Hacks

The sharp HBO Max comedy isn’t content to coast. The new season, for anyone concerned that it wouldn’t live up to the first, aims higher and deeper, expanding the dynamic between Ava and Deborah while keeping both the wit and pathos largely intact. ... The show’s excellent supporting cast also remains in top form.

While “Hacks” will definitely be in the hunt for more Emmys (it won for Smart and its writing and directing), look for Metcalf to join their ranks. The second season’s third episode is about as good as these things get.

It’s a joy to see the rest of the series catch up with [Jean Smart's] munificent excellence in its sophomore year. The writing is funnier and more poignant, the ensemble has gelled and the tonal jaggedness that plagued the previous season has been smoothed out. With Smart never better, the first six episodes (of eight total) find the show firing on all cylinders. It’s exactly what you’d hope from any sophomore season.

It rightfully nabbed three Emmys last year. But much like Smart’s Deborah Vance, Hacks is upping its game with its second go-round.

Overall, Hacks Season 2 is a higher-stakes, higher-reward season, emotionally. The journey of pairing such generationally divided comedians together, first launched in Season 1, is now given even more interesting obstacles to navigate.

The lack of epiphanies, life lessons, and intergenerational bonding is what makes the second season work so well.

Season 2 hums along in such a smooth, pleasurable manner that you want more of everything, which is both an unfair demand and an encouraging reminder of how valuable “Hacks” has become.

Smart tackles every aspect of Deborah's complicated personality - her vanity, insecurity, sexuality and unquestionable talent - with passion and wit. Einbinder also shines, now written less a pretentious foil than as a willing apprentice whose dues-paying verges on the slapstick. [23 May - 12 Jun 2022, p.6]

These new episodes reaffirm why Smart's Emmy win for her first season performance was incontestable and make a strong case for a repeat. But Statsky and Downs deepen the stalwart character profile Einbinder established, allowing her performance to expand upon her comedy writer's vulnerability without losing the too-cool-for-this entitlement that keeps getting Ava in trouble.

Polish up another Emmy for Jean Smart who goes funnier, fiercer and deeper in her second season as a Vegas stand-up on a road tour with a young comedy writer (Hannah Einbinder) she loves to torture as they dish out mirth and malice no other sitcom can match.

It’s good for a show like “Hacks” to be silly every now and then, but those [sitcomish] moments stand out this season more against a backdrop that takes the show’s ideas more seriously. Still, “Hacks” overcomes these set-ups to remain a remarkably smart comedy, one that understands human behavior and how it’s warped by show business.

“Hacks” remains in top form. ... “Hacks” finds a way to restore the frenemies dynamic between the two lead characters without ignoring the progress made in their relationship in season one.

The successes on season two of Hacks are hard won by the series’ characters who maneuver around a minefield of losses. The message of perseverance and determination, however, is sent with aplomb and without a shred of “hack”-y-ness.

"Hacks" in season 2 has lost none of its acerbic charm, and Ms. Smart has lost none of her edge.

If this all sounds a bit heavier than expected, don’t worry: The beauty of “Hacks” has always been its ability to thread even its darkest material with self-assured jokes that cut right through. In that respect, it’s a joy (and relief) to report that Season 2 doesn’t miss a beat.

Through it all, Jean Smart continues to reign supreme. She once again delivers an iconic performance as Deborah Vance and Emmy voters should be prepared to hand her yet another trophy this fall. Hacks Season 2 isn’t just good. It’s freaking great.

The first six episodes of Hacks’ second season are very much a middle act, with plenty going on, but no concrete resolutions. And that’s perfectly okay; these characters are well-established and enjoyable enough that it’s fun to simply hit the road with Deborah, Ava, and Marcus.

It's an extreme relief to report that the new season displays no sign of the dreaded sophomore slump. The six episodes made available for review deliver another superb showcase for Smart and Einbinder while also providing the standout-packed ensemble players amplified opportunities to shine.

It isn’t just the Jean Smart show and it isn’t just an examination of cancel culture or a portrait of a Joan Rivers avatar. There are plenty of little reasons why the second season of Hacks doesn’t take a leap from very good-ness to greatness, but plenty of big reasons why that isn’t really a problem.

As Deborah and Ava work to hone their new material, Hacks itself begins to feel sharper. Both the act and Deborah’s off-the-cuff insults feel more plausibly funny, strengthening the illusion of Smart as a comedy legend.

The darkness is deeper and sometimes more despairing this year, but the jokes are just as frequent, and maybe even a bit more cathartic.

“Hacks” aims to examine the brutal side of the entertainment world it inhabits but fails to fully commit to a deeper criticism of it. Although there is still a real pleasure in seeing an actress as accomplished as Jean Smart getting a meaty role, this latest season of “Hacks” does not live up to the bar set by its superior debut season.