S01.E10: I Think She Will

[peachmangosteen]

Quote

As her final performance at the Palmetto approaches, Deborah must decide whether to put it all on the line

Airs June 10th. Season finale.

[pennben]

Deborah all day every day.  Jean Smart, I would ask for nothing more than her on screen every second of this show.
I fell into trap of believing Ava could be something. My bad. She’s nothing. I’ve seen no evidence she’s funny. No evidence she’s remotely smart, savvy, anything redeeming.  She’s a screen-suck of time away from characters I thoroughly enjoy in this show.  
I love this show, that’s a problem they are going to need to fix going forward.  I don’t think it’s on the actress, she has great chemistry with Smart, I think the writers have just written a shitty, shitty character for her. 
So happy for a second season, may they fix that & always, always focus on their star—Jean Smart, don’t really need anything else. That’s the magic. 

[arc]

Loved the whole show, loved the twists and turns of the season finale, really liked the last twist of the episode. It's the voicemail predicament from ep 6, but now she's trapped on a plane and in any case, there's definitely no way for Hannah to delete this email.

Kayla's so chaotic. I love her. Or at least she's a super funny character.

I feel like Marcus kinda deserved that dumping cause it's karma for ratting out Ava like that.

I can see why Ava can't relate to her mom.

Also, it took me all the way out of the show for a moment when there was an establishing shot of somewhere on the east coast and it's actually downtown Vancouver BC. I'm from Vancouver, I recognize that street, the pub in the background, the office building opposite, and every single street name in the shot (Granville and Seymour). All the show did was digitally put "Boston" in the front of one long-distance bus.

Edited June 10, 2021 by arc

[DoubleUTeeEff]

This was a surprisingly touching episode. I really liked Deborah giving everyone at the funeral an emotional outlet by doing what she does best--making people laugh. Plus, the conversation between Ava and Deborah after the funeral was nice with Deborah telling Ava that she's too good to quit and touring wouldn't be as much fun without her.

I also really laughed at the agent saying "I'm in the middle of a MeToo situation and I'm the Me, Ava!"

Edited June 10, 2021 by DoubleUTeeEff
missed a letter

[amaranta]

Too soon, too fast!  I want more now!  Though yay for already being renewed.

Jean Smart is a Goddess.

I love both women.  They have such great chemistry and I think Ava is finally starting to unwind and warm up a bit.  More so once she somehow gets out of this email mess.

I like Kayla but I hope they don't overuse her.  She's best in small doses.

10 hours ago, arc said:

I feel like Marcus kinda deserved that dumping cause it's karma for ratting out Ava like that.

I kind of agree but I still felt for him - they were such a good couple.

Come on Season Two!

[Quickbeam]

Just a lovely finale. So pleased this was renewed for season 2. Jean Smart just owns this show. I do find I drift until it gets back to her. I appreciate the deep well of commitment Marcus has to Deborah. Boy, I’ve been to a lot of funerals that could have used a Deborah Vance touch.

[Dancingjaneway]

I am so glad this wonderful show is getting another season. Ava is a bitch. There really is nothing redeeming about her at this point. I feel bad for Deborah because she has let Ava in & is going to end up paying for it. I do love Marcus & was hoping that he & the water guy would stay together but oh well. Also my unpopular opinion about this show is I HATE Kayla. She is just too stupid & it's not funny.  Jean Smart deserves an emmy for her work on this show. 

[DiabLOL]

I cant stand the Kayla character. She’s ridiculous and doesn’t fit in the show. 
I also feel that the way I see Ava is not the way the writers want me to and that’s a problem for me. I don’t find her very likable or worth rooting for. 
I feel bad fir Marcus but he’s better off. He didn’t want to go camping! He shouldn’t change into someone else. Also the water guy has a job with very different parameters than the job Marcus has. I thought he was way out of line and good riddance.

I love Jean smart in this and love how she manages to flesh out a complex character who in less capable hands would have been played as an over the top one note monster.

[ahpny]

On 6/10/2021 at 8:10 PM, Dancingjaneway said:

Ava is a bitch. There really is nothing redeeming about her at this point.

I'm more forgiving. The character is still a good foil for Deborah. But the entitled twenty-something routine wore thin fast. How many times can we see her burn another bridge, or risk burning another bridge, through some essentially pointless and infantile emotional outburst. I get that's her schtick and how she came to be cancelled in the first place, but if we can see Deborah grow, why can't we see some progress with Ava?

A reasonably well-adjusted adult in the LA job situation Ava found herself in would politely thank them and gently suggest she not quite right for what they want, but still hopes to work with them on some other project where she'd be a better fit. If they demanded more detail, she could honestly say she didn't feel comfortable throwing Deborah under the bus. Storming out in a profanity-laden temper tantrum is never a good look when leaving a job interview. And why exactly was she angry at them? What did they do to her other than sort of offer her a job? Also, how could she not know what that show was about anyway? 

