Vince has been in love before, and it has negatively impacted his career before. Remember Mandy Moore? So the fact that he’s in love is no surprise. What is shocking is how quickly and deeply he appears to have fallen for Sasha. This “relationship” is really frustrating me. I don’t know how much time we’re supposed to believe has elapsed between their first meeting at a party and the present day, but it’s ridiculous. He immediately began treating her as if she were his girlfriend, and the embarrassing part is that she doesn’t appear to be as into him as he is into her. Every week I want to yell at my TV, “Vince you’re playing yourself!”

After meeting with new Air-walker director Peter Berg, Vince manages to secure a small role in the film for Sasha, in hopes that she will forego the adult film she’s been offered. To make matters worse, one of her co-stars in the movie would be her ex-fiancé. Vince really doesn’t want her to take the part, but this is what she does and he can’t change her. When she finds out about the role in Air-walker she’s excited, but she still may take the adult movie gig. Vince gets upset because he thought she said she wouldn’t do it if she could get another legit part. Sasha says she never agreed to that. This “relationship” is untenable, and I’ll be glad when it’s over. Hopefully the writers are only putting Vince and Sasha together to underscore his temporary out of control, addictive lifestyle. When (if) Vince sobers up, I hope he shows Sasha the door.

While Vince and Sasha are beefing over dinner, Ari and Mrs. Ari are at the same restaurant. Amanda Daniels is also there having dinner with a small group of men. Earlier in the day Ari bumped into Dana Owens (Queen Latifah), and she told him that Amanda was now working to bring an NFL team to L.A. Assuming that she vindictively stole his opportunity, Ari goes berserk. He tries to ambush her at her office but she’s not there. He’s trying to make up with the missus by spending more time with the family and leaving his Blackberry at work – so he has to race over to the restaurant to meet his wife. He gets his assistant to plant his Blackberry in the bathroom, and he later retrieves it like a scene from The Godfather. He calls Amanda, who says that she’s been trying to reach him. Before she can fully explain, he drops the phone in the toilet. When he gets back to his table, she comes over to have a word with him. Mrs. Ari says that it’s not a good time, but before Amanda can walk away Ari completely rips her a new one in front of the entire restaurant. He says that he’s never hit a woman but he would like to pummel her face. Ari is a funny guy, but you know what? I’ve never really liked him. Lots of people say he’s their favorite character, but I think he’s a mean prick. He’s a complete asshole to everyone except his wife and certain clients. Amanda calmly explains that she didn’t leak the tapes to the media; a vindictive assistant did that, and she fired him. Furthermore, the gentlemen at her table are from the NFL and they had been discussing bringing him on board. Now? Forget it. Nice going Ari.

Johnny has finally gotten on board with Johnny’s Bananas, the animated creation of Billy Walsh in which he will star. Things are looking up for him. Turtle and Alex are trying to get the tequila company off the ground, and have managed to secure funding from Dallas Mavericks’ owner Mark Cuban to expand the production plant in Mexico. For some reason Carlos isn’t keen on the idea. I guess he fears that he’s in danger of losing his small, family business to a rich American. The episode closes with Turtle, Alex, Billy, Johnny and Lloyd all chilling out, celebrating Johnny’s show when Lloyd discovers a big bag of coke. Will they stage an intervention? Or is Vince really surrounded by “yes” men? I can’t wait to find out.

Season 7, Episode 9: Porn Scenes from an Italian Restaurant (originally aired August 29, 2010)