A subreddit for the Emmy-winning Max dark comedy series Hacks created by Paul W. Downs, Lucia Aniello and Jen Statsky and starring Jean Smart and Hannah Einbinder. Season 3 premieres May 2, 2024.
for a few reasons
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Jean Smart is almost 40 years older than Hannah Einbinder. I'm no age gap police and yes Jean Smart could probably pass for 40s/50s but that age gap is quite something. To put it in perspective, Jean Smart had completed her entire run on Designing Women years before Einbinder was even born.
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While Ava and Hannah share a rare intimacy with each other, I interpret the relationship as mentorship, friendship, and professionals. Sure, I can agree that they are prioritizing each other ahead of romances, but I don't think that means they belong together.
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One could argue that Ava has a latent crush on Deborah. Maybe!! She had the sex dream. But I think the sex dream was a literalization of this meaningful relationship where she is allowed to grow, develop professionally, and find some authentic self worth. Ava and Deborah are quite alike, and I feel like the dream Deborah was a projection of something within her subconscious (like in the movie Inception)
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Deborah is straight. She says so on the cruise ship. Unless the show wants us to think this woman has no awareness of her self, we have to take her at her word.
Personally I feel like any kind of romantic development would ruin this very unique relationship and would make it far less interesting
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I don't think they are or will happen. But their dynamic IS romantic and it's not. They are foils, they are the same person. They are mother daughter, mentor mentee, but also enemies and lovers and friends. They hate and love each other. It's all of the above!
That type of dynamic happens between a lot of female foils in fiction. (Glow, Dead To Me, especially UnREAL, Grave and Frankie to a lesser extent). The age difference doesn't matter and either does their sexualities. Because it doesn't matter because they are written to be everything to the other person and nothing at all.
This is such an awesome way of looking at them.
It is a love story. It is romantic. We literally had a "To love someone is to let them go" scene. They are texting like giddy children in love, their reunion was written as exes reuniting for the first time. The writers have compared them to a married couple.
They are romantic. They are in love .... But they also are not lol I dunno, it makes sense to me.
5. Power imbalance Deborah is Ava’s boss.
I liked what they did in a previous season where they showed DJ couldn’t be the daughter Deborah needed and Ava’s mom couldn’t be the mom Ava needed.
I read a great article a few years ago that there is so much pressure for a romantic partner to be a life partner and a best friend, and a great parent, and be sexy and to be able to switch into any role at any time needed - it asks too much of one person and that perhaps putting effort into friendships and the larger family could ease the burden couples feel in their relationships.
With that in mind, I like the complexity of their relationship. I liked Ava’s crush storyline. But ultimately I want their personal growth to encourage an expansion of their social circle. I don’t want it to contract to just be the two of them and I think romances too easily create too small a world.
Finally, as a woman, I can think of almost no examples of women mentoring other women on tv. Maybe I watch the wrong shows, but like the Bechdel test, one could make a new one of how many times women are having career talks with each other.
Hacks is rare because the women talk about their career aspirations, the choices, the sacrifices and I really love that part of the show. I’ve seen enough women giving it all up for love so I don’t want the show to go in that direction.
I completely agree with you! It would be extremely unlike Deborah to see Ava in that romantic lens. They are first & foremost a comedic & creative platonic soulmate.
Also, think about how unbalanced the power dynamic would be and how unhealthy that would be for Ava to be romantically involved with someone with so much more wealth, power and influence who can completely lord over Ava in a romantic relationship. I'd hate to see that for Ava. It wouldn't make sense for these 2 characters the way they had been portrayed & seeing how much personal development each of them has grown as characters since season 1.
On another note, do you think Ava has mommy issues? Her relationship with her mom is NOT great.