Hacks Review: There Will Be Blood / Quid Pro Quo (Season 2 Episodes 1 and 2)
Hacks returns for its second season on HBO Max and reminds viewers right out of the gate what makes the show so simultaneously enjoyable and anxiety-inducing. Hacks Season 2 Episode 1, “There Will Be Blood,” and Episode 2, “Quid Pro Quo,” pick up directly where we left Ava (Hannah Einbinder) and Deborah (Jean Smart) at the end of last season.
Despite the emotional reckonings both characters had with themselves and each other, the season starts with a big black cloud hanging over their heads. Ava’s incendiary email leaking Deborah’s personal information isn’t going to go away easily.
The delicate dance they’re doing, one that Deborah doesn’t even realize she’s a partner in until Episode 2, is a great use of the actresses’ established chemistry. As Deborah later points out, Ava is just like her and that’s not a good thing.
They are still trading barbs but the fact Ava is walking on eggshells while Deborah is starting to let loose heightens the tension of the scenes.
The first two episodes are spent primarily navigating that looming conflict. It’s equally hilarious and heartbreaking as Ava tries to worm her way out of the situation and ends up making things worse.
Ava is still a very flawed character, but Einbinder’s sincere delivery convinces you that she is trying to change even if she doesn’t know how to. The scene where she’s forced to read the email in question aloud to Deborah is a truly great performance with Einbinder’s unraveling composure contrasting with the barely imperceptible cracks Smart shows as Ava twists the knife further.
Even with the fake-out of Deborah forgiving Ava only for her to then receive a call from her manager Jimmy (Paul W. Downs) revealing that Deborah is suing her for violating her NDA, it’s not all doom and gloom. Both episodes pack in plenty of jokes, and this is before Deborah even hits the road with her new standup.
As Deborah grapples with losing “her town,” she’s brought back to reality by DJ (Kaitlin Olson) and her very real problem of infertility and her slightly more humorous problem of worrying her husband Aidan (Paul Felder) is going to literally die in his next fight.
Despite the very different dynamic than the one between Ava and Deborah, Olson and Smart also have great on-screen comedic chemistry. Deborah is still learning how to be a mother, but she steps up when it counts during Aidan’s fight and ends up covered in blood in a gross yet heartwarming result.
Fan favorites Jimmy and his clueless assistant Kayla (Meg Stalter) also pick up where they left off, which is trying to deal with Kayla’s inadvertent sexual harassment.
His dealing with Ava’s mess while also trying to get Kayla reassigned to another desk also creates a lot of situational comedy on the episodes, with Jimmy ending up worse off than he started. Kayla represents the worst of what nepotism can look like in the workplace, but the comedy her subplot provides is golden.
A run of new guest stars also spices up Hacks. Martha Kelly as Barbara, Kayla and Jimmy’s exasperated HR manager, especially stands out in contrast to the over-the-top duo.
Kelly’s deadpan style of humor is perfectly cast in the comedy of errors being staged by Jimmy and Ava. Hopefully, we get more check-ins as Jimmy goes through his now mandatory anger management course.
It’s hard to believe that we’re already a quarter of the way through the season with it only clocking in at eight episodes. It doesn’t seem like things can get much worse for Ava, but she has a special talent for digging herself a deeper hole.
As for Deborah, her softened demeanor towards DJ belies the vindictive spirit that comes to the forefront after Ava’s betrayal.
Hacks Season 1 showed the promise of change, but the protagonists appear to still be taking one step forward and two steps back. The conflict of the lawsuit and the outcome of Deborah’s comedy comeback feel secondary to the fate of the characters’ emotional development.
As we’ve seen, any “win” still ends up feeling like a loss as long as they continue to self-sabotage. In a perfect world, they can get past that, but Hacks is a show grounded in reality.
Which versions of Deborah and Ava will we see by the end of the season?
Additional Thoughts:
- So glad Kiki returned! Her popcorn purse should be Deborah’s next QVC item.
- “Don’t psychoanalyze my pot pie.”
- I am not a paintball expert but there’s no way one paintball gun could cause that much damage.
- The Christmas room definitely gives bad vibes.
- Never thought I’d live to see Ming-Na Wen call someone a “mold bitch,” but glad I did.
- Where did the ashes go?
- “The Bitch Is Back” is too on the nose but also perfect.
What did you think of these episodes of Hacks? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
Critic Rating:
User Rating:
New episodes of Hacks stream Thursdays on HBO Max.
Follow us on Twitter and on 
Instagram!
Want more from Tell-Tale TV? Subscribe to our newsletter here!
Breeze Riley
Breeze Riley is a pop culture enthusiast who decided to turn her love of watching too much TV into a hobby writing about it. Although she's a convention-going sci-fi and fantasy nerd, she's just as likely to be watching an off-beat comedy or period drama. She is a Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic.