab advises the boys to be careful because that man is infamous for taking out his disappointment on the cast and crew if the movie tanks. Meeting up with Joon and Turtle downstairs, he berates Joon for not taking proper care of his looks before splitting off.

Joon’s smile turns upside down in the car when he gets happy news: he’s asked to replace an actor who dropped out. He attributes this joy to following the guru’s advice while Ho-jin spots Young-bin responding to So-hee’s text.

That’s how the foursome end up eating dinner with So-hee at a small restaurant, and she orders a bottle of soju. Like a true longtime friend, she scowls when Turtle says she’s gotten prettier and sighs at Joon pretending to act like a top celebrity.

She reveals that she signed onto War Terminator after meeting with the director and pouts that it’s too bad they aren’t working together.

So-hee has to bolt right after dinner because of her filming schedule, but she agrees to come over to the guys’ bachelor bad for drinks someday. She’s heard of Ji-ahn before and adds that a lot of celebrities like her, but she too picks up on Ho-jin’s interest in her.

She’s disheartened when Joon doesn’t bid her goodbye, but she wishes the best for Young-bin’s next project and Ho-jin’s love life. As for Turtle? She’ll go on some group blind dates. Lol.

Once she’s gone, Joon thinks that So-hee likes Young-bin—why else would she go out of her way for dinner? None of the others share in that thought; So-hee’s a good friend. But Joon is convinced that men and women can never be just friends and declares that not only will Young-bin end up with So-hee, Ho-jin will never get with Ji-ahn.

Ho-jin is startled awake before dawn by Young-bin, who went for a run instead of sleeping. He can’t stop thinking about War Terminator, and he’s moved when Ho-jin compliments him that no actor should be treated the way he was. He’d really like a chance to audition because hearing So-hee speak so enthusiastically about the project made him excited about it too.

Still half-asleep, Ho-jin asks if all he wants is one meeting, though he isn’t even sure how to go about setting it up. He curses himself for not listening to his mother about being friends with Young-bin, but then their attention turns to some distant grunting… provided by Joon, who’s releasing his pent-up yang energy through pelvic thrusts.

Later that morning, Young-bin and Ho-jin head out to meet director Lee Jun-ik when the angler CEO Ahn calls to say he’ll be sending him a gift. Both guys feel bad about going behind the man’s back, but then Young-bin says he’ll drop the cop movie. Plus, he wasn’t that into it anyway.

Even if Young-bin agreed to the project out of haste, Ho-jin says they can’t go back on their word. But Young-bin has already made up his mind and calls Eun-gab about his decision. Eun-gab asks to speak with Ho-jin and rails at him for going along with Young-bin’s ill-formed decision. And that’s when Ho-jin says he’s on speaker and Eun-gab changes his tune.

He suggests that Young-bin stay attached to this project, and has to keep his rage in check when Young-bin refuses. He likens this situation to calling a girlfriend to break up with her just because some girl at a club talked to him, but Young-bin thinks he shouldn’t act rashly and asks Eun-gab to put in a good word.

Speak of the devil because CEO Ahn calls just then, and Eun-gab braces himself before giving him the unfortunate news. Next thing we know, CEO flies into the office in a rage, demanding to see Eun-gab. He screams at Joey to get out of his way, and Eun-gab scrambles across the floor to freedom.

Young-bin and Ho-jin stop by the movie theater director Lee Jun-ik supposedly frequents. Thankfully the ticket girl is a fan and agrees to pass along Ho-jin’s contact information.

Elsewhere, Turtle practices lines with Joon, though he scolds the latter for not being able to memorize the few lines he has. He says this reminds him of when Joon was in that box-office bomb where Joon wore a fish mask. Ha, you mean Mutant?

Joon runs up at the chance to say hello to the director and actress Jin Jae-young, and Turtle squeals excitedly at Joon’s shot to act alongside the actress. Unfortunately when they the film the scene, the first take is a bust because of Joon’s stilted acting.

He gets through his lines in the second take and embraces her for a good minute before she pushes him away and declares that she can’t act with him, whispering into the director’s ear about Joon’s boner. Mortified, Joon blames his overwhelming yang energy.

After hours of hanging around, Young-bin and Ho-jin are told of director Lee Jun-ik’s appearance. They sit a few rows back, their stomachs in knots, and end up falling asleep during the movie. Ho-jin wakes up in time to see the director leaving and they manage to flag the man down outside.

The director is puzzled when Young-bin brings up War Terminator since he thought he already spoke to Eun-gab about it. A little later, Ho-jin takes a call from Eun-gab, who nervously updates him about CEO Ahn’s rampage. But Eun-gab is more interested in how things went with director Lee Jun-ik and he’s told that they agreed to meet up with the director elsewhere.

Cut to: Young-bin and Ho-jin crashing the director’s most recent movie wrap party. Eun-gab meets them there, and they all worry about getting the director’s attention with so many people around. Eun-gab hangs back while the guys wait to get the director’s attention.