Edited June 13, 2021 by ahpny

[whiporee]

Ava's a mess. I mean, I can understand it because her mom is a mess, and I guess her dad was a mess. But she's quite the mess. 

Deborah showed some real kindness at the wake. She's right -- those things really do need master or ceremonies. Maybe that should be my next career -- getting people to talk about dead people. 

I was sorry to hear the show bombed, but that makes sense. Comedy takes a LONG time to get right -- stand ups spend months if not years coming up with five tight. Trying to fill an hour would be a gargantuan task.

I'm a little confused about the timelines, like how long had it been since Deborah had decided to try the new stuff? It seems she might have been working some of it in to her regular show. Likewise, how did her set go after she put Drew down? I think these last two episodes needed one more edit. 

Altogether, though, Jean Smart has never been better.This part blew away her role in Mare or even in Watchmen. I even liked it better than Fargo. Hard to believe Charlene has come so far. 

I do wish they hadn't left with a cliffhanger, and if I were a showrunner I'd do a passing line in the season opener that Ava called the writers and said she'd signed a NDA, and if they used anything she told them they'd have to deal with it along with her.  Deborah would probably find that funny. 

It would be cool if at some point, just for kicks, Deborah said one of her inspirations was Midge Maisel. 

It's been a good show. Sorry I didn't space it out further. :)

[arc]

1 hour ago, whiporee said:

if I were a showrunner I'd do a passing line in the season opener that Ava called the writers and said she'd signed a NDA, and if they used anything she told them they'd have to deal with it along with her.  

I don't think NDAs work like that. Ava is in breach. Anyone she told anything -- who didn't themselves sign an NDA -- can do whatever they want with it, and Ava has no recourse.

That said, it's a show about a British PM. They're not going to do stories about how she got run off of being the first late night TV host. And if they do anything like how she left an assistant in the desert, it's probably not going to be uniquely identifiable as a Deborah Vance story because there are tons of monsters in showbiz and elsewhere in power.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

The most important thing I learned from this episode is that funerals need a good MC!

[ruby24]

I'm glad I'm not the only one who HATES Kayla. I really hate her. My reaction to her kind of surprised me in this episode, because it was like, really strong hate when she was onscreen. Like I wanted one of the other characters to punch her in the face and not as a joke. 

She hadn't bothered me that much before, but seeing this much of her was a wake up call. Unfortunately, I get the feeling the show thinks she's really funny and will probably be on more now. I didn't think she was funny AT ALL. She was awful.

[QQQQ]

It feels like there were two different teams writing for Ava. One scene she's a strong, self-aware person who supports women (to the extent that she turns down a great job opportunity because she offended it's anti-women). The next scene we're supposed to believe she's calculating, friendless, and self-absorbed. This isn't normal 20-something behavior, it's poor character development.

[txhorns79]

7 hours ago, arc said:

 

That said, it's a show about a British PM. They're not going to do stories about how she got run off of being the first late night TV host. And if they do anything like how she left an assistant in the desert, it's probably not going to be uniquely identifiable as a Deborah Vance story because there are tons of monsters in showbiz and elsewhere in power.

I'll admit I don't know how it works in terms of storywriting and credit on a tv show, but am I wrong in thinking that if they are directly using Ava's ideas, she would need to be credited on the show? 

[Feech]

I guess they proved that the new show couldn’t be funny since they didn’t show any of it.

Who would want to see an hour of grievance mongering. While an aging performer settles scores with the people she think wronged her.

It reminds me of the end of the movie “Lenny” where they illustrated where Lenny Bruce’s  act was at the end. He was just up there reading court transcripts and cursing out those who did him wrong. People stayed away in droves. I expect they would do the same to the new act.

[arc]

4 hours ago, txhorns79 said:

I'll admit I don't know how it works in terms of storywriting and credit on a tv show, but am I wrong in thinking that if they are directly using Ava's ideas, she would need to be credited on the show? 

Didn’t Law & Order make a business out of “ripped from the headlines” stories that were different enough not to credit anyone besides their own writers? I am also not that versed in the legality of it but in this case, if it looks different enough from the real facts and Ava would want to avoid credit it should be easy enough.

[mbgriffith1]

11 hours ago, ruby24 said:

I'm glad I'm not the only one who HATES Kayla. I really hate her. My reaction to her kind of surprised me in this episode, because it was like, really strong hate when she was onscreen. Like I wanted one of the other characters to punch her in the face and not as a joke. 

