There is something genuinely impressive when a show enters its fourth season and you become increasingly on edge about the fate of its main characters. They mean so much to you that you worry about what will happen to them every episode. That’s even more remarkable when the show is – in theory – a broad comedy series such as “Hacks,” which will often have you edge over the course of its fourth season.
“Hacks” could have peaked after its fantastic season three finale. Our heroine, the fictional and legendary comedienne Deborah Vance, portrayed by the indomitable Jean Smart, finally landed her dream gig of hosting a late-night television show. In some ways, season four could have coasted down a predictable road as that scenario played out. Instead, the one true surviving Max original is full of comedic and dramatic surprises. You see, wolves are coming for our heroine, and many of them are of her own doing.
READ MORE: “The White Lotus” season 3 finale: Once again, money wins
When we last saw Deborah and Ava Daniels (Hannah Einbinder), the pair had engaged in a shocking (even for this show) string of backstabbing moves over creative control of her new late-night program. After Ava’s writing catapulted Deborah into a late career renaissance, she promised the 28-year-old the head writer gig on “Late Night With Deborah Vance.” When Ava discovered Deborah had hired someone else and intended to bring her on only as a lowly staff writer, she pulled out a massive trump card. Either give her the gig or she’ll tell the world that Deborah hooked up with the CEO of the media company that greenlit her foray into late-night, Bob Lypka (Tony Goldwyn). Furious, Deborah has no choice but to capitulate, and the two women, whose friendship has had massive ups in downs over the previous 27 episodes, find themselves in uncharted territory.
The beginning of season four picks up minutes (hours?) later with a continuous long-shot (at this point an epidemic in 2025) as Deborah walks into Ava’s office, confronting her with the line “Well, aren’t you a big, brave girl.” Ava responds, “It’s for the best.” And with a slight smile, Deborah replies, “We’ll see.” It’s your first hint that showrunners and series creators Lucia Aniello, Paul W. Downs, and Jen Statsky have no intention of letting this feud fade easily into the night. These women are going to be at each other’s throats for the duration. By the end of the first episode, the two are forced to make nice for publicity purposes but quietly tell each other, “You broke my heart,” “You broke my heart first.” It doesn’t matter which said either line. The same pain emanates from both of them.
But that’s not the end of it. For a good quarter of the season, Deborah and Ava battle over everything, and their scared out of their minds writing staff suffer the brunt of their fury. Even their manager Jimmy (Downs), perhaps the kindest talent representative to ever exist in the greater Los Angeles Metropolitan Area, loses his patience with them. The sparring is borderline uncomfortable at times, but Aniello, Downs, and Statsky have a plan. They know what they are doing. Having made their way through a pandemic, talent health scares, and strike stoppages, this is a trio of creatives working with the utmost confidence. You can read it in the scripts, in the direction, and in the creative choices overall. It does pay off.
The culmination of a dream stolen from her over three decades before, Deborah soon realizes the late-night gig is a very different pressure cooker this time around. Beyond Ava’s “betrayal,” she has network president Winnie Landell (Helen Hunt) breathing down her neck for a spin-off before the main show even gets off the ground and a mandate to make the program a smash in just three months. Late night is dying and if Deborah can’t deliver an instant hit, she’s done for. Complicating matters is that her longtime business partner, Marcus (Carl Clemons-Hopkins), is forced to sell her licensing company because of a conflict of interest with the network. He’s departing, heading off on a new career path. This leaves Deborah out of her comfort zone career-wise and physically (Las Vegas beckons). Her support system has evaporated, and she’s somehow more alone than ever. And then the wolves show up.
As a metaphor for what Deborah is enduring, the choice to have wolves stalk her Los Angeles mansion, attack her dogs (spoiler: no dogs were injured in the course of this series, it’s not that dark), and bravely confront her in the middle of the road isn’t necessarily groundbreaking for anyone who has dipped their toe into the lens of European movies. It’s a gutsy swing for “Hacks,” though, and one of several – dare we say it – more cinematic choices that Aniello and Downs make while sitting in the director’s chair. Hey, the duo isn’t attempting to craft “The Studio” or “The Bear,” but they are pushing the series’ creative boundaries (where they can) in a very welcome manner.
Some shows make mistakes by bringing in too many new supporting characters just to try and mix things up in later seasons, but Aniello, Downs, and Statsky are too smart to make that mistake. As a “Dance Mom” who became a viral sensation, to, of all tracks, Katy Perry’s “Lifetimes” (so much to read into there), Julianne Nicholson shows she has the utmost range (seriously, we cannot overhype what she pulls off). Robby Hoffman joins the cast as Randi, Kayla (Meg Stalter) and Jimmy’s new assistant, an Orthodox Jew from Brooklyn who let’s everyone know she’s now queer and atheist (well, probably). Randi knows nothing about the entertainment business, but Hoffman makes sure she steals every scene she’s in. We might need a spin-off.
The rich bench of regulars also steps up to the plate in a big way. Kaitlin Olson, who has already earned two Guest Actress in a Comedy Series Emmy nominations as Deborah’s daughter DJ, simply outdoes herself in episode 7, “D’Christening.” Somehow, becoming a mom has allowed DJ to stand up to her mother in a manner we’ve never seen before. Honestly, Olson’s willingness to find the time to return to “Hacks” every season is something of a godsend. You’d almost think she had two other full-time gigs of her own keeping her busy.
Moreover, in a very pleasant surprise, the writers have finally figured out how to effectively use Salter’s unique comedic voice. Stalter has shown her absurdist comedy can smash outside the series, and she’s had a moment or two along the way, but this is the first time Kayla feels integral to the comedic rhythm of the show. Maybe she just needed more screen time.
A timely love letter to Los Angeles and the television business, the season peaks with the ninth episode, titled “A Slippery Slope,” which is as unexpected as it is spectacular. And, frankly, the less said about what happens over those 30 minutes, the better. But it proves that Deborah continues to be one of the more complex characters on screen in recent memory. She’s inherently flawed and narcissistic and insensitive, except for those times when she’s not.
If Smart is the steady rock of “Hacks,” Einbinder is its fiery fury. Over four seasons, Einbinder had taken an initially snarky, borderline Gen Z-Millenial comedy writer and given her a startling depth we’re not even sure Aniello, Downs, and Statsky could have envisioned. The audience isn’t just breathlessly rooting for the legendary star under the glare of the spotlight, but the talent behind the curtain. “Hacks” has always been through Ava’s eyes, and Einbinder makes sure this is the first season where every pitfall Ava endures stings like a knife to the heart. The plan has been for “Hacks” to end with its fifth season. Season four has proven we’ll miss seeing Deborah on our screens, but eventually having to say goodbye to Ava may hurt the most. [A-/B+]
“Hacks” season three premieres on Max on April 11.
