Fire Sale (Entourage)

"Fire Sale" is the 58th episode of *Entourage* overall and the fourth installment of its fifth season. It aired on HBO on September 28, 2008, with series creator Doug Ellin writing and Seith Mann directing.

The show follows Vincent Chase, a young A-list movie star, and his friends from Queens as they navigate Hollywood. In this episode, Eric gets caught in a bidding war over Vince’s next project, while Drama embarrasses himself live on television.

The plot sees development on *Nine Brave Souls*, now retitled *Smoke Jumpers*. Ari likes the script but wants it as a big studio film for Vince. Eric informs L.B. and Nick about the bidding war, and they raise their offer to $500,000 with a guarantee the film gets made. Drama, trying to avoid post-breakup depression, appears on *The View* to promote *Five Towns* but breaks down on air out of jealousy over his castmates’ girlfriends. He later strips naked from a limo, throws his pants at a police officer, and gets arrested, forcing the group to bail him out. Eric meets with Amanda, who still wants the script, but she can’t meet the writers’ demands, so he leaves her without it. Ari struggles to find an investor due to Vince’s damaged reputation after *Medellín*. Vince sells the script to a producer for $500,000 but takes a smaller role. He tells L.B. and Nick, who reluctantly accept. After picking Drama up from jail, Vince announces Drama will co-star, as his *View* meltdown boosted his image. Amanda then calls to say Alan Gray is offering $2,000,000 for the script with Edward Norton as co-star.

The episode was Ellin’s 37th writing credit and Mann’s second directing credit.

According to Nielsen, it was seen by an estimated 1.56 million household viewers, with a 1.0 share among adults 18–49—a slight drop from the previous episode’s 1.58 million.

Reviews were generally positive, though some critics noted pacing issues. Ahsan Haque of IGN gave it a 7.8 out of 10, calling the bidding war entertaining but finding Drama’s arrest too familiar. Josh Modell of *The A.V. Club* gave it a B–, while Kristal Hawkins of *Vulture* felt Drama’s meltdown wasn’t as fun as expected. Trish Wethman of *TV Guide* praised the episode’s energy and laugh-out-loud lines, and Rob Hunter of *Film School Rejects* called it the best of the season so far.