Jen Statsky interview: ‘Hacks’ co-creator
The following piece contains spoilers for Season 3 of “Hacks”
The third season of “Hacks” ends with a twist few saw coming. After spending years under the thumb of her mentor and employer, the comic Deborah Vance (Emmy winner Jean Smart), writer Ava Daniels (Emmy nominee Hannah Einbinder) blackmails her legendary boss to balance the scales and take back what Ava thinks she deserves: the head writer position at Deborah’s new late-night show, which Deborah had promised Ava and then quickly rescinded out of fear of failure.
But while viewers were surprised by this turn of events – and enticed by the possibilities it presents for Season 4 – the show’s creators knew Ava and Deborah were headed toward this moment all along.
“When we go into each season, we know these tentpoles of things we want to hit. But really early on we figured out that Ava would need to take the head writer job back from Deborah after Deborah would lie and take it back from her. So that was always something we were building to in the season,” “Hacks” co-creator and writer Jen Statsky tells Gold Derby in an exclusive video interview. “The thing that we had to figure out, however, was the exact mechanism by which she would blackmail Deborah. There were conversations about, whether it was something more from the past. Deborah slapping Ava or things like that. But then as the season went on, and we were trying to figure it out, Deborah sleeping with the network boss [played by Tony Goldwyn], just felt really correct.”
Statsky co-created “Hacks” with Paul W. Downs and Lucia Aniello, and the trio has been Emmy nominees as writers in each of the Max show’s first two seasons (including that win for writing in Season 1). But Season 3 was a huge challenge. Smart underwent a heart procedure that delayed production in early 2023, and then the dual writers’ and actors’ strikes kept “Hacks” dormant for months. All the while, Statsky and the “Hacks” team knew they had written a season that worked. “We ourselves felt like, ‘Oh, this might be the best one yet,’” Statsky says when asked about the rave reviews for Season 3. It was “super hard” to wait, however, and created a sense of unease, Statsky says, because of how quickly audiences can lose interest in shows.
“We just wanted so bad for people to see it and having it take so long was tough,” Statsky says. “We started shooting in November 2022 and finished in January 2024. It was such a long process. My friend said to me, ‘It’s like you’re making the TV version of ‘Boyhood.’”
Fortunately, the response was strong. “Hacks” landed some of its best reviews yet, particularly for Einbinder. The actress’s final confrontation with Smart has already been hailed as the season’s standout moment.
“It’s such a gift to know that in Jean and Hannah’s hands,” Statsky says of co-writing the key scene. “I think that would be a real fear for all of us: that some of this stuff could be performed in a way that is maybe melodramatic, and we just never have that concern with them because they’re so good. Jean has to put up a real emotional wall in that scene, which is something she’s incredible at doing – putting up a wall an saying so much with so little. But Hannah really has the bulk of the huge emotional lift in that scene. And she’s just – I can’t talk about her enough in that scene. She blows me away every time I see it. And we’ve seen it hundreds of times now. It’s just so impactful.”
“Hacks” was renewed for Season 4 and writing is underway now before production begins later this year. Statsky says they have tried to avoid leaning into feedback from the show and remain committed to their original plan for the series.
“We have carved out the full series arc and we know where we’re going. So we know the tentpoles we’re hitting next season,” she says. “Of course, everything in between those timeframes needs to get filled in as we write the seasons. But there are no fundamental story things that have changed because we pretty much know where we’re going.”
“Hacks” streams on Max.
