Deborah and Ava Face Off in a New 'Hacks' Season 4 Clip
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Spoilers below.
That chill you just felt was actually from Ava Daniels in Deborah Vance’s writers room—the move she just pulled in the Hacks season 3 finale was ice-cold.
With a bit of sly manipulation (read: blackmail), she clinched the role of head writer on Deborah’s Late Night show, much to her boss’s chagrin. But you can’t say Deborah didn’t have it coming. After landing her dream hosting job, she pushed Ava aside for another head writer (and lied to her about it), crushing both Ava’s dreams and any trust she had left in Deborah. As they glare each other down in season 3’s final moments, their relationship is now in very different, very hostile territory. It’s nothing like the season 2 finale, where Deborah was tearfully setting Ava free to pursue her own projects. Now, they’ll be forced to work together after betraying each other. Will their mentorship-turned-rivalry continue on for another season?
Thanks to its genius third season, Hacks was nominated for 16 different awards at the 2024 Emmy Awards, and took home wins including Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series (Lucia Aniello Paul W. Downs, and Jen Statsky), Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series (Jean Smart), and Outstanding Comedy Series.
Here’s what we know about Hacks season 4.
Was Hacks renewed for season 4?
Yes, Max announced the news on the day of the season 3 finale. Sarah Aubrey, head of Max Original Programming, said in a statement, “The creative team behind this singular show is not only brilliant but also a joy to work with. We couldn’t be happier to give viewers another season with Deborah, Ava, and the rest of the Hacks family.”
The season 4 renewal aligns with the showrunners’ original plan for a five-season arc, ever since they pitched it to the streamer.
“That’s still our plan,” Lucia Aniello, who created and co-showruns the series with Jen Statsky and Paul W. Downs, told Variety. “We started pitching the show in 2019, but we’ve been thinking about it since 2015, so we’ve had a great time to plot out and talk about where we wanted the show to go.”
When is the release date?
Sometime in 2025, but there’s no exact date yet. Max shared the news in a sizzle reel of original shows that revealed Hacks season 4 would arrive in 2025.
Can I watch a trailer?
There are no full trailers yet, but a sizzle reel of upcoming Max and HBO releases revealed the first look at Hacks season 4. The footage shows Deborah and Ava in the midst of a tense face-off following that season 3 finale.
Deborah mocks Ava, saying, “Aren’t you a big, brave girl.”
“I guess I am,” Ava responds defiantly.
“We’ll see,” Deborah replies.
Watch the exchange at about 0:38 below.
What will Hacks season 4 be about?
While we await official plot details, the season 3 finale sets up the series’ next chapter. The biggest question so far is, how will Deborah and Ava handle working together on Late Night with tensions now higher than ever? Remember, Ava is blackmailing Deborah for sleeping with network executive Bob Lipka (it’s Tony Goldwyn, can you blame her?) before getting hired to host the talk show. At the time, the network was hiring another comedian for the job, so Deborah had a give-no-fucks one night stand with Bob. What happens if this secret comes out in season 4?
“What we’re setting up is that Deborah is now on the biggest stage of her career,” Statsky told Variety. “She’s got this huge gig that she now has to make work, because it’s what she’s wanted more than anything. But now she’s at odds with her closest collaborator—and closest friend, to be honest—because she has betrayed her.”
There are other loose ends elsewhere around Deborah’s circle. Marcus, for example, seems to be leaving his post on her team for a role at QVC, though no one except a sobbing and protesting Damien seems to know yet.
As for our favorite dysfunctional agents, Jimmy begs Kayla not to leave the business. He chases her onto her plane in such a desperate (yet sweet) gesture, that the other passengers think he’s proposing. (No, it’s just a “platonic work thing!”) He promotes her to manager and she agrees to stick around.
On the family side, DJ is set to have her baby. How will Deborah handle grandma duties? And will she see more of her estranged sister, Kathy, especially after the stunt she pulled in the mausoleum?
In an interview with Variety in August 2024, Statsky shared that the relationship between the two women will remain the heart of the show.
“There’s such a propulsive element to the Deborah and Ava relationship where it’s at now that it’s like, that new dynamic kind of informs everything,” she said. “You have that as the base for everything, and then the late night show has been Deborah’s white whale for so long. There’s a lot of things we’ve been waiting to do that now we get to do.”
Who will be in the cast?
We can assume that Hannah Einbeinder and Jean Smart will reprise their roles as Ava and Deborah, respectively. We’ll likely also see more of Downs as Jimmy, Megan Stalter as Kayla, and Kaitlin Olson as DJ. But we’ll hang tight for official news from Max.
As for guest appearances, Smart already started dropping hints at the Emmy Awards. When asked who her dream guest star would be, she coyly told Good Morning America that “one them was nominated tonight” before finally revealing: it’s Carol Burnett. Smart previously voiced her aspirations of bringing the comedy legend on Hacks. “I worked with her once very briefly, and I just adore her, and I just think she’s incredible,” she told Deadline in July.
Has Hacks season 4 started filming yet?
While taking home the award for Best Comedy at the end of the Emmys ceremony in September, the showrunners revealed they are “shooting the next season in five days” before running offstage. We’ll soon have more award-worthy episodes to look forward to.
This story will be updated.
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