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It went on to win the2025 Golden Globe for Best Television Series Musical or Comedy.
(Not thattheres anything wrong with Mid TV, of course.)
I have never foundHacksparticularly funny.
Sure, this is a wobbly ground for critique.
Comedy is subjective, after all; I may be pathologically humorless, and so forth.
But the jokes never struck me as the shows strength.
That sitcom nature manifests in the shows conservative structure.
Ultimately,Hacksalways reverts to its status quo.
What has always drawn me toHacksis the seriousness with which it takes the core relationship between Ava and Deborah.
Its a delightfully complicated dynamic.
I put you first because I care about you, she says.
And I cant believe you wont do that for me.
How do you process feeling so thoroughly betrayed by a mentor youve come to love?
Its an explosive ending on paper, but in execution, it feels too pat, too repetitive.
The power dynamic between them has shifted, though only slightly.
In many senses, were back to the beginning: a twisted workplace marriage and stifled pseudo-mother-daughter relationship.
That reluctance to commit extends toHackss handling of Deborah herself.
The show takes her side in almost all things.
She gets the more triumphant zingers.
In contrast with Ava, the joke is never on her.
This stance is starting to feel frustrating.
You never apologize for a joke, she tells Ava in defiance.
True as that may be, Ava pushes back.
But before anything genuinely complex can play out, the situation resolves all too smoothly.
The entire sequence of events feels like whiplash.
Deborah never grapples with her experiences at Berkeley.
In fact, she never discusses how she feels about her history afterward.
Nothing that happens to her seems to actually matter.
This tonal imbalance is reflected in other weaknesses this season.
Not so this time.
As a comedy,Hacksshould probably be placed on the same shelf asEntourageandBallers.
The show loves taking short beats to contrast Deborahs dazzling life with the reality of aging.
Her loneliness at the top isHackss defining image and, ultimately, its most pressing concern.
Here is where Jean Smarts luminous performance cuts both ways.
It is simultaneously the shows best weapon and its strongest shield distracting from its flaws.
Hackss comedy has become a crutch that undermines its ability to follow through on its best dramatic possibilities.
