Liars and Saints

  With "Hacks," Jean Smart was consistently better than her material. She made the show seem smarter than it was. I have no objections to her Emmy win.  I do have objections to the "Hacks" finale. Let's revisit this. DV, having heard she has a more-or-less terminal illness, tells Ava that she will be linking up with Dignitas. It's time to die. As others have noted, DV makes no mention of her daughter or grandchild. This is implausible, but it's *also* a slap in the face to Kaitlin Olson, who has done beautiful work as "Junior" throughout the series. Ava first rejects DV's invitation to Europe. She won't participate. Then, she recants. Oh, fine. A pivotal scene occurs at the Louvre. Ava suggests that the "Mona Lisa" is middlebrow. "I mean, it's prettier than anything *I* could do, but....meh." DV says the painting is the most beguiling image in Europe. Ava immediately responds: "Lady, what BEGUILES me would m...

 I'm approaching the end of "Hacks." One thing I really value is a well-considered title. "Hacks" stands out as a punchy, memorable label. (I can't read the non-fiction book "Checkmate," by Ben Mezrich, because the title seems so lazy. It seems to have originated in the "brain" of an AI machine.) Any writer will tell you that the work does not get easier. A blank page is always a source of terror. It doesn't matter how much experience you have. So--in the last stages of her life--Deborah is still a hack. This is both dispiriting *and* inspiring. (Also, it's plausible that Deborah, in her victimhood, would crazily imagine that the right path forward is a long set about Joan of Arc. This makes me think of Billy Eichner, foolishly believing that people will buy tickets because of a comedy's "important" and "historic" premise.) In another corner of the world, Ava is considering a reboot of "Who's Makin...

 The idea of a witch is double-edged. In the film "The Wizard of Oz," Margaret Hamilton seems crazed and greedy--imprisoning Dorothy just because of a fight over a pair of footwear. By contrast, the musical "Wicked" gives Margaret Hamilton an emotional life; we understand the sisterly bond that MH is mourning. We have seen Nessarose; we have seen the two young women helping and coaching each other. So we have a firmer grasp on motivations. "Hacks" plays with the "witch" concept in entertaining ways. Jimmy believes that Ava is living in a constant state of white-hot rage, such that any knife on any lunch table could quickly become "a weapon." In fact, Jimmy is utterly wrong. (It's unsettling to notice how little Jimmy matters to Ava--and I wonder if we'll return to this issue at the end of the season.) A second "witch" is Madam Mayor, who has been caught in an orgy on a Vegas zamboni. The writers correctly observe that ...

  "Hacks" owes a debt to "Mad Men," a series focused on a non-romantic relationship between a young person and her insensitive boss. In "Mad Men," we occasionally have access to the domestic lives of Don and Peggy, but the show really takes off when the workplace friction is front and center (as it is in "The Suitcase"). To me, DV is an echo of Don Draper. DV's daughter calls to talk about her pregnancy, and when DV blithely announces that she cannot assist, the daughter laughs. "I'm not interested in your assistance. I want you to send your housekeeper." At the same time, Ava is so consumed with work that she cannot "emotionally invest" in her polyamorous arrangement. "It seems like you want us just for sex....so we're closing the circle....We're asking you to step out of the circle." "Hacks" recently had a fun "revision" of a standard "Mad Men" moment: Don demands a ...

  I'm always drawn to crime stories, and though "Hacks" may not literally involve a crime, it does highlight a moral transgression, a case of blackmail. The most recent episode features Ava--the schemer--at her desk with a stress ball. We watch the stress ball taking various shapes--over several weeks--until, finally, it explodes in Ava's hands, leaving residue all over her fingers. Ava next breaks the law by stashing her car in the parking lot of a sex shop (with no intention of making a purchase). She attempts to rectify her error by buying a dildo, but by the end of the longwinded vendor-speech about "water on silicone," the car has made its exit via tow-truck. The script scores points with observations about Ava's breezy self-absorption. We catch the end of a soliloquy we can easily imagine; when one scene begins, Ava is telling two strangers, "THAT is when I first understood that I had an allergy to peanut butter...." Later, a hospital cal...

  I was recently at war with a firm that tries to prep kids for college admissions. One facet of the war was this. A school asked, "If you could choose or design one course for fun, what would you choose? What academic project is intriguing to you?" I took this question at face value. A student of mine--though ostensibly interested in a business career--happened to have a deep love for the Titanic. She was curious about the class divisions, the reasoning behind the terrible engineering, the role of the crash in literary history and film history. Given that a liberal arts degree is about asking questions, learning how to learn, the Titanic topic seemed worth exploring. My employer was aghast. She said, "No school wants to hear what the child is actually interested in. This question is an opportunity for pre-professional musing. If the child doesn't have a profession in mind, she should just make one up, and she should tailor her answer to fit that particular body....

 "Hacks" succeeds in some ways and not in others. A big problem is the relentless unfunniness of the "funny" material. We are meant to laugh when Deborah Vance plays a prank on Carrot Top, but the prank is cruel and trite (and the writing has a weird sense of unearned self-regard). It's supposed to be hilarious when a TSA agent mentions a "cuck cage" on a late-night show, but again, there is a kind of laziness in the scene. Additionally, Deborah expresses rage because "Paul Newman cornered the market on salad dressing." This wouldn't make it past the first draft, if it were a joke that was pitched for any particular moment in Seasons One through Ten of "The Simpsons." The main reason I like the show is this: Jean Smart. I like the "origin story." Smart's Deborah Vance was once meant to ascend to great heights--but her husband left her for her sister, and when the sister's house burned down, Deborah was wrongly ...

  "Hacks" is a bit like "Sunset Boulevard." An aging entertainment legend encounters trouble with the "relevance" issue. She winds up employing a younger writer to punch things up. In both "Boulevard" and "Hacks," sexual tension becomes a problem. "Boulevard" actually has Norma sleeping with Joe Gillis. In "Hacks," Ava merely has a sex dream about Deborah. (When she confesses this to Deborah's personal blackjack dealer, the dealer shrugs. "Of course you had a sex dream. Deborah is hot.") Unlike "Sunset Boulevard," "Hacks" becomes a portrait of a semi-functional friendship. The two hacks help each other; Deborah turns Ava's family event into a graceful affair, and Ava gives Deborah confidence to try new material. The two friends also learn from each other. Deborah learns to be a bit less tolerant of toxic men. Ava learns to recognize her own sense of entitlement--and sometimes, sh...