Another chapter has closed for the comedy duo on Hacks — but where the laughs will take them next is anyone’s guess.
Season 4 of the HBO Max series focused on Deborah Vance (Jean Smart) finally achieving her lifelong dream of hosting a late-night show, with collaborator Ava (Hannah Einbender) by her side as her head writer even as a betrayal on Deborah’s part derailed their often rocky partnership.
Now, going into Season 5, Deborah and Ava are back on track — or as on track as their roller coaster of a work relationship can really be. Meanwhile, Hacks is already readying its fifth season, with HBO Max announcing its next installment on the same day as the Season 4 finale.
There’s definitely more drama — and absolutely more laughs — headed our way. Here’s a look back at what happened in Season 4 and what we know so far about Season 5. (Warning: Spoilers ahead!)
What happened on Season 4 of ‘Hacks’?
To understand the drama of Season 4, we really have to unpack what happened in Season 3. With Ava’s help, Deborah won the battle to replace a longtime late-night host — a role she’s been desperate for ever since she lost out on it decades earlier. But when it came time for Deborah to set up her staff, she didn’t give Ava the job of head writer, blaming the network for wanting someone more experienced. However, it was really Deborah who didn’t want Ava in the role — she was terrified of any potential Ava-related setbacks that could derail her dream.
When Ava found out, she felt betrayed — but decided to do things the Deborah Vance way. She blackmailed Deborah, telling her that she would reveal that Deborah slept with studio executive Bob Lipka (Tony Goldwyn) to secure the late-night gig if she didn’t give her the head writer job. Deborah obliged, but it led to a very tense relationship between her and Ava for most of Season 4, with an HR representative (Michaela Watkins) needing to supervise the duo’s every interaction.
But when Ava threatened to quit the show after a season of stress, Deborah finally came to her senses, realizing her relationship with Ava was what broke her out of her comedy rut — and got her the late-night job — in the first place. Ava and Deborah went back to being thick as thieves, until Ava unintentionally leaked damaging information about the network’s toxic culture to the press — leading Bob to demand that Deborah fire her, or lose the late-night show entirely.
While it initially seemed like Deborah would once again sacrifice Ava to save herself, she did the exact opposite. She publicly shamed Bob and the studio, protected Ava and declared she was done with late-night — putting Ava ahead of her lifelong dream.
What happened in the Season 4 finale?
Unfortunately for Deborah, the late-night show she left also came with a noncompete clause, meaning she couldn’t do any comedy — TV, standup, even TikTok — for 18 months. Workaholic Deborah, however, found a loophole: She could do standup if it was through a translator, leading her to grab Ava and head to Singapore for a residency at a casino.
Unfortunately, the experience was pretty miserable for Ava, who watched as Deborah devolved into the cheapest comedic version of herself. She told Deborah she was leaving — only to find out in the morning that TMZ had reported Deborah dead.
Fortunately, it was a case of a prepublished obituary — and Deborah was very much alive. But, while she didn’t mind being dead on TMZ, she did hate that they used the word “retired” to describe her. Fueled by ambition and rage, Deborah told Ava they were heading back home — she wasn’t giving up her comedy career without a fight.
What do we know about Season 5 of ‘Hacks’?
There’s more of Deborah and Ava to come, per an announcement from HBO Max on May 27. While Smart previously told Variety she would be “surprised” if the show didn’t receive a renewal, co-creator Paul W. Downs told TV Insider, “We feel so lucky that we get to do a fifth season of comedy. We’re like, it shouldn’t be this way, but we feel really fortunate because it’s so rare. We feel incredibly lucky.”
The only bad news? It’s quite possible that Season 5 could be its last. “We pitched five seasons. Even in the pitch of the whole series, we pitched the very last scene, the finale,” co-creator Lucia Aniello previously told Fast Company. “Suzanna Makkos, who bought the show [for WarnerMedia], stopped us before we got there. She was like, you don’t have to pitch anymore. I’m going to buy the show.”
That plan was echoed in other interviews as well, with the creative team — which also includes Jen Statsky — telling the Hollywood Reporter that five seasons was always the ideal.
“We pitched the very last scene in the very last episode when we were pitching the show, and we’ve always had a pretty clear vision of what the tentpoles of each season would be,” Downs said.
When will ‘Hacks’ Season 5 come out?
Right now, the only thing we know for sure is that Smart and Einbinder will reprise their roles as Deborah and Ava.
We don’t have a release date yet, and it’s not going to film immediately — Smart will be spending the summer on the Broadway show Call Me Izzy.
Since its premiere in May 2021, Hacks has released its seasons with significant gaps. Each season has taken at least a year to return, with a two-year wait between Seasons 2 and 3. Season 1 debuted on May 13, 2021, Season 2 followed on May 12, 2022, and Season 3 didn’t arrive until May 2, 2024.
