Hacks is, without question, one of the
greatest shows of the decade. It ranks with such masterful comedies as Reservation
Dogs and Somebody Somewhere and stands with such reigning champions
as Abbott Elementary, Only Murders in the Building and Shrinking. And
like those incredible comedies it represents an incredible, joyous transition
that HBO itself was the leading contender in during the last decade: comedies
which would make the audience laugh at the toxic, horrible, juvenile bad
behavior of the protagonists and call it entertainment. By contrast all the
shows I've listed above believe in forming connections that cross the
generational divide that today's culture not only says is insurmountable but
should forever be one.
Few relationships have been more
wondrous then the slow building friendship between Deb (Jean Smart) and Ava
(Hannah Einbinder). There was a joke early in Season 1 by creator Lucia Aniello
that this was actually a love story but it has nothing to do with sexuality but
female friendship. And this is one that we are told shouldn't exist. Deb is a
descendant of the Baby Boomers, the old school who has been doing the same
schtick for forty years when we first meet her. Ava is a thin-skinned Gen Z
comedian whose sexuality, like everything else about her, seems based on not
willing to offend anybody who believes
everything is political and that you must discuss everything to death. Deb is
the ultimate bully and bad boss. Ava is the ultimate entitled employee. They
should hate everything the other says. They spent a lot of the first two
seasons hating everything the other said. They should barely be able to
tolerate each other as employer and employee, must less have formed one of the
deepest bonds in TV history. And yet they have,
The fourth season dealt with both
women realizing their dreams: Deb finally becoming a host on late night, Ava
writing for it. Like all dreams it was better as a hope then a reality. The two
of them spent almost the entire season at each other's throats until in the
penultimate episode Deb did something she would not have been capable of: she
sacrificed late night for Ava. And it cost her everything. She was unable to
perform for the next three years and as we learned in the most horrifying
fashion the boss of the network (Tony Goldwyn at his most loathsome) has taken
everything Deb ever did off line, not just her late night clips but also the
standup special that was the basis of Season 2.
When the fourth season came to an end Deb had gotten lost in Singapore
and was reported dead by a bad tip on TMZ. Deb is now infuriated, particularly
because she is being blamed for killing late night on the network. (Last
season, I should mentioned, was filmed entirely before the recent problems with
both Stephen Colbert and Jimmy Kimmel.)
But if there's one thing we know about
Deborah Vance its that she doesn't take anything lying down. And so after
flying back to her home (finding the obligatory shrine and crowd of mourners
around her gate) she is determined to rewrite the narrative about her. At first
she takes an absurd plan of attack, making a plan to earn an EGOT. (Oddly enough she already has an E and a T.
Who knew?) Her inner circle, including Jimmy and Kayla knows that this is
insane, but for once Ava is terrified that having seen Deb at a near comatose
state before the season finale that she's willing to do anything. Of course she's perfectly fine meeting Tony
Kushner to write Deb's autobiography (Kushner is hysterical as himself, wanting
to start Deb's story back in the Scottish Highland a thousand years before she
was born) but when Deb says that she thinks the best thing for her comeback is
to primary AOC and Ava doesn't blink, Deb calls her on her bullshit.
As always Deb has a cunning plan. She
has a secret stand-up special of her own and makes it clear she doesn't want it
to be filmed. It is filmed and the network serves an injunction on her. Then
she goes before the camera and talks about how she is being silenced and this
is a war on free speech and that she plans to appear at Madison Square Garden
and sell it out. Of course she didn't book the space first, but for Deb that's
a minor detail.
The second episode (as always I've
only reviewed the first two) shows Deb and her entourage going to New York and
trying to book the venue. They are met with a firm no, saying that it's not
good for MSG's brand. "You host a true crime podcast!" Ava shouts
before they are shown the door. Deb then tries to rally her fan base – the
Little Debbie's – to do what she needs to book a venue.
We then go to a fan convention and
find hysterically the Little Debbie's are just as insane as every other fanbase
at comic con, making impossible demands. "I'm mad you left QVC!" one
tells her. "And I'm mad you stayed so long at QVC!" the next one
says. This goes on for a considerable period until naturally one makes it clear
Deb Vance is a lizard person. Of course Deb is then presented with a picture that
was done by a fan and her mother – and then learns that she's been gone from
the conventions so long that her mother died before she could give it to her.
