Its creative vision has always been solid, so I’m not surprised to see Hacks end well, but after its fifth and final season it’s clear that it didn’t end at quite the right time. After sticking the landing on several season finales, Hacks may have lasted a smidge too long — although I still think it’s worth seeing through to its ending.
An extended story of deep friendship, intergenerational collaboration, and the pursuit of creative excellence, Hacks has long milked the comic chemistry of the dynamic duo at its core, Hannah Einbinder and Jean Smart. Smart plays seasoned comedian Deborah Vance, a sassy boomer who battled uphill against the misogyny of the business to both lofty career highs and deep, dark lows. Helping build Deborah’s late-career legacy has been comedy writer Ava Daniels (Einbinder), a sardonic milennial whose perspective helped hone Deborah’s voice and raise her game. Reluctantly thrust together by their manager Jimmy LuSaque (Paul W. Downs), these two strong personalities have alternated between best of friends and heated rivals over the years, but as season five begins, they’re united at last in the wake of Deborah’s late-night TV show cancellation, a vendetta orchestrated by scheming executive Bob Lipka (Tony Goldwyn). A potentially career-ending bind isn’t enough to stop Deborah, however, and she uses the extra time of an extended gag order to mobilize Ava and her allies toward one last comeback moment: a triumphant final gig at Madison Square Garden.
Having entertainingly run a number of gamuts over several years, Hacks doesn’t have much left to say in season five. As such it focuses, rightly, on simply saying the most important thing: goodbye. The show has been such a class act that a farewell tour feels well earned, even if it results in awkward reaches — like thrusting Deborah into a Celebrity Amazing Race with her daughter DJ (Kaitlin Olson), or dangling her in a glass cube over the Las Vegas Strip for a publicity stunt. But even in its weaker moments, it does a fine job bringing closure — not just for Deborah and Ava, but for the key players surrounding them (Downs, Megan Stalter, Carl Clemons-Hopkins, Robby Hoffman, and more). I suppose the flip side of the cancelled-too-soon lament is the show that does well enough to get renewed past its optimal ending point. Alas, Hacks may be the latter — but not by much, and it can certainly be forgiven for riding its success for a while in light of its many memorable highlights and upbeat final moments.