She hadn't bothered me that much before, but seeing this much of her was a wake up call. Unfortunately, I get the feeling the show thinks she's really funny and will probably be on more now. I didn't think she was funny AT ALL. She was awful.

This surprises me. Kayla and the agent are, hands down, my favorite part of the whole show. Without them, I might have quit. 

[zenithwit]

Did Ava make it in time to say goodbye to her father?  Or had he already passed at that point?  I missed exactly what was said when she walked through the door.  If he had already passed, that's really sad especially since he was trying to go out to Vegas to see her.

[arc]

She said "I'm so sorry. I can't believe I missed him."

[chaifan]

Kayla is fine small doses, and this episode just had waaayyy too much of her.  I also don't like characters who are unbelievably stupid, and that's where Kayla falls in for me.  I'm ok with her being the incompetent assistant, who has a job just because of daddy.  But all the hotel stuff was too over the top for me.  I would have rather had that screen time devoted to Deborah and Ava.

I wish the season didn't end with the email cliffhanger, I was hoping for a bit more of a high note.  I like that Deborah's act wasn't a sure fire hit the first time out.  More realistic.  I can't imagine any comic being able to put together a new 1 hour show in just a few weeks (or less).  When she first said "it bombed" I was concerned, but then she backed off a bit and acknowledged that parts worked, and that it just needs work overall.  I'm glad Deborah saw the potential in it, even if it wasn't a hit the first time. 

I like that they'll be hitting the road next season, and getting out of Vegas.  I think that will be good for the show.  Will Marcus travel with her, or stay behind to manage things from there?

 

 

 

 

[Quilt Fairy]

I didn't even know this show existed until I read a rave review yesterday.  And even after I read the description of the show,  I still associated the title "Hacks" with being something about computer geeks.   Anyhow, I binged on all 10 episodes in the last 2 days, and I love it.  

I also dislike Kayla intensely.   I was OK with her character as the secretary without a clue how to do her job, but the Vegas trip was too much. 

That being said, the person who surprised me the most was Jimmy .  I figured I'd hate him from the get go.  He apparently got his father's job and clients after his dad passed, and the swarmy talent agent who does nothing except collect his 10% is an old trope.  But Jimmy isn't like that.  Sure he can lie at the drop of a hat, but he's still doing his job (heck, you could say that lying is part of his job description!)  And he definitely takes the HR stuff seriously, which is funny in and of itself.  I like him. 

I wish we had seen some of her new show, but at least taking it on tour is a great lead-in to Season 2. 

[peachmangosteen]

I mostly enjoy Kayla on the show but I absolutely could not stand her/the actress in this weird video they did:

 

[txhorns79]

Who puts an open cat litter on a nightstand right next to someone's bed?  Even if you weren't expecting someone to be sleeping in that bed, who does that?  

On 6/11/2021 at 3:39 PM, mbgriffith1 said:

Kayla and the agent are, hands down, my favorite part of the whole show. Without them, I might have quit. 

I think Kayla is funny in small amounts, and great for a quick gag.  However, I think this particular episode pushed her behavior way past the level of plausibility.  I think that detracts from what the show is trying to do. 

On 6/10/2021 at 10:15 PM, DiabLOL said:

I feel bad for Marcus but he’s better off. He didn’t want to go camping! He shouldn’t change into someone else. Also the water guy has a job with very different parameters than the job Marcus has. I thought he was way out of line and good riddance.

I found myself not really caring.  How long have those two even been together?  A month?  Six weeks?  I wasn't particularly invested in whether they would make it.

[peachmangosteen]

5 minutes ago, txhorns79 said:

Who puts an open cat litter on a nightstand right next to someone's bed?  

Maybe the cat is persnickety and would only go if it was there. But really I think it was just to show how 'weird' Ava's mom is.

Quote

How long have those two even been together?  A month?  Six weeks?

In general, I could never tell how much time was supposed to have passed in this show.

[Quickbeam]

On Kayla, I found some of the bits funny as the agent wrangles a nepotism placement and tries to makes the untenable work. Hollywood is a small family and I’m sure plenty of people get stuck working with legacies or kids of the famous. But the more they focus on her, the less I can tolerate her. 

[arc]

5 hours ago, txhorns79 said:

I found myself not really caring.  How long have those two even been together?  A month?  Six weeks?  I wasn't particularly invested in whether they would make it.

For me, it's not so much that they're a couple I'm invested in, as much as I'm invested in Marcus finding some happiness outside of his job.

[Dminches]

Ava is an immature, inexperienced kid.  She made (bad) decisions like most kids do.  I wouldn’t have expected anything different.  Hopefully she will grow up and understand that actions have consequences.

