I’ll be honest — I was a little nervous about whereHackswas going to goafter that Season 2 finale. The moment when Deborah (Jean Smart) cuts Ava (Hannah Einbinder) loose so she can thrive on her own was so perfectly bittersweet that I couldn’t wait for Season 3, but I also couldn’t begin to picture what it would look like. The show’s freshman and sophomore seasons had such a specific rhythm and power dynamic that the finale seemed to blow up in the most beautiful way. Season 3 proves me right, but luckily,the show is all the better for it.Hackshas always been great about evolving with the times, keeping its references relevant and its jokes fresh, and it’s managed to seamlessly achieve the same with its characters and their relationships. This is still the Deborah and Ava we know and love, but they’re in different places in their lives — and with each other — which allows for fascinating and fun advancements.
Explores a dark mentorship that forms between Deborah Vance, a legendary Las Vegas comedian, and an entitled, outcast 25-year-old.
What Is ‘Hacks’ Season 3 About?
The new season picks upa year after Season 2 ends. On the surface, Deborah and Ava are living their dreams. Deborah is on the Time 100 list. making crowds roar with laughter when she’s not even trying. Ava is in a serious relationship with actress Ruby (Lorenza Izzo) and has a coveted writing job on a progressive, critically acclaimed show calledOn the Contrary.
But it quickly becomes clear thatneither of them is truly happy. Deborah is restless and unchallenged now that she’s at the top; Ava’s not as excited about her work as she should be and can’t fully be herself around Ruby. Something’s missing, and when the two run into each other at a comedy festival, it doesn’t take long for them to realize that something is each other.
The writers do an amazing job of making the audience feel their separation.Hacksisagonizingly off-kilter with Deborah and Ava apart, with the first piece of the Season 3 premiere intentionally rocky and wrong. Distance really does make the heart grow fonder, as things immediately snap into place the second the two come face-to-face again and commit to navigating a new dynamic — this time as something akin to peers — as, together, they try to achieve something decades in the making: getting Deborah her own late-night show.
‘Hacks’ Season 3 Solidifies Deborah and Ava as TV’s Most Interesting Dynamic
Smart and Einbinder’s chemistry is simply undeniable. As fun as it’s been to watch Deborah boss Ava around for the past two seasons, it might actually be evenmoreenjoyable to see themfind their footing and interact as relative equals, whether they’re getting drunk at a frat party (yes, that really happens — and the show manages to make it feelnatural) or going on a predictably disastrous hike. They bring such ease and simplicity to one of the most nuanced and complicated relationships on TV.
Of course, it’s not all smooth sailing. Despite their growth, Deborah can still be deliciously selfish and arrogant, while Ava is delightfully messy and awkward. There’s a core of love between them, but that doesn’t mean there’s no toxicity or codependency. Real baggage and tension is simmering under the surface, with Deborah hurt by her past and Ava hurt by Deborah’s actions. Complex questions are raised and explored, and the show digs in deeper and more fearlessly than ever before on the subjects of aging and feminism, the cycle of trauma, and the evolution of culture and the entertainment industry. My only qualm is thatHackscould easily be an hour-long show— and sometimes might be better for it. Some storylines are disappointingly glossed over or cut away from early and would benefit from diving into more thoroughly.
The show has never been bolder or more earnest — not in a saccharine way (don’t worry, there’s still plenty of bite) but in an authentic one. I know I’ve cried atHacksbefore, but I don’t remember ever crying quite thismuch, and that’s partially due toSeason 3’s emotional role reversalof sorts. Deborah is more in tune with her sadness and fears, while Ava taps into her anger.
The aforementioned hiking episode stands out assome of Smart’s best work— which is really saying something, considering she’s consistently brilliant. In it,Deborah grapples with her mortality and loneliness in a refreshingly raw way.“The magic of ‘one day’ is that it’s all ahead of you,” she tells Ava. “The best thing about being young is you don’t have to savor everything.” We also get to see her face her past head-on, embracing a meaty arc that further examines the tumultuous relationship with her sister, Kathy.
