I loved the first two seasons of Hacks, which deservedly earned Jean Smart an Emmy for Best Actress. However, one of the things I appreciated was that the story evolved well to a great conclusion where there was a transformative arc for all the characters. And then came the announcement of two more seasons. It made me a little cynical about what else we will have to see with Deborah Vance and her writer, Ava (Hannah Einbinder). And I’m still not convinced.

Deborah Vance is a role that the talented Jean Smart manages to play to perfection: a narcissistic, yet feisty, woman who has been hurt and molded in an aggressively sexist market and who, at this point, appears to be beyond redemption. Ava, the “millennial” chosen to help her in current times, is no better. Equally self-centered, hypocritical, and irritating as the young women of her generation, she fits into this mutual love-hate relationship.

Throughout the first two stages of the story, there was adjustment on both sides and Deborah seemed to rescue the public and humanity. We separated with an unexpected “betrayal”: she “frees” Ava to go it alone, but it seemed like one of the comedian’s characteristics, which is to move forward discarding those who are no longer useful.

With this dynamic established, the third season seemed to me to be at a plateau. Nothing really new between the two protagonists and even less with the supporting characters. It breaks my heart to say this and without once again being able to correlate it, the same thing happened with The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.

Deborah Vance had two challenges: surviving the enormous popularity that kept her from actually making people laugh and finally being a woman leading a talk show. With Ava’s confusing and unstinting support, she seems to succeed but the season’s turning point – again – is with a betrayal and a “turn”.

When she gets the show she wants, Deborah Vance lies about the network vetoing Ava as head writer for the comedian’s new late-night show. In fact, she fears that. A betrayed Ava breaks into Deborah’s mansion, revealing what she has learned, but Deborah tells Ava to trust her when she says the network cares who she chooses to write the show. And Ava turns the tables.

“I can’t give them any excuses. This show has to be bulletproof. It has to work”, explains Deborah. “I lost too much for this not to happen.”

And Ava, learning the worst lesson, then moves into the aggressor position: if she doesn’t have the merit position, she will be the chief editor by blackmail. After all, it wouldn’t be good for Deborah if word got out that she slept with the network’s CEO shortly before getting the show.

I know everyone is praising the “surprise” that Ava adopted shady tactics to get what she wants, but it would be more interesting to move on to the next phase of this dynamic. It didn’t surprise me and now the “drama” will be the two proving their feminine value in the patriarchal universe. The problem is that it’s not fun. Or funny.

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