Jean Smart is fabulous.  Her character has lived a sad, lonely life, masked by her success on stage.  Her relationship with Ava could turn out to be the best thing in her life from a personal perspective.

 

[AnnMarie17]

I have thoroughly enjoyed this show...completely based on Jean Smart alone.  I would watch Deborah bitchily read a PHONE BOOK, that's how much I've enjoyed this character.  I'm thrilled we're getting a second season.

I listed to Jean Smart on Fresh Air last week and learned that her husband died unexpectedly in March of this year.  She had one week (I think) of Hacks left to film and, watching this finale, it made me wonder if she had to shoot the funeral scene after having just lost him.  I've no idea if this is shot in any particular kind of order but, if she did, wowza.  Her grief was so tender in her interview and then, watching this last episode, I couldn't help but wonder at the timing...

[Kiss my mutt]

I just finished the last two episodes a few minutes ago and I’m missing them already. I can’t believe how invested I’ve become in Deborah’s and Ava’s relationship. I love how Jean Smart played tough as nails and vulnerability in this role. 
It took me a few episodes to warm up to it but I am hooked. Season 2 can’t get here soon enough. 

[ruby24]

On 6/11/2021 at 12:39 PM, mbgriffith1 said:

This surprises me. Kayla and the agent are, hands down, my favorite part of the whole show. Without them, I might have quit. 

Jimmy, I like. It's just her that I found grating as hell in this episode. She couldn't get off my screen fast enough. But now I'm afraid we're going to be subjected to more of her. 

I actually think Jimmy should be on the show more. I could see him and Ava getting together somehow.

[sugarbaker design]

On 6/10/2021 at 10:15 PM, DiabLOL said:

I feel bad fir Marcus but he’s better off. He didn’t want to go camping! He shouldn’t change into someone else. Also the water guy has a job with very different parameters than the job Marcus has. I thought he was way out of line and good riddance.

The water guy didn't ask Marcus to change, he asked him to broaden his horizons.  When faced with a change that could be painful Marcus chose the easy way.  Deborah took the more painful route with the additional difficulty of a higher heel.

[pennben]

Not sure I’m rooting for water guy. They’ve been dating at most for a few months.  Marcus only told him he’d need to work a bit on their getaway, not that he wouldn’t  go.  Not sure Marcus should have walked away from his career because water guy wouldn’t tolerate a vacation with caveats.  Work calls must be covered by CEOs.  As  Deborah said to Ava...”I’m the one risking everything here”.  New folks with their rigid demands are exhausting.  
Again, I recognize all this reinforces that I am old!!

Edited June 16, 2021 by pennben

[Irlandesa]

46 minutes ago, sugarbaker design said:

The water guy didn't ask Marcus to change, he asked him to broaden his horizons.  When faced with a change that could be painful Marcus chose the easy way. 

I don't think the water guy was unreasonable either.  He wasn't asking for Marcus to change.  He wanted Marcus to go on the planned vacation before starting the CEO job.  If Marcus couldn't even advocate for something so reasonable when he had prime negotiating power, then the boyfriend knows what his future holds.

[pennben]

Am I misremembering?  I thought Marcus said he would go on the vacation, just that he would need to check in with “the office” (in this case Deborah) here & there.  Seems reasonable to me. Now, if Marcus went & was on the phone the whole time...new boyfriend has legit beef.  

[Irlandesa]

23 minutes ago, pennben said:

Am I misremembering?  I thought Marcus said he would go on the vacation, just that he would need to check in with “the office” (in this case Deborah) here & there.  Seems reasonable to me. Now, if Marcus went & was on the phone the whole time...new boyfriend has legit beef.  

You are remembering the details correctly but I think the context makes it pretty obvious that "a little bit of work" isn't what would happen.  Water boy knows Marcus wants to set a boundary with Deborah but, when he got the opportunity to, didn't.  Water boy heard his boyfriend say that he got a promotion but they can "still" go on vacation as if a promotion should change that.  Water boy also heard his boyfriend say that he'd need to do a little work on a non-work vacation or they could push it out to some vague time of "less busy."  Then when they were going to go outside and discuss it further at Marcus's suggestion, Deborah's assistant came out saying she was about to do a toast and Marcus nixed the "talk outside" plan to go backstage to be with Deborah.  Water boy, of course, could "tag" along.

I think water boy saw  the writing on the wall.  It wouldn't be "a little work." It'd be whatever Deborah needed.  That's why he bounced. It's not that he wanted Marcus to change; it's that he wanted Marcus to make a life outside of Debora a priority and consider his needs too.  Marcus didn't seem capable of doing that so water boy decided it was time to end it.

