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WARNING: SPOILERS ahead for Hacks season 4, episode 5.
Hacks season 4, episode 5, “Clickable Face”, features some of the biggest guest stars in the series’ history while also pivoting Deborah and Ava’s ongoing feud from personal to creative differences. After a successful opening week for Deborah’s late-night show, the show slumped from number 1 to number 4 in Nielsen Ratings. The old-school Deborah and the progressive Ava are inspired to capture more viewers outside Deborah’s demographic, leading to strategic and ideological clashes as well as a fierce power struggle.
After Deborah’s Vegas writer’s retreat in Hacks season 4, episode 3 goes sideways, a mandated mediator, Stacey (played by Michaela Watkins), must be present during all of Deborah and Ava’s workplace conversations in Hacks season 4, episode 4. Stacey becomes a hilarious third party to their rivalry before taking a nasty fall at the end of season 4, episode 5, bleeding from the mouth while criticizing Ava for trying to make the show too highbrow and Deborah for being obsessed with viewership data.
Watkins is one of several Hacks season 4 guest stars, which expands to include Kristen Bell, Jimmy Kimmel, and Julianne Nicholson in episode 5. Their cameos have a narrative purpose, much like the wide variety of guest appearances on another beloved showbiz comedy series, Curb Your Enthusiasm, which Hacks feels increasingly similar to thanks to its newfound Los Angeles setting. Although the show has always been centered on Ava and Deborah’s relationship, the influence of Hollywood is so prevalent in season 4 that Hacks has nearly become a modern Entourage.
Hacks Season 4’s Shift To LA Brilliantly Invites Self-Reflexive Hollywood Influence & A-List Cameos
Hacks Has Become More Exciting In Los Angeles Than Las Vegas
Image via Max
While Bell just plays herself getting booked for Deborah’s show at a grocery store, Kimmel goes full-blown cutthroat in a hilariously threatening monologue that covers everything from studio lot parking spaces and dibs on Kristen Bell to James Corden sweeping chimneys in England. His “You f***ed with the wrong Jimmy” line had me laughing with a dropped jaw.
Julianne Nicholson, of recent Paradise acclaim, guest stars as a fictional TikTok star named Dance Mom. At first, she becomes the only thing that Ava and Deborah agree on, as they both give a “no” for her to appear on the show following an audition through Jimmy and Kayla. Dance Mom ends up saving the show, however, by getting the crowd energized and even pulling Deborah up for an improvised dance number.
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Dance Mom represents a new type of normal-person-turned-celebrity spawned by social media apps. She also represents content rather than craft, which is partly why Ava is so furious at the end of the episode. Deborah’s quick thinking to feature Dance Mom proves that she’s willing to overlook her personal opinion and overly high standards for the betterment of the show. This is a tough pill for Ava to swallow since she wants every second of the show to be pristine and intentional. Regardless, Dance Mom was a hit.
Deborah & Ava’s Ongoing Feud Still Prevents Them From Making Their Late-Night Show A Hit
Deborah & Ava’s Creative Differences Add Weight To Their Personal Dispute
Image via Max
At the midpoint of Hacks season 4, Deborah and Ava feel so far away from the close friendship they started to form in season 1. I appreciate how much Hacks is leaning into their personal conflict and creative disputes that are mostly incredibly valid and never forced. Their dialogue about which types of jokes should make the cut speaks to a larger conversation surrounding the state of modern comedy. Deborah wants to play the classics while Ava tries to push the envelope and veer Deborah into becoming a social commentator, which she clearly is not.
Ava switching up Deborah’s “wine-o’clock” joke for her Sweden gag felt more about abusing her leverage over Deborah than doing what was actually best for the show.
Ava’s subplot as a third in a polyamorous relationship keenly demonstrates this new side of her, which is partly the result of fighting for what you deserve and also partly the peak of an ego-fueled power trip. Ava’s fallacies and immaturities are starting to become clearer in Hacks season 4, episode 5, as she’s trying to force Deborah into becoming more of a Colbert when she’s always had a classic Letterman vibe. Ava switching up Deborah’s “wine-o’clock” joke for her Sweden gag felt more about abusing her leverage over Deborah than doing what was actually best for the show.
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Merrill Markoe’s cameo in Hacks season 4, episode 4, honors her legacy as a legendary comedy writer that dates even farther back than Letterman.
Deborah reaches a new low by calling Ava a “pathetic conniving b***h” in front of a live audience, which leads to Stacey’s injury and crash out. The no-nonsense Winnie, who was notably absent from episode 5, may step in to do some damage control in episode 6 and could even teach Ava a lesson about playing with fire, especially one that had been burning strong for decades before her arrival. While Ava is still young enough to want to be a social revolutionary of sorts, her indignation may be coming off as irreverence.
While Ava is still young enough to want to be a social revolutionary of sorts, her indignation may be coming off as irreverence.
The bottom line after this episode is that if Ava doesn’t want to “sell Deborah’s soap“, she should probably find another show to write for. Deborah should never have bait-and-switched Ava into a staff role in the first place, but Ava is letting her power play over Deborah get to her head.
That said, Deborah would do well to ensure that she’s not enforcing her old-school brand of comedy at the expense of women (having the front of her desk removed to reveal her legs, for example, is a clear adherence to the outdated “sex sells” marketing mantra). Whether you’re Team Ava or Team Deborah, Hacks season 4 has served up some outstandingly nuanced drama while still keeping the punchlines coming.
New episodes of Hacks are released every Thursday exclusively on HBO & MAX.
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