Hacks Season 3's Finale Just Completely Changed The Show's Basic Premise After 3 Years

Summary Ava takes control in Hacks' season 3 finale, blackmailing Deborah with juicy secrets to secure her place as head writer.

Deborah's flawed decisions make her a complex character, but not necessarily a villain.

Hacks season 4 promises an exciting new direction as Deborah finally hosts her own late-night show under Ava's manipulation.

Warning: This article contains spoilers for Hacks season 3.

The shocking twist ending of the Hacks season 3 finale has flipped the show’s original premise on its head and upended Deborah and Ava’s established relationship. Hacks season 3, episode 9, “Bulletproof,” sees Deborah finally achieving her lifelong dream of hosting her own late-night show. But after spending the whole season pursuing that dream with Ava, Deborah made the surprising decision to cut Ava from the show at the last minute. Deborah had promised Ava the job of head writer, but tells her that the network wants to keep on their current head writer.

However, after bumping into the president of the network, Ava is dismayed to learn that the network didn’t force Deborah’s hand and who gets the head writer gig is totally up to her. As it turns out, Deborah fired Ava out of fear. After meeting with the former network head who canceled her last late-night show, she’s determined not to give executives a reason to replace her again. She kept on the current head writer to be a team player. So, Ava takes matters into her own hands and not only secures the job, but upends her dynamic with Deborah.

Related Hacks Season 3 Ending Explained From Deborah's betrayal to Ava's devious scheme, the ending of Hacks season 3 was full of surprising revelations that will completely change the show.

Hacks Season 3's Finale Completely Upends Ava & Deborah's Power Dynamic

For once, Ava has all the power

In the shocking twist ending of Hacks’ season 3 finale, Ava shows up for her first day as a staff writer on Deborah’s late-night show, then reveals her diabolical scheme. Ava uses her knowledge of Deborah’s illicit affair with an affiliate owner to blackmail her into hiring her as the head writer after all. The episode ends with Ava sitting down for her first production meeting as head writer across from a resentful Deborah. If Deborah tries to fire Ava again, she’ll tell network head Winnie Landell that Deborah slept with the top decision-maker who gave her the hosting job.

Heading into Hacks’ recently announced fourth season, Ava has all the power. In the past, Deborah always had a certain amount of power and control over Ava, and Ava was left at the mercy of Deborah. But now, Ava has the power over Deborah and Deborah has to do what Ava wants or risk losing what she fought so hard for. This twist flips the show’s central dynamic on its head after three seasons. It’ll be interesting to see how Ava wields her newfound power over Deborah and how it will affect their tumultuous friendship.

The Hacks season 3 finale was written by series creators Lucia Aniello, Jen Statsky, and Paul W. Downs.

Is Deborah The Villain Of Hacks? What The Show's New Twist Means For Season 4

Just because Deborah is flawed, it doesn't mean she's a villain

Image via Max

Deborah’s attempt to go back on her promise to Ava would seem to suggest that she’s the villain of Hacks. It’s true that she’s had a negative impact on a lot of the characters around her: Ava had to go to therapy to get over the toxic working environment she shared with Deborah; Marcus has quit due to his frustration with Deborah’s refusal to listen to him, even after years of loyalty; and Deborah’s daughter D.J. is deeply insecure thanks to her shaky upbringing. But just because Deborah is flawed, it doesn’t mean she’s a villain.

She’s not really a villain, but she’s still making terrible choices regarding her personal relationships in favor of her career. Whereas characters like Ava and Deborah’s sister Kathy have learned from their mistakes, Deborah keeps repeating the same mistakes she’s made for decades. Kathy is already recognizing the same workaholic attitude that led to the downfall of Deborah’s marriage (and, ultimately, their sibling relationship). Of course, Deborah isn’t the only one making bad decisions. Ava is now blackmailing her, so she’s not completely innocent in this (although it was Deborah’s underhandedness that forced her to play dirty).

Hacks Season 4's Late-Night Show Storyline Is The Comedy Series' Most Exciting Setup Yet

Hacks is a whole new show now

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The traditional approach to television has been to maintain the status quo and keep a series going for as long as possible. But in recent years, TV showrunners have used their long-running, episodic narrative format to explore change and growth in their characters and their relationships. Hacks has pulled off this kind of ever-evolving character development beautifully. With the season 3 finale twist, Hacks season 4 is set up with the series’ most exciting premise yet as Deborah finally gets to host a late-night show, but she’s under Ava’s thumb for the first time.

This is really a culmination of the years that Ava and Deborah have spent together and the ways that their working (and personal) relationship has changed, for better or for worse, in three seasons of Hacks. There were only so many times that Deborah could double-cross Ava before Ava started using Deborah’s own duplicitous tactics against her. With Ava blackmailing Deborah and Deborah resenting her for it, the stakes are higher than ever, as they both have the ability to easily destroy each other, meaning mutually assured destruction.