Editor’s note: The below recap contains spoilers for Hacks Season 4 Episode 1.
The finale of Hacks Season 3 — specifically that final scene — can be summed up as “the student has become the master.” The sharply written and brilliantly executed Max show, which thankfully took home the Outstanding Comedy Series Emmy Award last year, gave viewers a brutal, emotional gut punch when Hannah Einbinder’s Ava Daniels blackmailed Jean Smart’s Deborah Vance right before the credits rolled.
Each season finale of Hacks so far has put the dynamic duo at major odds in some way: Season 1 featured Deborah slapping Ava, Ava quitting, the two reconciling, and Ava regretting having sent a scathing email about Deborah to producers as they were about to go on the road and workshop material. In Season 2’s devastating finale, Deborah, seeing such potential in Ava, fires her as a way to set her free and enable her to focus on developing her own comedic voice, leaving Ava feeling directionless and heartbroken. However, Hacks’ creators, Lucia Aniello, Jen Statsky, and Paul W. Downs, smartly stabbed us in the heart with a Season 3 finale twist that really feels like the journey back to Ava and Deborah’s charming, dysfunctional status quo will be incredibly long — if not impossible.
Yes, Ava blackmailing Deborah and telling her that it would surely be bad if anyone knew that Deborah had slept with network head Bob Lipka (Tony Goldwyn) right before securing the elusive and coveted Late Night gig was, well, bad, and not the ethical way of securing the head writer position, but let’s remember what Deborah did to trigger such a devious move from her most trusted confidante. Earlier in that episode, Ava quit her job at On the Contrary when Deborah told her she could be the head writer at Late Night. Deborah, crippled with fear that her show wouldn’t be “bulletproof” with a newbie leading the way, changes her mind and puts an industry veteran in the powerful position. The problem? She lied to Ava and told her that it was, unfortunately, a decision that was out of her hands, only for Ava to find out from higher-up Winnie (Helen Hunt) that Deborah, in fact, was told she could choose anyone she wanted to be head writer.
Context is certainly key here, as Ava’s nasty, last-minute decision is the result of serial mind-fuckery from the comedian she’s gone to bat for and worked so closely with for so long now. Ava has also caused an impressive amount of damage both personally and professionally, and is often at her best when she’s a walking mess under pressure from Deborah. What’s undeniable is how these two messy protagonists love each other immensely and have become better people both personally and professionally because of each other. Case in point: these two women bring out the best in each other, and, frankly, can’t function without their better half, positioning Season 4 to be the most intense, unpredictable, and rewarding season yet.
‘Hacks’ Season 4 Premiere Doesn’t Waste Any Time

Image via Max

No time has passed at all from the Season 3 finale to the Season 4 premiere; Ava and Deborah, the latter of whom is doing her best to keep her composure and not verbally eviscerate Ava (actually, surprised she didn’t slap her again), walk down the hall with the crew as they try to keep their respective furies to a simmer. What’s always been impressive is the range of emotion Hannah Einbinder is able to show on her face without having any dialogue to lean on. As she closes her very own office door behind her, Ava’s face flashes with confidence, but there’s still a small part of her that can’t believe she pulled this off.
Instead of Deborah coming into her office and yelling at her, she’s calm, which is almost more terrifying. Seeing these two get right up in each other’s faces and hold a brutal stare until Deborah quips, “Well, aren’t you a big, brave girl,” is haunting, and a clear indicator that Deborah, for the first time, has truly been bested at her own game, and is desperately concocting her next move.
This startlingly ominous opening to the season is, of course, followed up with many glorious witty lines and jokes seamlessly woven throughout the episode. It sounds weird to say, as this should be a given with shows in the genre, but Hacks is a comedy that is clearly a comedy first and foremost. It brings the laughs as well as the heart, committing completely to whichever the moment calls for and never sacrificing one for the other. Jimmy (Downs), Ava and Deborah’s manager, is at first oblivious to what has transpired, and thinks Deborah did a (somewhat) selfless act by choosing Ava as head writer despite her still being pretty green as a comedy writer. However, after a few choice words from Deborah, he’s forced to confront Ava about what actually happened. (Ever since Jimmy’s pseudo-proposal to Megan Stalter’s Kayla on the plane, there has been a wonderful uptick in Jimmy shrieking.)
Ava brings up a great point to Jimmy: loyalty has become a fickle mistress to Deborah. Deborah’s said “sorry” far too many times for it to really have any meaning anymore, and any “goodwill” and trust you’ve built up with her really just goes out the window the second Deborah needs to look out for herself. We can also already see the power going a bit to Ava’s head, as she lashes out at Jimmy and embraces her newfound “I know best” attitude. Weirdly, all of this is proof that Ava has — blackmail aside — matured.
Ava and Deborah Try To Be Civil in the Workplace

Day 1 on the job, and Deborah is already trying to take Ava down through a prank that is as humiliating as it is inappropriate. Somehow, Ava’s underwear has landed on the desk of her boss, Rob (Dan Bucatinsky), with a “playful” note. Ava nervously tries to explain how it’s a harmless prank from Deborah (hey, just like George Clooney likes to do!), who is just leaning into their fun rapport, though it just forces the sexual harassment training to be bumped up. Deborah is so caught up in her own narcissism and revenge plot that she doesn’t even realize that what she is doing is actually just sabotaging herself and her show. Already, the cracks in Deborah and Ava’s once-impenetrable foundation are starting to form.
Statsky, Downs, and Aniello cleverly use the sexual harassment seminar (hilariously run by Michaela Watkins’ bumbling HR representative, Stacy) as a way to take the viewers down memory lane and remember all the not-safe-for-work things that Ava and Deborah have done on the job. Ava cheekily asks if it’s okay to slap a coworker or do sexual favors, while Deborah asks if taking nude pictures at work is something that would fly. Our deeply flawed, problematic protagonists’ relationship has survived against all odds, once again making you ask yourself, “When is too far actually too far for them?”