When the director finally does sit down with them, he’s impressed that Young-bin is a fellow lover of classic films. They bond over director Andrei Tarkovsky’s works, and Eun-gab watches from a distance on the edge of his seat.

He’s joined by the CJ colleague who wonders why Young-bin’s speaking with the director. He shoos him away, though the colleague whispers that he hopes things go well because all the movies attached to Eun-gab are a success.

Ho-jin carefully brings up the topic about casting Young-bin for War Terminator, which prompts the director to ask why Young-bin wants this project so badly. “Because of you,” Young-bin answers.

Director Lee Jun-ik draws a sharp breath, but they’re interrupted by another actor who stops by: Kim Sung-kyun, who cheerily greets Young-bin and praises him for his recent performance. When Sung-kyun mentions how he read about Young-bin starring in War Terminator, Young-bin is quick to correct him.

Somehow CEO Ahn tracks Eun-gab down to the wrap party and storms out when he sees Young-bin there too. He marches back in carrying that box of webfoot octopus he meant to gift Young-bin with…

…And dumps the contents over Eun-gab’s head. Young-bin and Ho-jin slip out to help clean off Eun-gab’s suit, and Eun-gab ushers them back inside. But there’s no point because director Lee Jun-ik has already said no. Eun-gab tries to find a silver lining in all this—they did the best they can. And so they all agree to start fresh.

Early the next morning, Eun-gab’s wife kicks him awake to pick up his phone. She knows he was up until 3 AM cursing and sending texts, and when he can’t find his phone, she gets up to remove it from a drawer and chucks it toward him.

It’s CEO Jo, and Eun-gab wonders why she’d be calling him first thing in the morning. We don’t get to hear what it is, but the news grabs Eun-gab’s full attention and he hurriedly runs out the door. His wife wonders if he really plans on leaving in his pajamas. Ha.

Hahaha, he totally does as we see him arrive at Young-bin’s place and finds the guys barely awake. He makes a call and hands the phone over to Young-bin…

… And it’s director Lee Jun-ik on the other end. Young-bin is completely astonished when the director said he watched Young-bin’s latest film Flowers of Evil last night, and now he’d like to work with him.

Young-bin can only thank him, and once he hangs up, he shares the good news with the rest of the gang. None of them know how this happened, but they celebrate anyway. Eun-gab suggests that they go out for breakfast to celebrate, and while the others go change, he praises Ho-jin on a job well done: “You acted like a manager for the first time.”

He asks if Ho-jin has a wish, and the latter takes a second before asking Eun-gab to give CEO Ahn his fishing rod back. They break into smiles moments later and celebrate, punching their fists into the air.

 
COMMENTS

After a string of defeat, it feels awfully good to get a small win. I really do hope we get an explanation for director Lee Jun-ik’s change of heart since I’m hard-pressed to buy that a director who didn’t think Young-bin was a decent actor suddenly checked out his latest flick and decide to cast him overnight. Did someone somewhere pull some strings?

When Young-bin first agreed to the cop movie, I honestly thought that it’d be a character-building experience for him. Sure he’s a hotshot actor, but everyone has to make ends meet, and work is never guaranteed in the entertainment industry. So when he did land an opportunity to work with director Lee Jun-ik, I was happy for him yet strangely perplexed. What message was Entourage trying to tell us? While I could see the lesson that persistence can reap a reward, this turn of events came across more like dumb luck. All the guys and Eun-gab were ready to start from square one, and none of them know for sure what caused the change.

Stranger still is Young-bin’s approach to juggling both movie prospects. We know he’s easily influenced by the opinions of others (and he holds Ho-jin’s in highest regard). But it would be foolish for us to fully believe that he chose to go all-in with War Terminator just because of So-hee’s high regard for the director. He’s in it for So-hee, and he wouldn’t pass up the slim opportunity to work alongside her. It was also foolishly risky for him to give up on the cop movie and bank on War Terminator since neither project was a done deal.

We’re seeing a lot of the same tendencies from Young-bin in these two weeks with fickle professional decisions and stubbornness. But to his credit, he does care about his buddies and their happiness because only a good friend would wait in line while his gamer friend geeks out. What I hope to see from him is more depth, to prove to us that he’s more than an actor shopping around for his next project. If only the writing could use this adaptation to wisely tap into an area where Korean dramas commonly shine: solid character relationships. There’s so much potential for us as viewers to care more deeply about these four that could go beyond their indulgent lifestyles because sooner or later we’re bound to hit a threshold where it’ll be too hard for us to relate.

Which is why I’m so thankful for Ho-jin, the hard-working friend who seeks to always be honest with his famous friend. Unlike the others, I can see a nice trajectory for his character as he battles the entertainment execs and tries to be the best manager he can every day. I loved how he finally received tiny recognition from Eun-gab because you could tell from the look on his face that those words meant the world to him. My heart goes out to him in every scene, and I just want him to get the girl.

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