Warning: This story contains spoilers for the series finale of Hacks.
Deborah Vance delivered her final joke in the May 28 series finale of Hacks, bringing to a close the five-season journey of the fictional stand-up icon, played by Jean Smart, and her young comedy writer Ava Daniels, portrayed by Hannah Einbinder.
The episode opens with an intentional full-circle moment. It begins with a one-shot of Ava walking through the set of the show she is now running as she makes decisions and answers questions before taking a seat. That mirrors the opening scene in the premiere episode of Season 1, where there is a one-shot of Deborah walking backstage after her comedy routine.
According to the series’ creators, this scene was planned out from the very beginning to show how deeply the central duo has influenced one another.
“We really made sure it looked the same,” explained co-creator Lucia Aniello during a Q&A following a screening of the final episode this week in Los Angeles. “The idea is that we started with this story of Deborah and over the course of the series the two of them have really blended in so many ways. For us to end that final episode with Ava, it’s like Deborah has given so much of herself to Ava so when Ava is now in charge and able to run her own show we are trying to say visually so much of Deborah is now in Ava and those shots are a continuation of that.”
For her part, Smart points to another callback as a favorite scene in the finale. There was a running gag from the jump where Deborah made fun of Ava’s supposedly large hands. In the last episode, Deborah and Ava are sitting outside a Paris cafe when Deborah asks Ava to hold up her hand. “One of my all-time favorite things about the final episode is when Deborah then holds up her hand and shows [Ava] that [Deborah’s] hand was actually bigger,” Smart said laughing, while recalling the scene. Co-creator Paul W. Downs added that they actually wrote the original hand joke before Einbinder was even cast in the role.
In the finale, Deborah and Ava travel to Europe, where Deborah, who has been diangosed with cancer, is seeking to end her life. Ava does everything she can to get Deborah to change her mind, but Deborah refuses to listen — until the very end, when she finally relents. The blend of humor and heart is exactly what the creative team always strove for, even when tackling substantive, real-world issues.
“Whenever we are talking about a story, we always want to make sure that we can make it funny and that it makes sense for the characters to be dealing with that issue not just it’s something we want to get on our soapbox about,” explained co-creator Jen Statsky. “Getting to make this show is such a privilege to get to put ideas out into the world and to get to say things that we think are worth saying. We want to make people laugh but we also want to honor the amazing platform we have been given.”
For Einbinder, who won an Emmy as Ava last year, her hope is that the show’s lasting impact will be defined by how it successfully brought people together.
“The most meaningful legacy that the show holds for me is that it feels like a roadmap to connection and discourse intergenerationally,” said Einbinder. “I have had so many people come up to me and tell me that they watched it with their mom or an older relative or a daughter and that the show helped them understand each other.”
As for Smart, who has received four Emmys for her role, she felt the ending was “absolutely perfect.”
“The relationship between the two of them was always at the heart of the show surrounded by brilliance,” said Smart. “It was magical being in Paris. I hope people will always think of this as one of the funniest shows ever.”