Meanwhile, Einbinder has always been excellent, but it’s clear that she — along with Ava — has become more confident and self-assured with experience. She, too, gives a great performance throughout, though she shines particularly bright in the premiere and the finale episodes when Ava comes into her own in a way we haven’t seen before, finding her voice and going toe-to-toe with her mentor. I kid you not when I say that the finale is reminiscent ofSuccessionat its best, and that’s massively due toEinbinder’s masterful performance.
‘Hacks’ Season 3 Gives Everyone a Chance to Shine
While Deborah and Ava are the heart and soul of the show,Hackshas always done right by its supporting characters, too, and this season is no different.Kaitlin Olsonmakes her return as Deborah’s daughter DJ and also gets some more depth, still reckoning with recovery while also going through some big life changes. She appears most prominently in an episode revolving around a roast of Deborah, which is about as chaotic as you’d expect.
I’ve always felt the show doesn’t quite know what to do with Marcus (Carl Clemons-Hopkins), and while his arc could be a bit more fleshed out, he does get some good material to sink his teeth into this season. It’s meaningful to seeMarcus continue to try and find his place in Deborah’s lifeas her career needs to change, and hilarious to watch his interactions with hardcore gay Deborah fans. The latter even pays tribute to the powerful relationship between divas and their gay man stans a laCher,Madonna,Lisa Vanderpump— the list goes on.
I’m well aware I’m in the minority who usually finds the Jimmy (Paul W. Downs) and Kayla (Megan Stalter) storylines a weaker point of the show, with the louder, more absurdist style of comedy they usually bring occasionally grating and bumping up against the more grounded wit. But this season, I was pleasantly surprised by how well their arcs gelled with the rest of the story. They aremuch more integrated and necessary to the overall plot than in previous seasonsas they creatively problem-solve to get Deborah a shot at late-night, whether that means playing the world’s most expensive game of pickleball or reading a bizarre screenplay byFatty Arbuckle’s relative. Kayla becomes more dimensional than ever, and it’s nice to see Stalter given the chance to flex a slightly more serious muscle for a change.
‘Hacks’ Season 3 Has Its Finger on the Pulse
I’ve talked a lot about the more dramatic elements of the season, but rest assured, this isstill one of the funniest shows on television. Few series are able to successfully satirize the entertainment industry, and fewer still can manage to effectively skewer Gen Z or Boomers.Hacksmanages to do all of the above with razor-sharp specificity, from jokes about Hollywood looking for movies about “the hot animated spoon fromBeauty and the Beast” to getting Deborah’s image out there by having her appear on gas station pump screens. It’s incredible how locked-in the writers are to the current moment, honing on the smallest, weirdest, yet most universal details to evoke the biggest laughs.
Not only isHacksone of the most hilarious shows, but it also remainsone of the most authentically queer, too — especially when it comes to how it handles Ava’s bisexuality. I’m calling it now:Christina Hendricks’involvement is going to alter many a sapphic’s brain chemistry. That entire storyline taps into an experience that’s so quintessentially gay girl — one that’s never been put on TV to make the community feel so seen and understood yet brazenly called out at the same time. As one of said gay girls, it’s a really special feeling to be so simultaneously loved and roasted.
It’s also special to see Deborah being influenced and changed by Ava and her identity — even if Deborah is resentful of it at times.Even when tackling issues as sticky and loaded as cancel culture and wokeness, the show very rarely ever veers into heavy-handed or cheesy territory.Hacksalways puts its characters first, focusing on humanity and the humor that naturally arises from them before anything else. At the end of the day, that feels like the biggest secret to its success.
HacksSeason 3 manages to make one of the best comedies even better.Its third outing strikes a delicate balance between letting its characters grow and evolve while never forgetting what made us fall in love with them in the first place. It’ssmarter, funnier, and more moving than ever. If we’re lucky enough to be blessed with a Season 4 (and after that finale, webetterbe), there’s no doubt it will be able to reinvent itself all over again.
Hacks has never been funnier or more moving, letting its characters evolve while retaining what we’ve always loved about them.
HacksSeason 3 premieres with its first two episodes May 2 on Max.