[pennben]

Ok. Get that water guy could see this future. Not sure Marcus was wrong in not chucking it all for a months-long romance. Who knows??!!!  Marcus does have a lot invested with his career both emotionally & tangibly—Deborah picked him out of crowd, literally, when he was 18.  Now he’s CEO.  I guess while I cheered for water guy & Marcus to make it, and am sad for both, I don’t blame Marcus for his decision.   

Edited June 16, 2021 by pennben

[Irlandesa]

On 6/15/2021 at 11:27 PM, pennben said:

Not sure Marcus was wrong in not chucking it all for a months-long romance.

I don't think water guy wanted him to chuck it all--just to take a week long vacay where Marcus wasn't focused on work (which he already was based on how he was describing the trip.)

But I don't think either of them wrong either.  Marcus did what he felt was best for him.  Water guy did what he felt was best for him. They were at an impasse.  The only thing I can say is that I think water guy, at least, realized that accepting what Marcus was now offering wouldn't make him happy so he decided to break it off.  I think he saw things clearly.

I don't think Marcus did.  I think Marcus is lying to himself and he may have a better title and more money but the situation which so largely dissatisfied him is unlikely to change because he chose not to demand change. And that would end up costing him the relationship he was building. When he looks back on it, though, he needs to not lie to himself about why it happened.  It's not unreasonable for a boyfriend/girlfriend, regardless of how long people have been going out, to want time dedicated towards building that relationship. 

Edited June 22, 2021 by Irlandesa

[sugarbaker design]

10 hours ago, Irlandesa said:

It's not that he wanted Marcus to change; it's that he wanted Marcus to make a life outside of Debora a priority and consider his needs too. 

Esp ironic since Curtis just said Deborah was not making his needs a priority.

[Dev F]

On 6/11/2021 at 1:32 AM, arc said:

I don't think NDAs work like that. Ava is in breach. Anyone she told anything -- who didn't themselves sign an NDA -- can do whatever they want with it, and Ava has no recourse.

It's possible that the producers could be hit with a tortious interference claim for inducing Ava to break her contract, though the fact that she spilled Deborah's secrets out of spite with no expectation of being hired or otherwise compensated would probably weigh against that.

Edited June 17, 2021 by Dev F

[ProudMary]

On 6/10/2021 at 7:16 AM, arc said:

Also, it took me all the way out of the show for a moment when there was an establishing shot of somewhere on the east coast and it's actually downtown Vancouver BC. I'm from Vancouver, I recognize that street, the pub in the background, the office building opposite, and every single street name in the shot (Granville and Seymour). All the show did was digitally put "Boston" in the front of one long-distance bus.

Well, they did show us the Citgo sign!

On 6/14/2021 at 9:45 AM, AnnMarie17 said:

I listed to Jean Smart on Fresh Air last week and learned that her husband died unexpectedly in March of this year.  She had one week (I think) of Hacks left to film and, watching this finale, it made me wonder if she had to shoot the funeral scene after having just lost him.  I've no idea if this is shot in any particular kind of order but, if she did, wowza.  Her grief was so tender in her interview and then, watching this last episode, I couldn't help but wonder at the timing...

I posted an interview that Jean Smart did for The New Yorker in the media thread. Yes, they did shoot the funeral scene shortly after Richard Gilliland's death. Wow. I can't imagine.

[aemom]

On 6/14/2021 at 9:45 AM, AnnMarie17 said:

I listed to Jean Smart on Fresh Air last week and learned that her husband died unexpectedly in March of this year.  She had one week (I think) of Hacks left to film and, watching this finale, it made me wonder if she had to shoot the funeral scene after having just lost him.  I've no idea if this is shot in any particular kind of order but, if she did, wowza.  Her grief was so tender in her interview and then, watching this last episode, I couldn't help but wonder at the timing...

 

On 6/20/2021 at 11:47 PM, ProudMary said:

I posted an interview that Jean Smart did for The New Yorker in the media thread. Yes, they did shoot the funeral scene shortly after Richard Gilliland's death. Wow. I can't imagine.

I read an interview somewhere where she said that the funeral scene was really hard to film.

That just goes to show how amazing Jean Smart is. That she could still pull off that level of acting in this episode, because she knocked it out of the park.

Looking forward to S2.

Edited June 22, 2021 by aemom
Typo

[ElectricBoogaloo]

On 6/15/2021 at 11:09 PM, Irlandesa said:

I don't think water guy wanted him to chuck it all--just to take a week long vacay where Marcus wasn't focused on work (which he already was based on how he was describing the trip.)

But I don't think either of them wrong either.  Marcus did what he felt was best for him.  Water guy did what he felt was best for him. They were at an impasse.  The only thing I can say is that I think water guy, at least, realized that accepting what Marcus was now offering wouldn't make him happy so he decided to break it off.  I think he saw things clearly.

