The ‘Hacks’ Routine Feels Too Familiar

Hacks returned to Max on Thursday with a double-episode fourth season premiere that picks up literally moments after the third season finale. Ava (Hannah Einbinder) blackmailed her boss/friend/mentor/tormentor, Deborah Vance (Jean Smart), into giving her the head writer position on Deborah’s new late-night talk show. Deborah initially promised the spot to Ava before changing her mind, unnerved by the amount of attention and pressure on her. For Ava, this was a step up into the kind of industry shark behavior Deborah has been encouraging and modeling for three seasons, making this a real I-learned-it-from-watching-you moment. For Hacks , this represented the third time the series has come full circle on the adversarial dynamic between Ava and Deborah that powers the show. While the series has found new angles, textures, and depths of this dynamic to play with, Hacks is largely retreading the same story it’s told a few times. As fun as it is to see these actors we love play these irascible characters, the motions feel too familiar to be exciting. Without Einbinder and Smart, Hacks would be a pleasant comedy stuck on the one story it knows how to tell.

The first two episodes of season four focus heavily on the fallout of this season’s Ava/Deborah power struggle and how it affects the late-night show they’re trying to launch. Deborah tries mightily to get Ava fired by sneaking Ava’s panties onto an executive’s desk and calling in a fake drug tip. They radiate tension whenever they’re in the same room and everyone can tell something is up. Forever frazzled manager Jimmy (Paul W. Downs) becomes a reluctant intermediary between Ava and Deb, trying to keep the tenuous peace by reminding them what’s at stake. Their sniping puts the production behind schedule, leaving writers un-hired, taglines un-approved, and bits unwritten. Things become untenable when New York Times Magazine does a promo piece and wants both women on the cover. This leads to a very public screaming match between the two comedians that gets uploaded to the internet in no time. Network executive extraordinaire Winnie (Helen Hunt) sits the bickering duo down to give them the tough, unsentimental facts: she needs a hit, Deborah is the only option they have or else the timeslot goes to a clip show, and so Ava and Deb need to work their fight out and get the show up on its feet. Deborah and Ava agree to work together, but once the show is over, they’ll never speak to each other again.

Seeing Deborah and Ava bicker and snipe is the reason for the season. They burn each other over pronouns, email, and shoes only to find some perfect comedic alchemy together that pushes them to the next level. With three seasons of this cycle done, viewers expect it’s inevitable that these two will back away from the brink this season and make an amazing late-night show together. However, this expectation makes yet another round of squabbling feel tired, like it’s an overlong prelude we have to sit through before they’ll finally come to their senses. Thankfully, Hacks has found interesting new layers to our gals’ situation. Deborah isn’t merely having a narcissistic fit of pique, she’s terrified that the new comedic persona Ava helped her create is too niche to succeed on a mainstream product like a late-night show. Ava wants to spread her wings and step into a bigger role as head writer, but seems largely unsure what that means. She clings to Deborah because she loves what they’ve built together, but she doesn’t have a lot of direction aside from that.

Einbinder and Smart are as fantastic together as they’ve always been. They elevate the repetitive arguments and mutual sabotage into scenes that hit a snarky tone one moment and a poignant one the next. Their rivalry never feels too nasty because both performers add in enough warmth and love between these characters, as toxic as it might be. Hacks wisely expands its cast and fills in space around the leads with fantastic supporting characters. Hunt is a hoot as the unsparing Winnie, who provides much-needed pressure to give Hacks stakes. Downs is a natural as the simpering Jimmy, who’s finally getting a management company off the ground with the daffy Kayla (Meg Stalter, born to play a chaos agent). Robby Hoffman joins the cast as Kaylee’s new assistant Randi, a formerly Hassidic woman who just saw a movie for the first time and is tickled by the use of landlines. With some delightful little details like a comedian with an Arli$$ rewatch podcast, Hacks plays with an absurd Hollywood world similar to The Other Two but with a much softer tone.

Hacks’ plotting feels repetitive, and it’s often more fun than laugh-out-loud funny, but the combined talents of the leads and the supporting cast make for a great time. Jean Smart is a national treasure, after all. It’s an excellent excuse to spend time with characters we love, played by actors we adore.