This article contains major spoilers for the Hacks finale.
Television history is littered with finales that struggled under the weight of their creators’ vision. The most infamous example remains How I Met Your Mother, a beloved sitcom that ultimately suffered because its ending prioritised a years-old plan over the chemistry that naturally evolved between its characters. It is easy to share those reservations going into the Hacks finale, given that Lucia Anello, Paul W. Downs, and Jen Statsky pitched the ending while shopping the series, and even Jean Smart initially had her reservations. If the show’s lead struggled to accept the conclusion, how would audiences react? Thankfully, Hacks bows out on a high.
The ending will divide viewers – as all finales do – but it remains emotionally truthful to the story Season 5 has spent ten episodes telling. If anything, the episode suffers from tonal whiplash, particularly when it pivots seven minutes in from the celebratory opening of The Diva to a discussion about assisted suicide. However, Deborah’s (Smart) decision to end her life feels entirely in character. Across the season, she grows increasingly exhausted: by an industry that punishes ageing women while endlessly rewarding men, by the constant fight to remain relevant, and by decades of surviving on her terms that were not all her own.
This season has allowed Deborah to put both her emotional and professional affairs in order. Her relationship with DJ (Kaitlin Olson) evolved into something more honest and loving. She reconciled with Marcus (Carl Clemons-Hopkins) and built something meaningful with him through The Diva. Even her complicated dynamic with Marty (Christopher McDonald) softened into mutual understanding, with him now working for The Diva. Damien (Mark Indelicato), Josefina (Rose Abdoo), and Kiki (Poppy Liu) remain largely reactive figures, there to celebrate The Diva’s launch rather than establish their futures.
Then there is Ava (Hannah Einbinder). Hacks has always revolved around Deborah and Ava’s relationship, but the final season pushes that dynamic into unmistakably intimate territory. Whether viewers interpret them as best friends, romantic partners, or something impossible to define, the finale makes clear that they have become the most important person in each other’s lives.
Once Deborah reveals that the mass removal failed and the cancer has spread, the finale narrows its focus almost entirely onto the two women as Deborah prepares to travel to Switzerland for assisted suicide – with or without Ava, who initially refuses to let Deborah end her life without a fight. The result becomes a love letter not only to Deborah and Ava, but also to Smart and Einbinder, who deliver some of the finest work of their careers. Their time in Paris encapsulates that perfectly, with Deborah finally taking Ava on their promised vacation despite knowing Ava will return to the United States alone.
Deborah and Ava wander through the streets of Paris, flea markets, and the Louvre, desperately trying to live inside borrowed time. Melancholy hangs over much of the episode, but the nightclub sequence highlights what viewers stand to lose. Ava watches Deborah dance and, through expression alone, Einbinder conveys heartbreak, fear, and overwhelming devotion as she watches someone she loves begin to slip away in real time. If Einbinder is overlooked during awards season, it will not be because of her performance, which ranks among the finest television work of the year. More likely, it will reflect the industry’s long-standing discomfort with politically outspoken voices, particularly those willing to voice anti-Zionist views publicly.
Throughout its final act, Hacks repeatedly asks what legacy Deborah wants to leave behind. She wants to die on her own terms before the illness strips away her dignity and refuses treatment because she does not want Ava, or anyone else, to remember her as weak and deteriorating. Smart delivers a devastating performance that surely cements her fifth Emmy for the role. When Ava finally breaks down and pleads for Deborah not to leave her – line delivery that will haunt you – Smart and Einbinder play the scene with remarkable restraint, which only makes it more painful.
Ultimately, Ava decides to support Deborah’s decision. As they wait for the train to Zurich, they do a best/worst part about dying bit, joking about everything from weight loss to the money Deborah plans to leave her corgis. The final five minutes rank among the strongest material Hacks has ever produced, enough to leave viewers choking back sobs and sitting with bated breath as Deborah suddenly realises that she still has one more joke to tell – “The worst part about dying is I can’t even enjoy being bone thin.” Deborah may not believe she has another 30 years, but perhaps she has another hour. She asks Ava to help her write it, and she agrees to start treatment.
The closing moments beautifully reframe the entire series. Hacks was never solely about stand-up comedy – though the finale certainly emphasises its importance – nor was it simply about the entertainment industry or Deborah’s legacy. At its core, the series has always been a love story between two women who irrevocably changed each other’s lives. Deborah saved Ava, and Ava saved Deborah right back. “You know, I think you saved her life once,” Jimmy tells Ava in the final minutes. “Makes sense you’d do it again.”
A transition from Paris to Las Vegas, with Deborah and Ava laughing together as “Happy Days Are Here Again” plays perfectly captures what Hacks has spent five seasons building towards. Life remains messy, painful, and uncertain, but connection makes it worthwhile. Deborah chooses treatment because Ava reminds her there is still life left to live, jokes left to write, and laughs still waiting to happen.
That said, the finale has its flaws. Bob Lipka’s (Tony Goldwyn) sudden interest in Jimmy’s (Downs) Fatty Arbuckle film arrives abruptly and mostly feels like groundwork for a potential Jimmy and Kayla (Meg Stalter) spinoff. The finale also leaves Ava’s professional future slightly underexplored, considering the importance of the Who’s Making Dinner? reboot earlier in the episode. Viewers additionally never learn why Deborah adopted “y’all” into her vocabulary, a running joke that ultimately leads nowhere. Those shortcomings feel minor compared to the emotional triumph that is Ava and Deborah’s final act.
Hacks bids farewell as one of the defining comedies of its era. Sharp, wildly funny, and deeply compassionate, the series remains true to itself until the very end. Anello, Downs, and Statsky built a series unafraid to evolve alongside its characters rather than keep them comfortable, while also proving how vital stories about women over 60 remain on television. Five seasons never felt like enough, but Hacks leaves exactly when it should at its creative peak.