I don't think Marcus did.  I think Marcus is lying to himself and he may have a better title and more money but the situation which so largely dissatisfied him is unlikely to change because he chose not to demand change. And that would end up costing him the relationship he was building. When he looks back on it, though, he needs to not lie to himself about why it happened.  It's not unreasonable for a boyfriend/girlfriend, regardless of how long people have been going out, to what time dedicated towards building that relationship. 

I think the bigger takeaway that the water guy was getting from the situation is that (1) Marcus will always prioritize Deborah above everything else, including Marcus' own happiness and (2) the water guy doesn't want to compete with that. He wasn't even asking Marcus to make him his #1 priority 24/7. He just wanted Marcus to loosen Deborah's grip on his life ever so slightly and he finally saw that Marcus has his identity and career too wrapped up in Deborah's to ever break free.

The sad thing is that as demanding as Deborah can be, if Marcus had told her he had a trip planned, she probably would have been willing to sit down, look at her calendar, and find a way to make it work (or at least find a different date that it could work) but Marcus is too afraid to even bring it up. There's loyal and devoted and then there's Marcus. I think the water guy saw that if Marcus can't even muster up the courage to tell Deborah he had a vacation planned, then he's never going to stand up for himself and that means if they stayed together, his future would be filled with all kind of last minute cancellations and interruptions caused by Marcus not being able to set some boundaries. I get that Marcus has a lot of responsibilities and that Deborah depends on him a lot, but the water guy is seeing a lot of dinners in his future where Marcus gets up and leaves because Deborah calls and Marcus won't even consider saying, "I'm in the middle of dinner but I'll take care of it in an hour." Marcus is so grateful to Deborah for giving him this career that he doesn't want to rock the boat at all. I can understand why the water guy doesn't want to stick around knowing that the only time they can spend together is on the periphery of Deborah's schedule and that even that can change at a moment's notice if she calls needing something.

[Blackie]

On 6/10/2021 at 7:16 AM, arc said:

it's actually downtown Vancouver BC. I'm from Vancouver, I recognize that street, the pub in the background, the office building opposite, and every single street name in the shot (Granville and Seymour

Mr Blackie caught that too. Did they film the whole series in Vancouver? During the pandemic? 

 

On 6/10/2021 at 8:10 PM, Dancingjaneway said:

Jean Smart deserves an emmy for her work on this show

 

Absolutely! She is so great!!

 

On 6/10/2021 at 10:15 PM, DiabLOL said:

I love Jean smart in this and love how she manages to flesh out a complex character who in less capable hands would have been played as an over the top one note monster.

 

At first this show reminded me a bit of Mrs Maisel and the character played by Jane Lynch. That character became such a ridiculous cartoon. Deborah, played by Jean Smart is a multi-layed character played brilliantly by Jean Smart.

 

Haha, finished watching the last episode and then Mr Blackie puts on a movie, The Accountant, and who do we see ...Jean Smart !  (with less botox)

Looking forward to season 2, hopefully they can fix the Ava character because I agree the writing doesn't seem exactly right for her.

 

[arc]

49 minutes ago, Blackie said:

Mr Blackie caught that too. Did they film the whole series in Vancouver? During the pandemic? 

The entire rest of the show looks like LA or (I assume) Vegas. I assume that one shot was just stock footage or something.

[pasdetrois]

I can't sing worth a tinker's damn but I'm joining the chorus: Jean Smart is a goddess. Between this and Mare, I'm thrilled to see so much of her.

I can't stand Ava's idiot behavior and FFed through all of her scenes. Epic fail of character design. Why would Deborah keep her around? Why not find a better young, talented writer?

I think Marcus, Kayla, the blackjack dealer, and the smarmy manager are best in small doses. They are all quite good.

Has anyone mentioned Jean's gams while she wore the knee-length black dress and wide-brimmed hat? Holy smokes. Kendall Jenner and your Photoshopped "Barbie" legs, take a seat. Jean's still got 'em.

Edited July 31, 2021 by pasdetrois

[Kel Varnsen]

I have faith in the show but I kind of wish they didn't go with that last email twist at the end. Because an entire season of working out new material on the road sounds awesome to me. I have read a few comic's autobiographies and the whole concept of working out a set bit by bit and seeing what works to the point where you are changing word order in sentences to see what gets the best laughs, just seems so fascinating to me. I would totally watch a season just of that even without the added conflict.

[paramitch]

I've had a lot of fun bingewatching this --Jean Smart is a goddess. Seriously, I could not adore her more.  She brings so much complexity and nuance to Deborah, and it's been fantastic to watch. It's also been fun to see Christopher MacDonald -- he's reportedly incredibly nice, and I always love his work.

