Hacks: Season 3
May 12, 2024 1:24 PM - Season 3 (Full Season) - Subscribe
Our story resumes: the continuing adventures of Deborah Vance, legendary Las Vegas stand-up comedy diva, and Ava Daniels, a young comedy writer.
It was nice to see that Deborah and Ava were wrong about how DJ's material would be received by the audience at the roast. She needed that win.
posted by sardonyx at 7:27 AM on May 13 [4 favorites]
posted by sardonyx at 7:27 AM on May 13 [4 favorites]
On a similar note to DJ needing a win, I like the character development in Kayla - she’s a much more interesting/believable assistant if she’s successful every once in a while. Love that she got Jimmy on the pickleball court with Winnie and that she was a passable pickleball player herself.
posted by slmorri at 9:52 AM on May 13 [4 favorites]
posted by slmorri at 9:52 AM on May 13 [4 favorites]
The “I understand you now, mom” after the roast was devastatingly good writing.
posted by FallibleHuman at 10:08 PM on May 13 [10 favorites]
posted by FallibleHuman at 10:08 PM on May 13 [10 favorites]
Oh yes, the acceptance in "it's ok, mom, addicts always hurt the ones they love," coming from DJ, was so powerful.
I also dearly love that this show avoided the standard cringe comedy route at the roast, where I thought for sure that either Deborah or DJ was going to bomb miserably, or the jokes aimed their way would be too savage and not received well by them. Refreshing, like so much of the rest of the season so far.
posted by mediareport at 4:58 AM on May 14 [6 favorites]
I also dearly love that this show avoided the standard cringe comedy route at the roast, where I thought for sure that either Deborah or DJ was going to bomb miserably, or the jokes aimed their way would be too savage and not received well by them. Refreshing, like so much of the rest of the season so far.
posted by mediareport at 4:58 AM on May 14 [6 favorites]
I'm loving this season so far! I think this is a tough show to get right - you really gotta know how to write comedy to make a show about writing comedy really work. And for all the broad characters in there, the central relationships feel so real.
I just wish Helen Hunt had allowed herself to age naturally.
posted by crossoverman at 5:32 PM on May 14 [1 favorite]
I just wish Helen Hunt had allowed herself to age naturally.
posted by crossoverman at 5:32 PM on May 14 [1 favorite]
I like that she essentially works for John Oliver, reading hours of material on the destruction of coral reefs to write comedy about it.
I'm feeling really mixed about Ava torpedoing her romantic relationship to work with Deborah. She's clearly very drawn to Deborah and energized by her, but her relationship also seemed good. Are we meant to feel that they were growing apart?
Maybe the ambiguity is the point, and Ava is still not quite where she needs to be.
posted by jeoc at 7:35 PM on May 17 [1 favorite]
I'm feeling really mixed about Ava torpedoing her romantic relationship to work with Deborah. She's clearly very drawn to Deborah and energized by her, but her relationship also seemed good. Are we meant to feel that they were growing apart?
Maybe the ambiguity is the point, and Ava is still not quite where she needs to be.
posted by jeoc at 7:35 PM on May 17 [1 favorite]
I think we're meant to see that Ava's personal and professional lives were incompatible, and in the end, she chose her professional life. And I like that Ava's decision has a cost to it.
I've watched the most recent two episodes, and the guest stars were so good. I also really love seeing Jimmy and Kayla succeed without taking Jack Danby down.
posted by gladly at 12:19 PM on May 24 [2 favorites]
I've watched the most recent two episodes, and the guest stars were so good. I also really love seeing Jimmy and Kayla succeed without taking Jack Danby down.
posted by gladly at 12:19 PM on May 24 [2 favorites]
I thought the Christmas episode really worked, especially by leaving tensions amongst family members unresolved.
I'm not sure if the Late Night news will be good or bad for the show's development, but I trust the writing team enough to see if they can make it work.
posted by sardonyx at 4:26 PM on May 24
I'm not sure if the Late Night news will be good or bad for the show's development, but I trust the writing team enough to see if they can make it work.
posted by sardonyx at 4:26 PM on May 24
Goddamn, the finale of the season finale was so perfect. No spoilers in case folks haven't gotten to the end, but I was raising my concerned eyebrows off the top of my head at where it seemed to be going, but then....those final few lines were sooo good.
I haven't seen anything announced about a 4th season, so it's fine with me that everything about this episode works as a show-ender - the hilarity between Marcus and Damien, the "WHAT IS YOUR DEAL?!" airplane proposal, the tango with unhappily married Marty, and again, those final moments, which act so perfectly as both a final punctuation to Deborah and Ava's relationship *and* a setup to further adventures.
Go Ava. Go Hacks.
posted by mediareport at 6:30 AM on May 30 [5 favorites]
I haven't seen anything announced about a 4th season, so it's fine with me that everything about this episode works as a show-ender - the hilarity between Marcus and Damien, the "WHAT IS YOUR DEAL?!" airplane proposal, the tango with unhappily married Marty, and again, those final moments, which act so perfectly as both a final punctuation to Deborah and Ava's relationship *and* a setup to further adventures.
