Oh the joys of coming home again.

The Season 5 finale of "Entourage" nailed that sentiment, and at the perfect time of year. I've always been a huge proponent of the parallels between when a show airs for the first time and the actual time of year it is.

The first four seasons of "Entourage" aired during the summer and it completely enhanced the show's carefree, live-life-to-the-max attitude. When Season 5 was delayed because of the writer's strike, I wondered how that would affect the way we subliminally compute this season in our brains.

Seeing Vince, Johnny, E and Turtle sitting around the Chase dining room table, with friends and family coming in and out, I was reminded of days of yore when me and my boys would come home from college for the holidays (this was way before Facebook, and right around the time e-mail was rolled out en masse to colleges).

The new stories we told from college. The laughs we had from old high school stories. The looks we got from our parents when we came home after 3 a.m. slightly more inebriated than when we had left the house and how they couldn't really do anything about it anymore.

I still remember exactly how Mama Pat's ziti tasted after a 2 a.m. reheating at Lawyer friend Steve's house. Or how Mama La Monica would wake up when we came home at 4 a.m. from a night in the city and just start cooking for us like that scene in "Goodfellas."

I can't tell you what we did any of those nights while we were out on the town. But I remember everything about being with the crew at night's end. These are the moments that, as we get older, we'll reflect on fondly when episodes such as the Season 5 finale roll along.

REMINDER: THE JOSHIE AWARDS VOTING OPENS TUESDAY AFTERNOON

Thus, we'd be shocked if Vincent Chase ever took home the Big Knish for the most Best Printable Lines in a season. But every now and again, the writers throw him a bone. As do we.

Vince smoked the competition and scored the BPL in the Season 5 finale. Sitting on the stoop talking to Ari after being harassed by his mother (how many New York natives can relate to Mercedes Ruehl's performance as Mrs. Chase?), Vince drops this bomb:

"My mom's all over me. She's treating me like she usually treats Johnny."

Great line. Of course, Ari locked up this season's Big Knish last week, his second straight and third overall. Watch for the Big Knish ceremony on Wednesday afternoon.

Ari Gold 5
Johnny Drama 3
Turtle 2
Vince 1
Random prisoners 1
E 0

But when you commit to the Ari Gold Mine during the first episode of the season, you still have to find the AGM. Such is life when chronicling our favorite TV show.

Seeing Ari in Queens was awesome. He made it even awesomer (not a word) by delivering Martin Scorsese on the phone, flashing that smug "Look how I awesome I am" grin and then calling E "a little McNugget."

Ari the Savior is occasionally more fun than Ari the Slayer. Occasionally.

But once the phone sex scene between Turtle Sal and Jamie-Lynn Sigler arrived, I put all that aside. Turtle using his mother's land line to talk naughty with his girl Jamie-Lynn and getting caught doing is exactly why we love "Entourage."

Well played, Mr. Ellin. Well played.
Victory

Turtle deleting all logs

One theme this season has been Vince taking a stand in his career and fighting for everything he gets/clinging to everything he's been given. This is truly the first season we've seen Vince become a true character rather than someone who sleeps with every woman on screen and pays for everything his boys do.

He took a stand against Verner the nutjob German director, and although it backfired, at least he became a man. It's about time.

Ari Gold is always awesome. Dana Gordon is, too. And that triangular screaming match between Ari, Dana and Verner was just about the most intense scene we've ever seen on "Entourage." Even E got into the mix for a minute. (By the way, no one calls someone a J.O. on screen better than Kevin Connolly does. Clearly, that's the Long Island in him coming out.)

Gotta love how Turtle came out of his shell this week. We saw his softer side, his "Wait a second, is something good really happening to me instead of me helping someone else?" side. We all have that side. And pretty much any side we see of Jamie-Lynn Sigler is completely fine with me.

Everything about the script and acting in those scenes felt natural. Even the lighting. The soft lighting during Jamie's booty call. The tranquillity of the background leading up to Turtle's biggest confession in the show's first 65 episodes. Perhaps "Entourage's" finest technical moment.

Anyone who ever disliked Turtle had to cheer him on this week. It's like hoping Tom gets his paws on Jerry just once. Or praying that the Road Runner trips on a rock and breaks his foot, just so Wile E. Coyote can have his day. America loves an underdog.

When Doug Ellin told me back in September that this was the best season so far, I chalked it up to the typical party line being spewed on the red carpet. But after seeing this episode, I understand what he meant.

After he dropped this week's Best Printable Line, he ran down Verner -- the crazy German director -- and started off in polite, reverent tones.

Of course, this is Ari Gold we're talking about here so that lasted all of about 30 seconds. As the two Type A personalities assaulted one another verbally, Verner thought he could flex his muscles at Ari by telling him he could have another studio-approved actor ready in a minute.

"Josh Hartnett?" Ari responded. "I know all."

Verner was stunned.

Even with his back to the wall, Ari Gold manages to let everyone in the know who wears the pants . . . and who can fill those pants like no other.

Here's how he did this week. Vince has just been fired from "Smoke Jumpers" and Team Chase is going through a mini-meltdown. Drama was ready to throw Verner, the crazed German director, a Queens-style beatdown. E was doing his usual over-reacting. Vince was actually angry.

Ari Gold arrived on the set in Big Bear and tried to calm them all down in Vince's trailer. He assured them that he would handle everything and fix it for Vince. They asked how.

Ari responded:

"Because the Jew has arrived and he doesn't like Germans."

Outstanding wording, outstanding delivery.

We'll celebrate Ari's Big Knish Award next week in a special blog ceremony.

Ari Gold 5
Johnny Drama 3
Turtle 2
Random prisoners 1
E 0
Vince 0

We're our most honest, natural selves at that point. So when Jamie-Lynn Sigler called Turtle at 4 o'clock in the morning, it came as no surprise to see Turtle be his usual smart-ass self.

"Are you sleeping?" Sigler asked.

"No, I'm fly-fishing," Turtle responded.

Props to whichever suggested fly-fishing as the activity of choice to use in that situation. Absolutely hilarious. Go ahead and try to substitute another action in its place that would be as funny.

"No, I'm walking the dog."
"No, I'm swimming naked in the lake with Drama."
"No, I'm cooking a peanut butter and jelly calzone."
"No, I'm washing my car in the rain."

See, fly-fishing was the perfect choice. Well played.