On the down side, I still dislike Ava a lot of the time (although I do care about her -- or did, until the fricking email thing), but more than that later. But still -- I love the show anyway. The relationship between the two women really moves me, and I fucking love seeing a 69 year-old woman be smart, funny, sexy, and complex as a leading character.

On 6/10/2021 at 3:10 AM, pennben said:

I fell into trap of believing Ava could be something. My bad. She’s nothing. I’ve seen no evidence she’s funny. No evidence she’s remotely smart, savvy, anything redeeming.  She’s a screen-suck of time away from characters I thoroughly enjoy in this show.  
I love this show, that’s a problem they are going to need to fix going forward.  I don’t think it’s on the actress, she has great chemistry with Smart, I think the writers have just written a shitty, shitty character for her. 

THIS. I just don't buy that this woman would ever be remotely successful in Hollywood. She's rude, unfiltered, entitled (and I usually dislike that word), incredibly unprofessional, and (worst of all for me) not very funny. And so far I haven't seen her come up with anything funny for Deborah. The only thing I like that Ava's done professionally was (1) when she suggested that Deborah use her life in her show, and (2) when she defended Deborah at the writer interview -- until she blew that to smithereens by being a ginormous asshole.

I just don't buy that this woman is a successful comedy writer (or that Deborah would be so insistent on needing her) because Ava's just SO unfunny to me. And I haven't seen one moment where I saw her write something smart or funny for Deb. So it's really the one hurdle with the show for me.

On 6/10/2021 at 4:16 AM, arc said:

I can see why Ava can't relate to her mom.

I'm very confused about how they're painting her mom. To me, it seems like she's supposed to be cutely wacky, but honestly, she appears to be seriously mentally ill. Which makes me feel sorry for Ava. (And I absolutely have relatives who would have put the cat litterbox next to the bed, alas.)

On 6/10/2021 at 5:10 PM, Dancingjaneway said:

Also my unpopular opinion about this show is I HATE Kayla. She is just too stupid & it's not funny.  Jean Smart deserves an emmy for her work on this show. 

I was so happy to see Kayla at first -- she's a very pretty plus-sized woman, and it's nice to see some body diversity and representation out there. I like that she appears confident and sexy, happy with herself, etc. (love that she wears miniskirts, etc.)

But Kayla as a character is awful. I feel like she's from a completely different show -- she's not funny, it's all played with laughable broadness, as if the show thinks she's funny... and for me, she's just not. She's horrible to poor Jimmy, and her social unawareness isn't cute, it's maddening and frustrating. I just feel like she's a badly written TV character who FEELS like a TV character, not remotely like a real person.

On 6/10/2021 at 7:49 PM, ahpny said:

I'm more forgiving. The character is still a good foil for Deborah. But the entitled twenty-something routine wore thin fast. How many times can we see her burn another bridge, or risk burning another bridge, through some essentially pointless and infantile emotional outburst. I get that's her schtick and how she came to be cancelled in the first place, but if we can see Deborah grow, why can't we see some progress with Ava?

A reasonably well-adjusted adult in the LA job situation Ava found herself in would politely thank them and gently suggest she not quite right for what they want, but still hopes to work with them on some other project where she'd be a better fit. If they demanded more detail, she could honestly say she didn't feel comfortable throwing Deborah under the bus. Storming out in a profanity-laden temper tantrum is never a good look when leaving a job interview. And why exactly was she angry at them? What did they do to her other than sort of offer her a job? Also, how could she not know what that show was about anyway? 

All of this. And it bugged me INCREDIBLY that she had no idea of the show's premise. Like, really? She wouldn't google that shit, try to find out what she could? This has been my problem with Ava the entire time. Like, someone this desperate REALLY didn't bother to look up Deborah before her interview, read up on her, prepare some kind of familiarity with her work? Gah. It's bad writing.

On 6/10/2021 at 9:33 PM, whiporee said:

I was sorry to hear the show bombed, but that makes sense. Comedy takes a LONG time to get right -- stand ups spend months if not years coming up with five tight. Trying to fill an hour would be a gargantuan task.

I loved that -- it was a beautiful and realistic outcome. So much better than "she was amazing!"

On 6/11/2021 at 1:08 AM, ruby24 said:

I'm glad I'm not the only one who HATES Kayla. I really hate her. My reaction to her kind of surprised me in this episode, because it was like, really strong hate when she was onscreen. Like I wanted one of the other characters to punch her in the face and not as a joke. 

She hadn't bothered me that much before, but seeing this much of her was a wake up call. Unfortunately, I get the feeling the show thinks she's really funny and will probably be on more now. I didn't think she was funny AT ALL. She was awful.

