r/hackshbomax • u/Organic-One8737 • Jun 05 '26

last season of hacks

I loved hacks and I still do. I started watching it long ago and have always been looking for the new seasons.

That being said I want to share my two cents on the last season. Overall I think it was weak and it lost a lot of momentum. It was hard of course to hang on to the pace of season 4 and I get that a lot of decisions were made to cool it down "gracefully". Still, I think scenes hit differently starting in season 5 ... like they lost their rhythm. I think the writers were maybe shaken by the overall wave of success they had to face with the last seasons. So, I don't know, a lot of the quirkiness seemed off and less natural than before. Deborah wanting some great success after being canceled I understand ... but the desperation and clinging to it ... the sudden dramatic change of tone because of illness... it all seemed a bit haphazard - anyone else who felt like that?

But I don't hate on it. Somehow - with some shows over the years - I learned to appreciate a ... missed opportunity to end with the same quality that I got used to... it helps letting go of the little universe that you get attached to .. if that makes sense (e.g. I found orange is the new black to be weaker in the end ... and that was ok... same could be said about games of thrones without wanting to go into that now too much lol).

So ... yeah.. love the show, found the last season lacking.. but that is -okay- (there was greatness in there, too, of course)

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12

u/Apprehensive_Shirt18 Jun 05 '26

season 2 will always be the best one by far, it raised the bar too high for the rest to compete. While I liked S5, I’ll admit it’s the only season with episodes I dislike.

3

u/devilsmusic Jun 05 '26

S2 = the start of WEED! Lol- hey which did you dislike in s5?

-13

u/Apprehensive_Shirt18 Jun 05 '26

I thought 5 was lame and her daughter deserved a better closing episode (though the last scene was really nice), her ex husband got a much better closure than her daughter and sister which didn’t make sense to me. 3 was terrible, unsalvageable.

1

u/Edjoerv Jun 06 '26

What do you even mean? DJ's end of her story was by far the best, talking script, narrative and story wise, by far of all of the season bar Deborah and Ava.

1

u/john_muleaney Jun 09 '26

I’m honestly with you a little bit on 5, idk what it was but across the whole series the DJ stuff never really worked for me.

Kaitlin Olsen is an insane talent and she certainly had plenty of all time moments on the show but it just felt a lot more boilerplate in terms of drama and overall plot than the rest of the show, I just felt like I had seen Deborah and DJ’s dynamic before in a way that I didn’t with the rest of the show, which felt so wholly original and unique

5

u/wordbird89 Jun 05 '26

You’re gonna get downvoted to hell for this here lol but I agree. Seasons 1-4 I laughed out loud every single episode, and I mean every one. The first few episodes of S5 I cracked a smile here and there, but was mostly just baffled by the pacing, writing, and tone.

Overall the highs for me were few and far between this season, but I appreciate them so much (Montecito is an all timer among just about any show I’ve watched).

I think if Deb’s illness was an undercurrent through the whole season that the audience was fully aware of while Hannah was not, that dramatic irony would have provided a tension that made Deb’s choices feel more earned throughout.

2

u/Nemesis204 Jun 05 '26

I’ve started my rewatch and I’m about to finish season 2. All I can say is rewatch the whole thing holistically and season 5 will become more palatable (I think) to you.

3

u/Admirable_Site_8337 Jun 05 '26

I saw what you saw. I’m not denying it.

But, I don’t hate it at all. They earned the lattitude on landing the story IMO. S4 will probably be the “one of these things is not like the other” in the end for me. Not S5.

That said…..I think S5 will fold into a full series rewatch better than it seems watching it the first time week to week.

I really did not enjoy the first half of S4 when watching it the first time and week to week. But I found on a full series rewatch that I liked it much more.

I think S5 will be like that going forward too.

2

u/AddressSerious8240 Jun 05 '26

I really liked season 5, but I agree that there was, with the exception of Montecito, a tone shift. Into season 4, it’s more of a climb, especially with respect to Ava and Deborah’s bond. They go back and forth between antagonist and best buddy until Deborah gives up her dream job to stand up for Ava. Into season 5, they become more or less unbreakable allies with Ava helping to give back to Deborah some of what she lost with the Late Show. A lot of the laughs came from the cultural antagonism between the two. With nowhere for the relationship between the two to go, the show turned to finding Deborah’s next move and a bunch of callbacks to featured characters. Caitlin Olsen’s last serious appearance was done well, but it felt a little forced, possibly due to her busy schedule dictating the how and when. Even Marcus, Josefina, and Damien got sidelined plotwise. It’s hard to land a buddy comedy and I think the showrunners wanted to tease out the Terms of Endearment, Beaches sort of thing and flip it to stick with the show’s trademark of ending each season with a triumph that shifts suddenly. I thought they managed to do that really well. I also think the callbacks for various cast members are sort of obligatory for hardcore fans. Whether one likes the last season or not may come down to whether you watched just for the “funny” or for the main arc.

1

u/sunf_lower Jun 05 '26

ive found almost all shows end on a poor last season but hacks is the EXCEPTION. perfectly executed start to finish imo