After some grieving, Ava met Deborah at the train station to catch the last ride of the comedian’s life. But when the two started riffing back and forth (like they do!), Deborah had an epiphany. She realized that she may not have 30 years left to live, but thought she just might have one more hour — of stand-up, that is. She then asked her partner to help her write it, to which Ava beamed and said, “Always.” In a subsequent scene, Ava told Jimmy on the phone that Deborah had consulted a doctor and had a start date for treatment.
While the show ended on an optimistic beat, Einbinder is still teary discussing creators’ Paul W. Downs, Jen Statsky, and Aniello’s “beautiful” script.
“I thought it was classic ‘Hacks,’ you know? Like, stab a knife to the heart, but then somehow they dig themselves out of it,” she says. “I think the ending is beautiful and I think the filmmaking (really, is what I would call it) — like the Vegas/Paris montage, Eiffel Tower moment — it’s just so beautifully done. When you read the script, the stage direction in that moment is enough to… I’m choking up thinking about the stage direction! [Laughs] It so beautifully honors the work. [Wipes tears] Crying, no problem, all good.”
With the fifth and final season of “Hacks” revolving around Deborah’s legacy, I ask Einbinder about the show’s own legacy. How will it be remembered years down the road?
“I think it’s the true underdog story,” she says. “[Deborah’s] up against a lot. Don’t count the diva out, you know what I’m saying? Always bet on blonde or whatever. [Laughs]
With a few small cracks out of the way, Einbinder notes the importance of the show’s intergenerational bonding and the love that collaborators often hold for one another.
“[Deborah’s] a survivor, and I think that the legacy of the show is just about love and about this new type of relationship that we haven’t seen a lot of,” she adds. “Working love, collaborator love. That is a specific type of bond that we on ‘Hacks,’ in a meta way, know about. Paul, Jen, and Lucia have the thing that they are portraying in the show with each other, with us. We have it with the crew. They have it with one another. It’s a beautiful thing.”
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