Go Ava. Go Hacks.
posted by mediareport at 6:30 AM on May 30 [5 favorites]
Ok, one minor elliptical spoiler:
"Wouldn't you?"
Genius.
posted by mediareport at 6:31 AM on May 30 [8 favorites]
"Wouldn't you?"
Genius.
posted by mediareport at 6:31 AM on May 30 [8 favorites]
The network renewed it for a fourth season.
I hate these short seasons. Nine episodes? Couldn't they at least make it to double digits?
That said, the finale was strong and set the show up brilliantly for the next season. As I posted above, I had my doubts about giving Deborah what she has always wanted, so I appreciate the fact that she's not going to have an easy time of it, thanks not to the network but to her own mistreatment of Ava.
posted by sardonyx at 9:48 PM on May 30 [5 favorites]
I hate these short seasons. Nine episodes? Couldn't they at least make it to double digits?
That said, the finale was strong and set the show up brilliantly for the next season. As I posted above, I had my doubts about giving Deborah what she has always wanted, so I appreciate the fact that she's not going to have an easy time of it, thanks not to the network but to her own mistreatment of Ava.
posted by sardonyx at 9:48 PM on May 30 [5 favorites]
That's great news. Given the hilariously vicious take on late night show writers as clods in the Deborah-as-substitute episode, I'm very much looking forward to what the show does next.
To be honest, I did feel like some of the later episodes this season had some clunky moments (was not a huge fan of the lost in the woods ep, and the Cathy storyline felt kind of clichéd, though I felt the way it ended was good). I like these characters a lot, and don't need much in the way of plot contrivances to enjoy them interacting with each other.
posted by mediareport at 9:07 AM on May 31 [2 favorites]
To be honest, I did feel like some of the later episodes this season had some clunky moments (was not a huge fan of the lost in the woods ep, and the Cathy storyline felt kind of clichéd, though I felt the way it ended was good). I like these characters a lot, and don't need much in the way of plot contrivances to enjoy them interacting with each other.
posted by mediareport at 9:07 AM on May 31 [2 favorites]
One small correction to what mediareport said: Marty isn't married yet. That tango was a rehearsal for his wedding.
posted by BlahLaLa at 6:08 PM on May 31 [1 favorite]
posted by BlahLaLa at 6:08 PM on May 31 [1 favorite]
"Wouldn't you?"
That was such a perfect, earned line and delivered perfectly.
Jimmy and Kayla was ridiculous, and it was a palate cleanser of silliness between Deborah v. Kathy and Deborah v. Ava.
I can't remember the last time I've seen two women have a fight in entertainment that wasn't about shared family or a man. It was so full of rage and fear and sadness, and it was about their professional dreams and their friendship.
posted by gladly at 8:57 PM on May 31 [8 favorites]
That was such a perfect, earned line and delivered perfectly.
Jimmy and Kayla was ridiculous, and it was a palate cleanser of silliness between Deborah v. Kathy and Deborah v. Ava.
I can't remember the last time I've seen two women have a fight in entertainment that wasn't about shared family or a man. It was so full of rage and fear and sadness, and it was about their professional dreams and their friendship.
posted by gladly at 8:57 PM on May 31 [8 favorites]
yeah goddamn they stuck that ending. stoked for season 4
posted by Kybard at 3:55 PM on June 3 [2 favorites]
posted by Kybard at 3:55 PM on June 3 [2 favorites]
Ava
girl
That is not how you carry golf clubs
You are giving me back pain
posted by thecaddy at 5:25 PM on June 3 [4 favorites]
girl
That is not how you carry golf clubs
You are giving me back pain
posted by thecaddy at 5:25 PM on June 3 [4 favorites]
I didn't have the impression that Ava's relationship was *that* great. Her partner seemed way too insistent that Ava just spend her entire break in Iceland essentially by herself while the partner was off shooting her movie, and then breaking up because she decided that Ava's choice was bad for Ava. I'm not saying this makes it a *terrible* relationship, but to me her partner's behavior made the relationship loss seem less of a cost in comparison with the benefit of going to do the work.
posted by mabelstreet at 8:15 PM on June 3 [3 favorites]
posted by mabelstreet at 8:15 PM on June 3 [3 favorites]
Loved that Jimmy's mom was Deidre Hall, then loved it even more when she showed up. She looks amazing!
posted by amarynth at 6:25 AM on June 18 [1 favorite]
posted by amarynth at 6:25 AM on June 18 [1 favorite]
Ava's performance in that last episode in the fight with Deborah was Emmy-worthy.
posted by simonw at 7:50 PM on June 28 [3 favorites]
posted by simonw at 7:50 PM on June 28 [3 favorites]
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posted by hepta at 6:48 AM on May 13 [5 favorites]