Related

“You Never Know”: ‘Hacks’ Might Not End With Season 5 After All

The future of the Emmy-winning series is looking bright.

Deborah Is in Over Her Head With ‘Late Night’

Image via Max

One of Deborah’s biggest obstacles with Late Night is how she needs to appeal to a wide audience in order to sustain ratings high enough to avoid cancellation. Her press conference was her first test, and she clearly weaponizes her nerves into barbed quips at the journalists and manages to avoid giving any sincere answers, not unlike a politician. Her “if you don’t like me, that’s your loss” mentality with stand-up really won’t work here, and she’s starting to have to cloud her mind with things that she’d usually roll her eyes at, like what her “narrative” will be for the cover of the New York Times. (The last thing Deborah wants to do is deal with a PR rep and be forced to charm a potential sponsor.)
Meanwhile, Ava’s insecurities and frustrations are making her incredibly stubborn, which is also not creatively productive. When she tells Jimmy that Deborah threw out the jokes she gave her, he suggests bringing back the late-night comedy veteran Steve to see if he would be a co-head writer in an attempt to smooth out this transition. However, upon hearing that suggestion, Ava threatens Jimmy with being fired as her manager if he brings up such a hideous idea again.
Another huge hurdle for Deborah to overcome is Marcus (Carl Clemons-Hopkins) leaving. She doesn’t realize how much someone’s work — or companionship — means until it’s too late. When Marcus finally pins her down after she forgot about their lunch, he tells her how, due to conflict of interest with sponsorship and merchandising (and other fancy legal terms), he sold her company to QVC to prevent any headaches with Late Night, ultimately saving her a lot of time, money, and frustration. Honestly, doing all of that without consulting Deborah is a very risky move (and perhaps a misstep), but we’ve seen time and time again that it’s the people who have been in Deborah’s corner for years who know what’s best for her more than she does herself. Regardless, she uses this and Marcus telling her he’s leaving as an excuse to lash out and, once again, project her insecurities… aggressively. Deborah is already white-knuckling her show before it even starts, which, given her history with Late Night, isn’t entirely hard to blame her for.
Deborah Is Starting To Face the Consequences of the Golf Retreat

Image via Max

As if panty-gate wasn’t enough, Ava is forced to do a drug test due to an “anonymous” source and is also conveniently not told about a dinner with studio executives, even though they were told that her assistant arranged the plans. (Sure, Jan.) The self-sabotaging doesn’t seem to slow down until Deborah gets a thinly-veiled threat from Bob (who Jimmy reminds Kayla “runs Hollywood”) at his big fancy party. He follows Deborah into the bathroom and says how “that night never happened.” Deborah does her best to remain calm, but her face can’t hide her genuine fear at that moment — a truly rare sight to see on the comedian.
In a case of horrible timing, Deborah walks back out to the party to see Ava fanning the flames, chatting up Bob’s wife, and insincerely praising Deborah and their creative partnership. Deborah gets Ava alone and tells her to knock it off, as well as grips Ava’s arm so tight that she leaves behind marks. Ava, the “big, brave” girl that she is now, is rightfully done putting up with Deborah’s attempts to get her fired. With tears in her eyes, she stomps over to Deborah (in the middle of the bustling party) and tells her that she needs to admit that Ava “won” or else she will email her contact at the New Yorker about Deborah’s dirty secret. Her glistening eyes here are more so fueled by frustration than genuine sadness, which only emphasizes the emotionally detached state of their relationship.
Ava actually goes as far as sending the message (only to unsend, a feature that is new to Deborah). Jimmy, terrified by their escalating whisper-yelling, says through a disturbing plastered smile that they need to keep their public appearances together happy in order for Late Night to work. It’s at this point that Winnie and the head of publicity excitedly swoop in and share that they figured out “the narrative” for the article: the dynamic collaboration and creative process between Ava and Deborah. As Winnie puts it, “It’s perfect. It hits young and old. It’s female without being too female. It’ll play.” Transparently, Deborah is getting a lot of pushback for “refuting” her womanhood at the press conference and could really use some good PR. Icing on the cake? They want Ava on the magazine cover with her.
Where Do Deborah and Ava Go From Here?

Image via Max

Unsurprisingly, this episode ends with a strong tug on the heartstrings. During the cover shoot, in between muttering low-blow barbs at each other, Deborah admits to Ava that not only did Ava win, but she also broke her heart. Any time Deborah wears her vulnerability on her sleeve, it is always both jarring and devastating, and you’re inevitably left wondering if she deserves the sympathy or even means what she says. “You broke mine first,” a sobered Ava admits.
The episode’s final moments will leave you wondering where Ava and Deborah — and Hacks’ creators — will take us this season. Before the credits roll, Deborah tells Ava that she hopes the show is a huge success, but when it’s over, she is never speaking to her again, to which Ava responds with, “Good.” Speaking of credits, if you weren’t already crying from this exchange, Chi Coltrane’s “You Were My Friend” will surely lead you to the tissues.
New episodes of Hacks Season 4 premiere Thursdays on Max.

Hacks

Hacks Season 4 starts out on an ominous note, with Ava and Deborah more at odds than they’ve ever been.

Release Date

May 13, 2021

Pros & Cons

Jean Smart and Hannah Einbinder’s chemistry makes Ava and Deborah’s circumstances all the more devastating.
Paul W. Downs, Lucia Aniello, and Jen Statsky craft a high-octane premiere with witty dialogue while laying the groundwork for the season.
“Big, Brave Girl” smartly ends with uncertainty for Ava and Deborah’s future, with them showing no signs of making up.