DEBORAH & AVA & MARCUS & JIMMY & KAYLA & JOSEFINA & DAMIEN

Because I am probably one of history’s greatest idiots, I came to Hacks very late. As in, early last week. It’s a testament to the quality of this show that it took me a mere week to binge the entirety of the five seasons and 47 episodes of this magnum opus of modern television. There wasn’t anything holding me back from seeing it earlier, other than the usual litany of other things to watch and a busy schedule of being back on my bullshit. But I should have been watching this show since its first episode in 2021. This is the type of television that I would have looked forward to seeing each week, and eagerly waited for HBO to announce the new seasons.

There are numerous reasons why Hacks is as good as any other show on television. Not the least of these is the impeccable casting.

"I Was Just Wondering Why You Were Dressed Like Rachel Maddow's Mechanic."

I’ve been a fan of Jean Smart since her days on Designing Women, which is itself a highly underrated program. Her work on Frasier was especially enjoyable, and she was my favourite part of Watchmen. However, Smart, damaged by the men in her life and the ruthless entertainment industry, as legendary comedian Deborah Vance, is absolutely at her best. Despite her vast and varied acting chops, I was pleasantly surprised by how effortlessly she was able to deliver stand-up comedy. Anyone who has tried to perform even a tight five knows how difficult it is to do this, even if you’re just faking it for TV. Deborah is a complicated person, with equal parts acerbic wit, warmth for those she loves, calculated cruelty for those she despises, and immense insecurity. She is deeply flawed, but, like many of the best characters in television (Sam Malone, Bart Simpson, Quark), she eventually does the right thing. What this show manages to do more deftly than most others is to endear you to Deborah’s complexities without making the viewer feel patronized. You have to concentrate pretty hard to notice any plot contrivances that were required to get you to identify with her. For example, while there are plenty of moments showcasing her immense sadness and rage, we also get to see her having fun. In fact, her laugh (which borders on a world champion-level cackle) is almost a trademark, and an aspirational polestar. Deborah Vance, despite everything that has happened to her, and continues to happen to her, wants to be happy. Every part of her character development is packed with opportunities and successes in re-claiming her agency and finding elusive, genuine joy.

“We're pretending to be a couple so we can swindle her out of an old jumpsuit.”

I wasn’t familiar with Hannah Einbinder until I started watching this show. But it’s no surprise that her stand-up (somewhat sadly not featured in the show) and comedic timing are so sharp, given her mother is original SNL cast alumnus, Laraine Newman. Ava Daniels, a burgeoning writing talent, is the perfect foil for Deborah Vance. The latter, fulfilling a Vegas residency, has fallen into a comfortable rut of stale performances. Begrudgingly, Ava pushes Deborah into experimenting with contemporary and progressive material, mostly as an examination of her historic travails. Ava herself is a significantly conflicted person. While she cares very deeply for causes of social justice, she is also sufficiently selfish and ambitious enough to annoy and alienate her selfish and ambitious Hollywood peers. Ava and Deborah are the same person, called out directly by the latter in a very poignant scene. I think that’s a mostly correct assessment, but, where the show really takes off, is in the opportunity afforded to Ava by being able to learn from Deborah. Yes, these women are extremely similar, but Ava will become a better person than Deborah because she can learn from Deborah. What’s most interesting about this pairing and their interactions, is that Deborah is directly teaching Ava how to thrive in the entertainment industry, but Ava is also learning about how not to behave by trying to avoid her mentor’s flaws and neuroses. Despite their constant, destructive, hilarious shenanigans, they form a fascinating bond. At first it’s the kind of détente that would cause Brezhnev and Nixon to bristle, then evolves into something one might call codependency, but eventually settles into a fairly decent portrayal of platonic love between two peers.

It would be great to be as friendly with Deborah and Ava as they are with each other, but it almost feels like adding anything to that mix would be subtraction by addition.

“Lucky Marty. Keeps finding old souls in twenty-six year old bodies.”

The rest of the cast is equally well-constructed. Carl Clemons-Hopkins as Marcus Vaughan is the COO/CEO of Deborah’s media empire (I never thought I’d see so much QVC on HBO) and eventual business partner. Through their portrayal, they bring a different view to the show’s broad examination of workaholism. Marcus makes immense strides throughout the show to learn how to manage both his work/life balance and his relationship with Deborah. He simultaneously learns how to say no to someone he admires, while also obtaining the independence he initially didn’t even know he desired. While Deborah has always been popular in the gay community, and Ava is openly bisexual, it’s Marcus who really gives this show its queer bonafides. In fact, Clemons-Hopkins performance won them the Supporting Performance Award - Series at the 2024 Critics Choice Awards Celebration of LGBTQ+ Cinema and Television. I was especially impressed with two of the character’s moments in the show: the tender care of his sick puppy and the growth around acknowledging that he endangered the animal; and his immense fortitude in calmly and shrewdly standing up to Deborah when it’s desperately needed (for both characters). Later in the show, despite having extricated himself from Deborah’s business affairs, he chooses to partner with her again. But this time entirely on collaborative terms, and with beautiful success. In short, Marcus Vaughan builds himself a badass.

Jimmy (spitting out his coffee): "Weird and bizarre. What is in this one?"
Kayla: "Honey. You said natural. It comes from bears."

