Editor’s note: The below interview contains spoilers for Hacks Season 4 Episode 6.
That Hacks Season 3 finale twist, when a fuming and forlorn Ava (Hannah Einbinder) decides to embrace her dark side and blackmail her mentor Deborah (Jean Smart) into giving her the Late Night head writer position, completely recalibrated the series and thrust it — along with Ava and Deborah’s relationship — into uncharted territory. How on Earth were these two comedy soulmates ever going to come back from this — and get Late Night off the ground, no less?
Ava’s bold, out-of-character move that Season 4 of Hacks wrestles with is both heinous and overdue. After all, Ava only blackmailed Deborah because she was pushed to it after finding out that Deborah gave her the head writer position, then lied and said the network didn’t want Ava, simply so Deborah could bring in an industry veteran to make sure her show was “bulletproof.” Ava was left with no other choice but to take a page out of Deborah’s playbook.
Backstabbing and brutality aside, Hacks Season 4 is utterly hilarious, and our leads are as sharp and witty as ever as they carry this big storyline on their shoulders. During this interview with Collider, Hannah Einbinder and Jean Smart walk us through their first impressions of the season, whether or not Ava and Deborah’s relationship can be repaired, Deborah's stage fright, and how much is on the line for Late Night.
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