Hacks Season – HBO Max’s “Hacks” wraps its five-season run with the Season 5 finale on Thursday, May 28, at 9 p.m. ET / 6 p.m. PT. Hannah Einbinder and Jean Smart looked back on the emotionally charged final days of filming, including Einbinder’s intense illness on the last
By the time the curtain started coming down on “Hacks,” the goodbye didn’t feel like something scripted. For Hannah Einbinder and Jean Smart. the final days on set carried the weight of an ending—one that arrived while their characters. Ava Daniels and Deborah Vance. were still trying to secure what mattered most.
“Hacks” will conclude with the Season 5 finale on Thursday, May 28. The episode will be available to stream on HBO Max at 9 p.m. ET / 6 p.m. PT.
The show’s final season found the chaotic duo pushing forward in Las Vegas. “more determined than ever to secure Deborah’s legacy as a comedian” in the aftermath of “mistaken and unflattering news reports that she passed away. ” according to HBO Max. The stakes were already personal: their complicated relationship has been the engine of the series. hurting and healing as the intergenerational pair keeps colliding and learning.
Einbinder, 30, and Smart, 74, both spoke about how intense the final stretch of filming felt. Einbinder said emotions ran high as they prepared to say goodbye to their characters in April. Smart compared it to a countdown.
“It was like a clock ticking down,” Smart said.
“Like one of those things where the bomb’s going to go off,” Smart added.
Einbinder described the physical toll of the last day. She revealed she was hit with “a wave of full-body nausea” as filming wrapped.
“I became ill, like the second I walked out of where we were shooting, and I was doubled over. My body was shutting down,” Einbinder said. “I got in the car. I was just trying not to throw up – literally. it was so severe and intense – and I got back to the hotel. and I just passed out for. like. 14 hours.”.
Even before the finale clock fully runs out, HBO Max has already framed “Hacks” as an award-winning, critically acclaimed comedy that premiered in 2021. The series introduced Ava Daniels, a culturally aware yet entitled writer, as she helps outdated comedian Deborah Vance reclaim her career.
The final season’s Las Vegas chapter ties back to why their goodbye has lingered for so many viewers: Deborah’s legacy. Ava’s urgency. and the friction between them have always powered the humor—and the ache. When the series comes to its end, fans will be watching the last step of that long-running emotional bargain.
The cast returning for Season 5 includes Jean Smart as Deborah Vance and Hannah Einbinder as Ava Daniels, alongside Paul W. Downs as Jimmy Lu, Saque Jr. as Kayla Schaefer, Carl Clemons-Hopkins as Marcus Vaughan, Mark Indelicato as Damien Asada Agosto, and Rose Abdoo as Josefina.
Season 5 guest stars included Christopher Briney, Robby Hoffman, Tony Goldwyn, Kaitlin Olson, Christopher McDonald, Jane Adams, Lauren Weedman, Poppy Liu, Johnny Sibilly, Luenell, Angela E. Gibbs, Caitlin Reilly, and others.
HBO Max has also confirmed there will be no Season 6. When the platform announced Season 5 of “Hacks,” it said it would be the show’s last.
Hacks Season 5 finale May 28 HBO Max Jean Smart Hannah Einbinder Deborah Vance Ava Daniels streaming time