Flitting around all this nonsense are Jimmy LuSaque Jr. and Kayla Schaefer. The children of the owners of one of Los Angeles’ most prestigious talent agencies, these two could not be more contradictory. At first, and I suspect this is the intention of the writers, I was annoyed by Kayla. Her initial portrayal is that of an incompetent nepobaby. But, Megan Stalter grows the character into more than just the comedic relief antithesis of Jimmy. She becomes a valued partner as the two venture into the creation of their own agency, and helps Jimmy to, frankly, lighten up. And the show manages to do this without the clichéd artifice of making her entirely competent. Instead, she’s still an endearingly unrelatable goofball whose antics often push the narrative to hilarious results. Paul W. Downs (also one of the shows creators, showrunners, directors, and writers) charms as Jimmy, giving hope to everyone out there who is constructed of equal parts intelligence, neuroses, and ambition. I was mostly endeared to Jimmy because he gets himself into trouble almost exclusively through wanting to do a great job for his clients and friends. Does this sometime lead to completely avoidable absurdities? Yes. But those absurdities are always priceless. Who thought an infectious dog bite could be so funny? And Jimmy and Kayla grow together in a way you don’t normally see on television, without bending to the obvious storyline of becoming romantically entangled. They are entirely unique professionals, collaborators, and friends.

“And you sound like him, too”

Perhaps my favourite secondary character on the show is Deborah’s estate manager, Josefina. I don’t think there’s a line that Rose Abdoo delivers that isn’t guffaw-inducing. This comes as no surprise for an improv veteran who has worked with Bob Odenkirk and Conan O’Brien. She runs the house with precision and her takes are legendary. If the writers of the show didn’t build this character with the notion “everything she says should be hilariously ridiculous” then it happened by extremely happy accident. She doesn't experience much character development, but, somehow this is very comforting. Josefina is the manager, aunt, and caretaker that everyone should want in their life. Aiding Josefina in keeping Deborah’s life on-track is her personal assistant, Damien Asada Agosto, portrayed by Mark Indelicato. We don’t see much of Damien, but the character becomes more important as Hacks progresses. My favourite moment for Damien is when he’s given the preposterous task of acquiring a large quantity of bear urine to stave of the coyotes of the Hollywood Hills. How much bear urine? We don’t exactly know, but it’s too much for the TSA to grant a flight exemption, but not too much to fit in a U-Haul. If I ever need a personal assistant, I hope I can have Damien.

Hacks does an immense job of bringing in perfect recurring and guest characters. Chief among them are Kaitlin Olson as Deborah’s daughter, DJ, and Christopher McDonald as Marty Ghilain, the CEO of the Las Vegas casino where Deborah is wrapping up her residency. The former finds new ways to delve into the oft-tread ground of celebrity children. Though she attempts to make amends for it, Deborah has managed to pour both her insecurities and bad mothering into her daughter. Obviously, this is no model for parenting, but character growth, redemption, and gut-busting moments result in a comical chef’s kiss. Interactions with her daughter, and the sometime love-interest of Marty gives us ample opportunity to see some of Deborah’s sweet side. McDonald absolutely nails the balance between friend and adversary that is necessary to create the show’s first antagonist. By the end of the series, mired in his own business and personal complications, Marty is a trusted confidant to Deborah. He almost, but not quite, has the audience thinking that billionaires are not total a-holes.

Two big shout outs to Jane Adams and Robby Hoffman. The former is Ava’s well-meaning but bonkers mother, Nina; the latter portrays Jimmy and Kayla’s assistant, Randi. Through Nina, we see some of the reason why Ava is the person she has become, but her oft-misguided efforts to cheer on her daughter are filled with charm. Hoffman is the type of actor who you should probably just let loose on the set. Give her the gist of what you’re trying to get across and then let her do her thing. I mean no disrespect to anyone who wrote her lines, but I have a feeling she was allowed to improvise as much as she desired, and it shows.

I’d be remiss if I didn’t also mention Helen Hunt as Winnie (a cut-throat network executive who helps to lead Deborah’s successful foray into Late Night TV) and Lauren Weedman as Jo (the competent, erratic, and very, very horny Mayor of Las Vegas). It sounds a bit ridiculous to say it, but I don’t believe Hacks made a single misstep in casting across their entire roster.

“You’re wearing that backwards”

For me, what really makes Hacks great is the way the show handles character. There is an unabashed acceptance of the ubiquity of human flaw and the necessity for improvement. Each one of us battles against the undesired that dwells inside us. Deborah knows that her cruelty comes from a place of immense insecurity and yearning for the respect she unequivocally deserves. She knows what’s right, and what she ought to do, and, though it sometimes takes prompting from Ava and others, she eventually behaves in a way that her true self desires. This true self is the person she would already be had the world not beat her down with misogyny and a half dozen other ills. It is the true self that all of us see inside us, but cannot always access because of the way in which the world has beaten us down. This is generally true of all the main characters on Hacks, especially Deborah, Ava, Marcus, Jimmy, and Kayla. Perhaps that’s why so many viewers have been so effusive about how they feel they can identify with these characters.

First and foremost though, Hacks is a dark comedy. And it’s incredibly funny. World class funny. Amongst the most hilarious shows in television history funny. Not since 30 Rock, Mr. Show, the BBC Office, or Arrested Development have I laughed so hard and so consistently at a show. And, what’s better, Hacks comes out of the gate swinging, and just gets better. It’s not like other series where you’ll hear the fans say that the first season isn’t great, but the show “finds its legs.” You can count on Hacks to make you laugh, beginning to end, consistently, and on every level from basic pratfall to penetratingly clever.

I am so sorry for not having come to this show sooner; my life would have been better for it.