Hacks has always been a romance to me. Yes, I know that Ava (Hannah Einbinder) and Deborah (Jean Smart) are never going to “end up together” in the traditional sense. Deborah is never going to run in the rain and confess her undying love for Ava. However, I have always found the show compelling because the pushes and pulls of their dynamic are more reminiscent of a romantic relationship than a mere platonic friendship. The show makes it clear that they are soulmates who bring the very best out of each other… when they’re not bringing the very worst out of each other. It helps that Einbinder and Smart’s chemistry is electric, turning conversations into verbal battles of wit or collaborative races to the punchline. Hacks is a will they/won’t they at its core, but a will they or won’t they resolve their deep-seated flaws to remain creative partners in the long term. 

Yet as much as it hurts to see, in order for a will they/won’t they to remain compelling for several seasons, conflict is needed to drive the two leads apart. Though Ava and Deborah have had their differences before, their relationship has never faced anything like the jaw-dropping season 3 finale reveal. It drives a substantial wedge between them for most of the season, as they struggle to reconcile their mutual hurt and mutual need for Deborah’s late night show to succeed. This tension can be difficult to watch at points, as the series thrives on Ava and Deborah’s spirited banter, but it is ultimately necessary for the growth of both characters. As much as we viewers may yearn for them to immediately “get back together”, it would not be faithful to either of these stubborn women’s personalities. What we receive instead for the bulk of the season is angst. With no outlet for their feelings of betrayal, Ava and Deborah trade thinly veiled barbs under the guise of comedy. It is still entertaining to watch, but it must be noted that the best parts of the season devoted to their rift are the scenes approached with earnesty about the love and the hurt they have for one another.

As a comedy, I do believe the show suffers from not having access to the aforementioned Ava and Deborah banter the entire time. They still interact constantly, but the twinge of bitterness underneath every jab makes it a bit harder to laugh. Hacks’s refusal to have the same dynamic between our leading ladies for more than one season is truly admirable, but it does make the first half of season 4 underwhelm somewhat in comparison to the pitch-perfect season of TV that was season 3. Jimmy (Paul W. Downs) and Kayla (Meg Stalter) are similarly still fun but not as quite well-utilized as in season 3… until the back half of season 4 kicks in. 

Episodes 6 through 9 just may be the best run of the series to date, as the inner conflicts all four characters were faced with throughout the season come to a head in a brilliant mix of poignancy and humor. The penultimate episode “A Slippery Slope” in particular stands out as the best episode of the entire show, paying off the pilot brilliantly and adding a painstaking level of realism despite having a scene depicting the most absurd situation this show has concocted yet. The way Ava and Deborah’s relationship is forced to evolve as a result is done so masterfully. But unlike in previous seasons, there is a sense of finality to this duo’s tumultuous bond; there is no going back after the events that transpire. If this means that this wonderful comedy/love story only has about a season left in it, so be it. This show has been a delight to watch from day one, so all I can hope for is that all of these characters that I’ve grown to love over the years get the endings they deserve.

I will say that the final episode of the season feels less like a finale and more like the beginning to a new season of Hacks. I understand not wanting to end the season without giving some bones for how the next season could unfold, but “Heaven” doesn’t pack quite the same punch as “A Slippery Slope”. It is more akin to a Bojack Horseman rebuilding of a new status quo after obliterating it the episode before season finale than our usual Hacks throwing a massive curveball at the very end that punches you squarely in the gut season finale. But it is an emotional episode in its own right, and I appreciate it not taking the easy way out with Deborah’s arc.

Though I have a few qualms with the occasionally inconsistent writing (though to be clear, as a mediocre Hacks episode is still one of the better comedy episodes you’ll see on TV), there are two aspects of the show that have never been better: Jean Smart and Hannah Einbinder. Jean Smart has won three Emmys, three SAG awards, two Golden Globes, three Critics Choice awards, and two TCA awards for the role of Deborah Vance, and she’s sure to add even more trophies to her mantle after this stellar performance. Her line delivery is as cutting as it has ever been, but the reluctant emotional vulnerability she portrays this season genuinely takes my breath away. Hannah Einbinder, on the other hand, has only one Critics Choice award to her name for the role of Ava Daniels; a fact that surely has to change after this season. Einbinder gets better and better every season of Hacks, taking a character that could easily become a millennial caricature in a lesser performer’s hands and turns her into the heart of the entire show. This season gives her the best material she has had to date, and whether she’s unhinged, hilarious, painfully hard-to-watch, or heartbreaking, Einbinder is simply magnetic the entire time. The main reason I watch Hacks is to see these two exceptional actors go toe-to-toe as they bring two unwitting soulmates to life.

The fourth season of Hacks is not the best season of the show. Yet despite all of the tension between our two leads, or rather because of it, it is by far the most earnest and tender one. After all, any relationship that is truly worthwhile goes through intense struggles and comes out all the better for it by the end.

8.5/10