She's awful. I can't stand awful situations in which one person makes everyone else think they're not sane when it's actually the other person. For instance, that movie "What About Bob?," in which this guy's stalker literally gaslit everyone else into thinking HE was the unbalanced one. I know people love it, but I cannot handle that movie at all. My anxiety is at an 11 the entire time (and is during all Kayla's scenes, when she acts like someone raised by wolves).

On 6/11/2021 at 4:38 AM, QQQQ said:

It feels like there were two different teams writing for Ava. One scene she's a strong, self-aware person who supports women (to the extent that she turns down a great job opportunity because she offended it's anti-women). The next scene we're supposed to believe she's calculating, friendless, and self-absorbed. This isn't normal 20-something behavior, it's poor character development.

I 100% agree. I don't buy Ava as a successful writer in any capacity at all -- nor do I think she's so valuable that Deb would put up with her bullshit because of her "talent."

On 6/12/2021 at 1:59 PM, Quilt Fairy said:

I didn't even know this show existed until I read a rave review yesterday.  And even after I read the description of the show,  I still associated the title "Hacks" with being something about computer geeks.   Anyhow, I binged on all 10 episodes in the last 2 days, and I love it.  

The show's title is super-weird to me, and not really appropriate. I wish they'd picked something else.

On 6/13/2021 at 6:55 AM, Dminches said:

Jean Smart is fabulous.  Her character has lived a sad, lonely life, masked by her success on stage.  Her relationship with Ava could turn out to be the best thing in her life from a personal perspective.

The revelations about how lonely Deborah quietly is really get to me.

On 6/14/2021 at 6:45 AM, AnnMarie17 said:

I listed to Jean Smart on Fresh Air last week and learned that her husband died unexpectedly in March of this year.  She had one week (I think) of Hacks left to film and, watching this finale, it made me wonder if she had to shoot the funeral scene after having just lost him.  I've no idea if this is shot in any particular kind of order but, if she did, wowza.  Her grief was so tender in her interview and then, watching this last episode, I couldn't help but wonder at the timing...

On 6/20/2021 at 8:47 PM, ProudMary said:

I posted an interview that Jean Smart did for The New Yorker in the media thread. Yes, they did shoot the funeral scene shortly after Richard Gilliland's death. Wow. I can't imagine.

I'm so sorry to hear this -- I hadn't heard. I loved Richard Gilliland -- wonderful actor, and I always loved the idea of the two of them together. The idea that Jean had to film that funeral scene so shortly after his death is heartbreaking.

ADDED NOTE: I saw later that this episode was dedicated to Richard's memory, which was such a lovely thing for the show to do. Evidently, he helped Jean enormously in preparing for the role, even though he was really sick.

On 6/22/2021 at 12:59 PM, ElectricBoogaloo said:

I think the bigger takeaway that the water guy was getting from the situation is that (1) Marcus will always prioritize Deborah above everything else, including Marcus' own happiness and (2) the water guy doesn't want to compete with that. He wasn't even asking Marcus to make him his #1 priority 24/7. He just wanted Marcus to loosen Deborah's grip on his life ever so slightly and he finally saw that Marcus has his identity and career too wrapped up in Deborah's to ever break free.

The sad thing is that as demanding as Deborah can be, if Marcus had told her he had a trip planned, she probably would have been willing to sit down, look at her calendar, and find a way to make it work (or at least find a different date that it could work) but Marcus is too afraid to even bring it up. There's loyal and devoted and then there's Marcus.

I think this is very perceptive -- well said. I like Marcus, but he can be just as cold-blooded as Deb when required. But I did love his relationship with Water Guy, and want him to be happy.

On 8/20/2021 at 8:35 PM, Kel Varnsen said:

I have faith in the show but I kind of wish they didn't go with that last email twist at the end. Because an entire season of working out new material on the road sounds awesome to me. I have read a few comic's autobiographies and the whole concept of working out a set bit by bit and seeing what works to the point where you are changing word order in sentences to see what gets the best laughs, just seems so fascinating to me. I would totally watch a season just of that even without the added conflict.

I love that premise and am looking forward to it. I just hate so much that Ava AGAIN was so unhinged that she went full scorched-earth on Deb in a way that would absolutely flame right back on her. I mean, what kind of person in Hollywood would actually do this? I just don't believe it. Ava's constant unhinged rants are just utterly unprofessional and even here, it's always a bridge too far. It's really frustrating.

But I'm totally in for Season 2. The final scene between Ava and Deb was so poignant and moving. I loved the little added detail that Deb was wordlessly stroking Ava's hand with her thumb when she took her hand. It was another little way of noting that Deborah's bark is almost always worse than her bite (well, almost).

Edited May 25, 2022 by paramitch
Fixed typo, added note about show dedication