Seasoned and incredibly charismatic comedienne extraordinaire Deborah Vance (Jean Smart) performs another explosive comedy show to thunderous applause from her dedicated audience. She treads backstage to her garish dressing room in the opulent Las Vegas Palmetto hotel and casino, exchanging surface-level pleasantries with her crew along the way. Exhausted, she rests and stares quizzically into the mirror, carefully checking her demeanor for any noticeable cracks in the facade she has been maintaining for decades as a woman in the entertainment industry.
Outcast Ava (Hannah Einbinder) feels misplaced in the same sphere. Once possessing an auspicious career in comedy, the young yet difficult woman has now inadvertently burned the majority of her bridges with a slightly offensive Tweet, finally confining her to occupational stasis. Desperate and on the verge of being dropped by her talent agency, she agrees to interview for a position as a joke writer for the highly caustic and infamous Deborah, who she considers to be a “hack” circling the drain creatively.
There has been a glut of show business satires in recent years, but Hacks astonishingly conjures its own creative voice within minutes of its exhilarating pilot. Ava begrudgingly arrives at Deborah’s excessively extravagant mansion (the entitled, perpetually socially conscious 25-year-old quips that we need to tax the rich), and the two strong-willed women quickly do not see eye-to-eye, exchanging blistering, mirth-tinged insults with the sheer force of two people with not much left to lose. In a surprising twist, the wickedly observant Deborah detects potential in the arrogant Ava and decides to hire her, though their differing viewpoints, spurred by the generational divide, pose countless challenges for their burgeoning relationship.
Hacks is endlessly hysterical, but it is also devastatingly hysterical. The show always is able to derive comedy from its precisely defined characters while never trivializing its rich subtext. It’s like a once-bright stage light that lost its sheen, evoking a weary effervescence of sorts. With every shrewd combination of laughs and insights, Hacks scintillates with tragic empathy for its characters, whether it is pampered Deborah struggling to change the filter in her home soda machine- stiletto heels and all- as her staff watches; ironically naïve, brazenly self-involved Ava forging a doomed romantic relationship with an enigmatic man at the casino; or some painfully incisive twists that imbue the show with even more tragicomedy and dimension.
A penetrative work of impressive dexterity, Hacks will sneakily shock you with its endearing central relationship encased in its prickly humor- and its robust supporting characters not trailing far behind. With every nuanced scene, it becomes increasingly clear that Deborah has sacrificed her authenticity to preserve her success in this sexist business: Her relationship with her daughter DJ (an always dependable Kaitlin Olsen) is nothing short of contentious and complicated; she blurs the lines between romance and manipulation as she attempts to wrestle back her stage time from the Palmetto’s deceitful CEO (Christopher McDonald), who seems biased against a female comedian in her 60s; and her long-suffering manager Marcus (Carl Clemons-Hopkins) is dismayed with her current condition.
Perhaps its most exquisite element, though, is that Hacks allows its characters to suffer their consequences- both just and unjust- rendering immense dimensionality in its gray areas. Deborah and Ava are occasionally reprehensible, but they always have their buoyant moments of humanity, compassion and tenderness, especially with each other (Deborah permanently exiling a misogynist from the comedy scene is entertainment at its most poignant and rapturous). As two lonely women on opposite ends of the age divide and #MeToo movement, their combative but ultimately fulfilling connection underscores the hope in human relationships that still remains in adversity. This searingly observant reconciliation in even the most toxic environment is thrilling to behold as Deborah’s need for truthful redemption and Ava’s privileged modern sensibilities combine in thematically rich ways.
It also helps that Hacks is anchored by the incomparable Jean Smart in a career-best role. Her presence sizzles with flamboyant gusto and engrossing emotional texture that challenges our perceptions of the disaffected Hollywood starlet. It’s elating to see Smart, a veteran of the television medium itself, catch an astronomical career resurgence from this and other HBO properties like Watchmen and Mare of Easttown. This masterful performance and entailing character are destined to become iconic, like other female-led sitcom staples Julia Louis-Dreyfuss in Veep or Amy Poehler in Parks in Recreation. Relative newcomer Einbinder also more than holds her own against the legend herself with dynamic energy.
Is there a word for when tears are streaming down your face but you’re also laughing uncontrollably and trying to untie a nervous knot in your stomach? We need to invent one before the sublime Hacks returns for its inevitable second season. Sharply eclectic, uncompromisingly honest and volcanically cathartic, this freshman season is not just great or innovative in avenues that other shows wouldn’t dare to venture: It’s utterly and glamorously monumental.
All ten episodes of the inaugural season of ‘Hacks’ are now available on HBO Max.
Photo Credit / HBO Max