Then Deb leaves with tears in her eyes
and has a conversation with a women in alien makeup about the love one's fans
have for you. As always with Hacks the sincerity of the writing is
always undercut by the messengers. Indeed the alien makes it clear that the
fans will always be there for you and you should always be willing to ask. So
Deb goes back inside and says she was going to ask them for help booking a
venue at MSG.
And immediately every single Little
Debbie swears their loyalty to the cause. This is insane and increasingly
borders on the ridiculous ("It's good enough for the Knicks but not for you!"
one fan says.) And if this were a serious show we could argue about the
other insanity of fan culture deciding to harass the head of MSG, sending mail
to her home and eventually writing 'Bring Deb to MSG' on toilet paper in a
public restroom. But this is a comedy and let's not kid ourselves we hate the
woman being harassed. So Deb does get a
date – on September 11th. "It's the only date they have
available." Deb says.
Much of the first two episodes is
about building the bond between are two lead. Ava agrees to go to the
convention on what is her 30th birthday and she says its no big
deal. But Deb nevertheless throws a party for her at her house and despite her
guilt about having said she had no friends, there's sincerity behind all of
it. Deb arranges for Jesse McCartney who
Deb had a crush on growing up to sing for her at the party and its genuinely
sweet. As is the conversation between the two when Deb admits that while she
was popular she never had any friends like Ava. And Ava means it too.
Hacks does nothing to make us forget the
other love story going on: Jimmy and Kayla. The agency has been struggling ever
since Jimmy punched the head of the network and he's clearly trying to make
things work. We learn the Fatty Arbuckle movie he was working on in Season 3 is
now in production and there's already Oscar talk about it. Jimmy tries to get
Deb to have a part for the reshoot but she immediately turns against it.
Fortunately his mother Diedre Hall has time off from Another World. (Yes
that's still canon.) Paul W. Downs's character has grown immensely during the
entire series run: he still seems perennially put upon but he's just a bit more
savvy. And every so often we get a sense of the fan beneath the agent: in the
convention he sees Renee O'Connor from Xena signing autographs and he
tells Kayla how much he idolize Xena growing up. Kayla pushes her into
getting his picture taking with her and Jimmy manages to both gush and manage a
pitch about doing a podcast about revisiting the show. And incredibly this
immediately pays off: O'Connor tells Jimmy that she'd talked about it with Lucy
Lawless and she's willing to do it. She immediately gives him a cut of what she
earned today and Jimmy recovers nicely and signs her for dinner. "Do you
like Greek?" "I love Greek," O'Connor says.
At this point the only box left to be
checked off for Hacks at least for me is for Meg Stalter to get an Emmy
nomination for her incredible work as Kayla. As I said in the opening paragraph
there have been an extraordinary number of brilliant comedy series during the
2020s; in addition to all the ones I listed Ted Lasso, Barry and The
Bear have been dominant in the Emmys nominations during the time Hacks has
been on the air. And yet somehow the Emmys has done absolutely right by Hacks.
Not just the four consecutive Emmys that Jean Smart has won for every
season she's been eligible but the writing has been honored twice, the
directing once and Hannah Einbinder finally won last year – along with the
greatest upset victory at the Emmys this decade when Hacks defeated
Season 2 of The Bear for Best Comedy Series. Hacks was already the favorite in
almost every Emmy category it was eligible in even before the final season
debuted and now that its over and everyone agrees its gone out on a high note,
the question is how many Emmys it will win before the show, like Deb, goes out
on top.
I will miss Hacks once these
final episodes are gone but as I said there are more then enough great comedies
about good people doing the best they can and getting humiliated despite
themselves. Like Ted Lasso Hacks came around exactly when TV needed it
and we got as much fun out of it as possible. I may not be as rabid a fan as
Deb Vance's were - and you don't have to
tell me you're not a lizard – but I've loved watching Hacks and I
couldn't ask for more.
My score: 5 stars.
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