What do you do when you’ve finally achieved everything you wanted? How do you hold onto it? And how do you keep creatively active when everything about you has been trying to figure out what’s next? These questions are at the core of the excellent fourth season of Max’s Emmy-winning “Hacks,” still the best comedy on television (although the first three episodes of “The Studio” make it clear there’s another industry-based contender for that title). There’s never been a better show about the intersection of art and commerce and how personal conflict (and sometimes even just moral backbone) can produce a traffic jam. Showrunners Lucia Aniello, Paul W. Downs, and Jen Statsky have the ability of great writers to stay one step ahead of their audience, sliding their characters through life in a way that’s unpredictable, genuine, and even moving. After the closure of the second season, I wasn’t sure where “Hacks” could go next; now I’d follow this show anywhere.
The third season of “Hacks” ended with Deborah Vance (Jean Smart) finally getting the late-night talk show that she had been denied her entire career, only to be forced into hiring Ava Daniels (Hannah Einbinder) as her head writer after Ava used the Vance Playbook and blackmailed her way into the job.
So how do Deborah and Ava create TV history when they hate each other? The first few episodes of the season center on this problem as Deborah actively tries to drive Ava insane, and the two trade insults that would lead many people to therapy. Imagine getting your dream job only to hate the person you’re forced to do it with. It’s a fascinating dichotomy that allows for sharp humor but also raises questions about whether a dream is worth fulfilling if it turns into a nightmare.
It’s a theme of the season mirrored in the development of the increasingly wonderful Downs as Jimmy, stuck in the middle of this War of the Roses as both Deborah and Ava’s agent, tries to start his own agency with the unpredictable Kayla (Megan Stalter). Jimmy has been the most pleasant surprise in the development of “Hacks,” an audience surrogate who’s often the only rational perspective in the room. It’s worth noting that Marcus (Carl Clemons-Hopkins) has a much smaller role this year, and we’re not allowed to talk about the many funny cameos from people playing themselves. Still, I think I can reveal that Julianne Nicholson has a multi-episode role as a viral star who becomes attached to Deborah’s show in a memorable way. She’s fantastic, as she always is.
Of course, most of the plotting this season revolves around how to turn Deborah’s show into a hit. It’s a great window into the creative process that recalls the creative peak of “30 Rock,” another show that poked holes in how smart you have to be to make dumb TV. The kind of crowd-pleasing humor that is the foundation of late-night talk shows isn’t exactly the witty material that Ava initially used to bring Deborah back to superstardom. How do you maintain the individual personality that got you the job in a field that needs to play to a broad demographic?
So much has been written about Smart’s triple-Emmy-winning work on this show that all that needs to be added to it is that she hasn’t lost a step in the fourth chapter. This season reminds you how easily this character could have been a stereotype—just another Joan Rivers impression of an over-the-hill comedienne—and how Smart has imbued her with enough humanity that the actress fades into the character. For Einbinder, this is her best season, holding onto the head writer job with a tenacity that she’s learned from the woman who’s trying to make her let go.
Most agree that television hasn’t exactly been in its prime over the last few years despite the occasional critical and commercial darlings like “Succession” and “Squid Game,” and yet there has been a show that’s been consistent for the better part of the 2020s. The fourth season even ends with a flurry of twists that set up a new direction for the fifth. Long live Deborah Vance.
Whole season screened for review. Premieres on Max on April 10th
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