Hacks Season 2 Finale Recap: [Spoiler] Gets Fired, as Deborah's Special Finally Gets Off the Ground — Grade It!
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Deborah Vance has taken a lot of hits in Season 2 of Hacks, but as evidenced once again in Thursday’s finale, she never fails to pick herself back up and get it done.
In the penultimate episode of the sophomore season, Deborah and her team discovered that self-funding her special was going to be way harder than they had imagined. Jimmy’s big bomb that he left his firm certainly didn’t help. Without a subscriber base, venue or company backing them, it was back to square one, but Deborah is nothing if not persistent. Her special did get off the ground in the finale after some slick maneuvering, but how did it all go down — and which team member found him- or herself fired by season’s end? Let’s recap.
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At the very top, Deborah’s back in Vegas crashing an auction to scoop up a Kandinsky before Marty can. Over lunch, she learns he’s getting married. She offers him the painting for free if he’ll let her film her special at the Palmetto. He agrees, saying he would’ve given her the room if she just asked. There’s clearly some lingering feelings between them. Will he actually go through with this marriage?
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Meanwhile, Jimmy and his “partner” Kayla (LOL) are having trouble locking down clients. It turns out that Janet Stone is poaching everyone in town. More on that later.
During a convo between Deborah and Marcus, we learn that Marty once gave her a diamond ring in Monaco some time in the past. She, however, chose to prioritize her business instead of her personal life. (So that’s the reason behind all of that steamy chemistry!)
Ava gets a call from Taylor who offers her a gig doing punch-ups on a pilot. She asks Deborah about it, but there’s a conflict with the special’s shoot date. She tells Ava to take the job anyway, since her scribe has already seen the show a bazillion times. Ava then tells her boss she found a place in Vegas and it’s only 10 minutes away. “Oh, great! I’ll tell my lawyers. One more asset for them to go after,” Deborah says. Unfortunately for her, it’s just a rental.
On the night of the taping, Janet visits Deborah in her dressing room. “He’s not cutthroat,” Janet says, referring to Jimmy. “He doesn’t have the resources to support you on his own. Think about it.” Deborah agrees to meet with her down the road.
Ava leaves her L.A. gig early to surprise Deborah at the taping, cracking a joke about having Cirque du Soleil tickets afterward. Her presence seems to put a nervous Deborah at ease, which goes to show just how far they’ve come.
The show kicks off and it’s going well, until a man sitting next to Jimmy collapses and starts seizing. The man is wheeled away and ends up dying, which understandably puts a damper on the show. Jimmy walks back into the auditorium and lies to the crowd. “He’s OK, folks!” Everyone claps. “Not the first man who’s faked his own death to get away from me,” she says to the relieved crowd.
She finishes the set and absolutely crushes it. In her dressing room, Jimmy continues the lie, and Deborah tells him his dad would be proud. Then, she kicks Janet out of the room, telling her she has great representation with Jimmy.
DJ admits it was hard hearing all of their personal stories on stage — especially things about her parents’ marriage she never knew before. She also cops to being scared of becoming a mom herself. She didn’t realize that Deborah did try to be a good mom, but still messed it up big time. She worries she’ll do the same. “It’s impossible not to,” Deborah says. “But it’s worth it.” (AWW!) Deborah shows DJ that she wore one of her jewelry pieces in the special, and the two share a sweet moment.
Later, we cut to QVC where Deborah’s selling copies of the show now titled “My Bad.” “It’s what I always wanted to say to you, the truth, whether I like it or not,” she says. The DVDs break a record for units sold in under five minutes.
After, Jimmy calls with news that every network wants the rights to her special (hello, bidding war!), and tons of press want to interview her. She pretends to be in the middle of a meeting and cuts the call short. But she’s happy. Extremely happy.
The streaming rights to the special get sold, and at a lavish party, Deborah thanks her team, while giving a heartfelt shoutout to Ava. (Double AWW!) The party turns out to be a great networking opportunity for Ava, and from the podium, Deborah can see how in demand her employee now is.
Ava finds Deborah stealing a quiet moment alone. “We f–king did it!” she exclaims. Deborah then tells Ava she’s fired, and Ava is shook. “You need to make space for your own work,” Deborah says. “You need to be a shark.” She mentions how Ava didn’t take credit for the special when she should have, plus, the fact that she left her L.A. gig early. Deborah tells her she needs to find her own voice. “You’re just like me,” she says, brushing the side of Ava’s crying face. “You’ve got your own mountain to climb.”
Ava is not taking the news well. She wants to be where ever Deborah is. “So that’s it? We’re not going to talk anymore? I won’t see you?” she asks through tears. “Oh, you’ll see me,” Deborah replies. “In court!” (OUCH.) Deborah walks away. And I am deceased.
Some time later, Ava’s back in L.A. and Jimmy calls with some news. The pilot she worked on was picked up to series, and she’s being offered a job. Also, Deborah’s dropping the lawsuit. As he talks Ava’s ear off about other burgeoning opportunities, she walks toward her balcony as the camera pans toward the TV. The TV is set to Deborah’s show on QVC.
So what did you think, Hacks fans? Grade the finale and season, then drop your comments below!
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