Hacks Season 3 Is A Tribute to Womanhood
The third season of Max’s fiery and beloved comedy series Hacks has officially returned to our screens. It’s rare a show gets better over time, but Hacks has succeeded in that arena in every way possible. This season serves as a beautiful tribute to womanhood, specifically highlighting the experiences of a woman navigating the comedy scene within the brutal entertainment industry.
The show’s preceding season ended with a bittersweet moment we all have gone through — when you love someone, you have to let them go. But we knew the dynamic duo, Deborah Vance, portrayed by the incredible Jean Smart, and Ava, portrayed by the hilarious Hannah Einbinder, couldn’t stay apart for too long. This season places us a year after the duo parted ways. Deborah is riding high off the success of her standup special, while Ava is back in Los Angeles pursuing new writing opportunities — until they find each other again at a comedy convention.
This season reminded me of why I fell in love with this show. Hacks effortlessely gives us characters we forever root for and yearn to see more of. Kaitlin Olson, while briefly shown in the first and second season, was truly able to flex her acting skills this season in a way we haven’t seen before. Olson, who plays Deborah’s daughter in the series, gradually peels the layers back of her character DJ, revealing more of the complexities of their mother-daughter relationship. This season provided explanations for DJ’s enigmatic behaviors from the previous two seasons. Much like any other abstruse relationship, I found myself closer than ever to her character after three long years of waiting to get to really know her, and Olson patiently laid the groundwork to allow for that to happen.
One of Hacks’ strong suits is it’s comedic timing and this season is the exemplar. It poked and prodded at very real and current significant matters, but had just the right amount of awareness without shoving it down your throat, making it all the more hilarious. The comedic undertones are layered within the characters and situations, never feeling forced as they bounce off of each other’s dialogue. It feels real and is always something that would happen. The comedy is certainly a comfort the show has created and continues to produce.
While Hacks has always conveyed how hard the entertainment industry is for women, the theme moved to the forefront of this season. We know how endlessly cruel being a women in comedy is, but this season solidified it. One of the elements I instantly fell in love with in Hacks is its ability to give us what feels like an inside look at someone in the industry. Smart’s character has been in the industry for decades, and from an outside perspective, it would seem as though she has everything. But, this season’s biggest uphill battle for her is scoring a coveted Late Night host spot — something she’s longed for her entire career, and no matter how successful she becomes, she still has to prove she is worthy amongst a sea of mediocre men, whom she has decades of experience on.
Nonetheless, this season was a beautiful tribute to womanhood. It unveiled all of the complexities of growing comfortable with aging as a woman, forever trying to succeed in a male dominated industry, and being a mom, mentor, and friend, all while chasing your dreams. Season 3 of Hacks is tenacious and heartwarming and it was particularly comforting watching this as a woman, as it made me excited for the road ahead.
The first four episodes of season 3 of Hacks are now streaming on Max, with two new episodes airing each week, concluding with the season finale on May 30.
