Welcome to the Jungle (Entourage)
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| "Welcome to the Jungle" | |
|---|---|
| Entourage episode | |
| Episode no. | Season 4 Episode 1 |
| Directed by | Mark Mylod |
| Written by | Doug Ellin |
| Cinematography by | Rob Sweeney |
| Editing by | Gregg Featherman |
| Original release date | June 17, 2007 |
| Running time | 30 minutes |
| Guest appearances | |
| |
"Welcome to the Jungle" is the first episode of the fourth season of the American comedy-drama television series Entourage. It is the 43rd overall episode of the series and was written by series creator Doug Ellin, and directed by co-producer Mark Mylod. It originally aired on HBO on June 17, 2007.
The series chronicles the acting career of Vincent Chase, a young A-list movie star, and his childhood friends from Queens, New York City, as they attempt to further their nascent careers in Los Angeles. In the episode, a crew details the behind-the-scenes documentary about the filming of Medellin in Colombia.
According to Nielsen Media Research, the episode was seen by an estimated 2.24 million household viewers and gained a 1.4/4 ratings share among adults aged 18–49. The episode received critical acclaim, with praise towards the episode's format, humor and performances, with many naming it among the series' best episodes.
The episode is presented as a behind-the-scenes documentary about the filming of Medellin. In September 2006, Billy (Rhys Coiro) and the boys arrive in Bogotá, Colombia to start filming. Eric (Kevin Connolly) serves as producer, despite his lack of experience. Billy becomes annoyed over cellphones ringing on set, and even demands to rewrite the ending as he dislikes it.
Filming starts eight weeks later, where Billy becomes aggressive with his demands. While the boys love an early cut of the film, Billy hates it, comparing it to a Hallmark film. He attacks the cinematographer, fires him and decides to replace him. Filming is in turmoil as Billy falls in love with a woman (Sofía Vergara) as an extra, but is disappointed when she only sees him as a friend, believing that she is sleeping with someone else. He starts ignoring Vince (Adrian Grenier), who claims he is not sleeping with her. Eric is also frustrated that there's still no ending, especially with the current script pages running out in a few days. Billy demands to hire Stephen Gaghan to write the ending, despite the lack of additional funding. Vince asks Ari (Jeremy Piven) to get more money from Nick Rubenstein (Adam Goldberg), but Nick had his bank accounts frozen when he was arrested with cocaine in his car on his way to Colombia.
Fed up with the delays, Eric confronts Billy over his behavior, but realizes that the scale of the production affected him, as he only made independent films. Eric decides to hire Gaghan, but this prompts Billy to rewrite the script through the night. While they lose money on Gaghan, the boys love the new script. After shooting a climatic action sequence, in which Drama (Kevin Dillon) makes a cameo, filming officially wraps on Medellín. When asked by the documentary crew over his thoughts on the film, Billy states that he won't know if the film is any good until he sees the final cut.
Production
Development
The episode was written by series creator Doug Ellin, and directed by co-producer Mark Mylod. This was Ellin's 28th writing credit, and Mylod's fourth directing credit.[1]
