I’d never call myself a defender of Johnny Drama’s, but I hope that Andrew Dice Clay’s completely selfish play for more money doesn’t end up hurting whatever chance there is for “Johnny’s Bananas” to revive Drama’s career. I wonder if Jamie Kennedy is known for doing a bad Dice impersonation, although I don’t know why he couldn’t just do the part his own way; even when a show’s been aired roles are sometimes recast, so what’s the harm in Kennedy being himself now?
I haven’t mentioned him much, but I love William Fichtner’s Phil. I think Fichtner’s one of those gifted actors who’s had tremendously little to do in his career; I also like how enthusiastic Phil is about Drama as an actor. Both things help get me excited every time Fichtner makes an appearance on the show. Last night’s warning to Drama when Eric called to try and renegotiate contracts was great … Phil could have easily had a very different reaction to that kind of presumption, but to his credit he was still just looking out for Drama’s best interests.
I don’t remember Carl Ertz (Kim Coates), although I certainly remember the dark time after “Medellin” tanked. I understand that the hole Vince dug himself into last season isn’t so easily dug out of, but not having enjoyed Vince’s drug tale I don’t have much patience for a lot of focus on its aftermath this season. Good for Vince for wanting to help Carl out in the end, but Turtle — and everyone else — was right to say that Vince shouldn’t have been there in the first place. For Vince’s edification, the difference between his addiction and Carl’s is that Carl the addict ran amuck in Hollywood for years; Vince the addict got into one or two minor scrapes in less time than TV actors take off between the front and back half of a season. Be a friend to Carl (if you really must), but don’t do anything that involves putting your faith in him. Not that it matters anymore, but it’s a good life lesson.
I feel like Carlos (Miguel Sandoval) has never been the bearer of particularly positive news, except maybe when he and Turtle met in the first place. This time he both fired and dumped Turtle. Ouch! I commend Turtle for wanting to take his next step on his own, but selling his Avion stock when Mark Cuban has long term plans for an IPO — probably unlikely, but in working toward one Turtle’s stock will appreciate exponentially — is a terrible idea. Why wouldn’t Turtle instead bring Vince and Mark in as investors and “do it himself” by, you know, creating and running the restaurant by himself? Does it only count if it’s your money? Because there are countless successful builders of businesses who would claim otherwise.
I was kind of surprised that Ari went out on a date. For all his talk he’s truly devoted to his wife, and I assumed he’d never want to be one of those people who could claim to have slept with anyone else while he and his wife were separated. But then, after the date was a bust, he called Dana (Constance Zimmer) and I began to wonder: could Ari’s story not end with Mrs. Ari? He and Dana have a romantic history, and she’s someone who’s been around for a long time. In fact, we’ve gotten to know her well enough to be convinced that she’d never let anything happen between her and Ari again … while at the same time I’ve always suspected that a little part of her still felt something for him, and vice versa. Could that connection be enough to send Ari down an entirely different path?
This just got real interesting.