It takes less than half an hour to start the new season Hacks Deborah Vance (Jean Smart) senses that something is off. “Well, that’s it,” she says, exasperated by Ava (Hannah Einbender) encouraging a particularly misguided idea. “What’s wrong with you? You’re not challenging me in the normal Ava way.”
Ava admits that she provides extra support because she is simply so happy to see Deborah back at work after her emotional rollercoaster in Singapore, and after a little prodding, she finally gives her honest feedback. Deborah is satisfied and takes her words to heart. It seems that balance has been restored between them.
Hacks
Bottom line Maybe too fond of goodbyes.
Broadcast date: Thursday, April 9 (HBO Max)
ejaculate: Jean Smart, Hannah Einbender, Paul W. Downs, Megan Stalter, Rose Abdo, Mark Indelicato, Carl Clemons Hopkins
creator: Jane Statsky, Lucia Aniello, Paul W. Downs
As I watched the ten episodes of the fifth and final season, I couldn’t shake the feeling that Deborah was right to be cautious. At its best, the HBO Max comedy thrives on the challenge of her and Ava’s relationships with each other, and the unforgiving industry in which they work. But on this last outing, she has exchanged her sourness for sweetness, and is more beautiful than ever—and all the less interesting to her.
It’s certainly hard to blame the show for getting a little squishy as it prepares to go out on its own terms. If engineering a happy ending was top of mind for creators Lucia Aniello, Paul W. Downs, and Gene Statsky, so too was Deborah, who was horrified in the wake of a TMZ false alarm when she realized she would be remembered as the crazy lady who blew up. Late night. Determined to write a better legacy for herself, she set the goal of returning from her forced hiatus with a sold-out show at Madison Square Garden.
The non-compete clause that currently prevents her from performing and also prevents her from crafting new material or even promoting ticket sales is part of the fun for her Hacks. It’s fun as always to watch Deborah and her inner circle (which, in addition to Ava, includes Marcus Carl Clemons-Hopkins, Damien who plays Mark Indelicato, and Josefina who plays Rose Abdo) do what they do best and scheme to bend the rules by, say, going public with Deborah’s romance with a hot young musician (The summer she turned beautiful beloved Christopher Prinny) or dipping a toe into reality TV.
In the second episode, their plot takes them to a fan convention, where Deborah is asked by a blue-skinned alien played by Ann Dowd to think about what they get from their fans, and what they owe the fans in turn. As if guided by the same wisdom, Hacks Itself does its best to serve its viewers with everything they imagine we might want. Callbacks and cameos of little-remembered guest stars from previous seasons? Checks. Closing out Deborah’s on-and-off situation with Marty (Christopher MacDonald)? Checks. An episode that finally dares to question what Ava and Deborah would be like as a gay couple? Amazing to check out. The plot twists required for that one may be torturous, but the payoff is funny enough to merit any suspension of disbelief.
And for those who are tired of watching Ava and Deborah spend every season at each other’s throats, just to make up, only to find themselves at each other’s throats again, these seasons allow them, finally, to be the closest they’ll ever get to a healthy friendship. Episodes focus heavily on the electric chemistry between its leads, whether they’re bickering over an iPhone in a nice bit of physical comedy or trading insults about each other’s fashion choices. (“This looks like something my grandson would wear so he can go out the back,” Deborah scoffs of a jumpsuit Ava plans to wear on a date. She’s not wrong.)
Unusually for this show, the overall tone between them is one of sincere affection and appreciation. For a while, this is a refreshing change of pace. We did It has always been known that these two were creative soul mates, and We did They never doubted for a moment how much they cared for each other deep down. How nice that they have finally evolved to the point where they can admit it to themselves.
But it also seems, after a while, less than sincere. Lest we forget, these two women have spent the last several years suing, blackmailing, and generally sabotaging each other, and yet their inability to let go of each other indicates codependency as much as it does mutual care or loyalty. Remove all the edges from what was once a thorny, exciting dynamic, and you’re left with a love story that runs too smoothly to leave much of a mark.
Meanwhile, Deborah’s forced move away from Hollywood (and the show’s less justifiable interest in Ava’s career outside of Deborah) breaks the series away from the biting industry satire that was once its bread and butter. Give or take anti-AI rhetoric that’s too self-aware to be intelligent, there’s not much Hacks Now I have to say that she didn’t really mention about the harsh punishments that the entertainment industry has towards older women in particular. Not even a season-long subplot about Jimmy (Downs) and Kayla (Megan Stalter) struggling to keep their fledgling agency afloat, unable to offer any new take on Hollywood culture — though I’d never complain about the chance to see more of Robbie Hoffman as their overzealous assistant, Randy.
None of this can be said Hackson her latest tour, wasn’t exactly a good time. I guffawed at a clip that sends Deborah, Ava, and Marty into separate romantic crises. I laughed at small but perfect character jokes, like Marcus suggesting Chase Mobile Banking as a “cool app” that Marty might pitch to his younger, more tech-savvy investors. At least I gasped at a late plot twist. And while Hacks It never was studio– Or Bear– An indulgent level of celebrity appearances, there are enough big names here to make the season feel like a well-deserved celebration of its place in popular culture.
But ironically, in a season that spends much of its time concerned with the issue of legacy, Hacks He stumbles over his own formulation. By elevating its brighter, softer elements at the expense of its darker, sharper edges, it becomes a sugar-coated obituary version of itself. And while I can’t fault the series for wanting people to remember it as the cooler version of itself (than the rest of us, etc.), I think I’d rather remember it as it actually was. The mean jabs, the devastating betrayals, the piercing observations, everything.
