Aahana Swrup
Over the course of 5 seasons, ‘Hacks’ blazes a memorable path as the narrative unravels around comedian Deborah Vance and her writing partner, Ava Daniels. In the show’s last season, the veteran entertainer returns to Las Vegas to take over the reins of her life after falsely being declared dead. In the face of her past defeat, she realizes that she needs to come back stronger than ever. Thus, she and her team embark on a mission to help her leave a lasting mark on the industry.
However, it’s only when the finale rolls around that the real reason behind Deborah’s obsession with her legacy reveals itself. As it turns out, the legendary comedian is dying of a cancer diagnosis that she has no interest in pursuing medical treatment for. Instead, she intends to submit herself to assisted suicide after jetsetting to Europe for a Parisian vacation with Ava. Fortunately, despite the heaviness of the finale, the show never loses its humorous spark and delivers the audience to a fulfilling, satisfying ending. However, this climax serves as the series’ ultimate conclusion, with no plans to return for a future season.
The Creators Always Hoped For a Five-Season Run For Hacks
The creators of ‘Hacks,’ Lucia Aniello, Paul W. Downs, and Jen Statsky, came up with the show’s premise all the way back in 2015. However, it wasn’t until 2019 that they began pitching the show networks for development. As it turns out, even back then, the creators had a clear idea in their minds about how they wanted the series to conclude. The show had always been envisioned as a five-season affair. Even though the plot framework allows the possibility for a metaphorically endless run, the creators were very conscious of preserving the story’s spark. For the same reason, the show explores every crucial aspect of the characters, their relationships, and their narratives in the fixed span of 5 seasons.
In a conversation with ScreenRant, one of the creators, Stasky, spoke about their approach to the story’s timely conclusion and said, “But at the end of the day, this just felt right. We really feel lucky to have the audience we have, and we want to give them everything they want, but we also don’t want to overstay our welcome. Everyone has the experience of when a show kind of runs out of steam, but keeps going, and then you feel like the show, that this thing that you loved, isn’t what it once was, and we just never wanted to run the risk of that. So we always felt like it was the most, honestly, respectful thing to the audience, to go out on a high.”
In the series finale, Deborah reveals that her cancer diagnosis has more or less sealed her fate. Worse yet, she doesn’t plan on battling the disease. She reasons that she has lived a happy life, and in light of her recent success, she’s happy to end her story, having solidified a glittering legacy. The last thing she wants to do before meeting her end is undertake a trip to Paris with Ava. The latter remains vehemently against the idea as she wants her friend to pursue treatments in hopes of beating the odds. Still, she remains by Deborah’s side, willing to support her even through her own heartbreak. In the end, the comedian finds a life-changing epiphany in the mundane and realizes she isn’t quite ready to say goodbye to life just yet. Thus, the ending, though bittersweet at first, ultimately becomes wholesome, ending Deborah and Ava’s story on just the right note.
Paul W. Downs is Open to the Idea of a Possible Spin-off
Much like Jen Statsky, her creative collaborator, Paul W. Downs, a fellow showrunner who portrays the role of Jimmy, was also aware of ending the show at the right and opportune time. In regard to the decision to end the series with 5 seasons, he said, “It’s that idiom from standup of: Don’t run the light. Always leave them laughing. And so I think we want to do a similar thing this time around. Make sure that we went out with a bang.” However, even though the show does just that and wraps up its major plotlines with the season 5 finale, there’s always room for further storytelling. Notably, for ‘Hacks,’ this comes in the form of the B-plot involving Jimmy and Kayla.
The two characters, who quickly became fan favorites, conclude their narratives on a promising note. After losing their own talent agency, Jimmy and Kayla manage to overtake as the heads of Latitude, one of the biggest firms in the business. As such, in some way, while Deborah and Ava’s narratives come to an end, Jimmy and Kayla’s story might just have found its new beginning. Both Downs and Megan Stalter, who plays Kayla, have expressed their interest in returning to the characters and possibly reviving the ‘Hacks’ universe for a spin-off. Yet, at the time of writing, this only remains a fan-favored possibility instead of a tangible reality.
Read More: Where is HBO Max’s Hacks Filmed?
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