“Hi, everyone. Welcome to the last day to shoot for season 4 of” hacks. “
It was a chilly evening on the beach in Southern California, with a cold wind that came from the water near Los Angeles Harbor. And as a disassembled voice that came somewhere in the crowd of crews suggested, it was really the last night of shooting the fourth season in the HBO Max series which is the reigning champion in Emmy’s outstanding comedy series category.
Apart from a couple of pickup pictures and a stunt woman who stopped into the liberation of the Pacific as he pretended to be Jean Smart, there was a big scene to nail on this early March night. And in many ways it was the decisive scene throughout the season 4. Last season had ended with author Ava Daniels (Hannah Einbinder) extorted himself into the main author’s job at the new season’s talk show, which was hosted by Deborah Vance (Smart), and the two women went to war for the first six episodes in the new season.
After a particularly stressful distance, Ava finally cheated out, quit, drove off and went to the beach, where Deborah, worried Ava can hurt herself, ran in the water to save the author she had realized is crucial for her comedy career. It turned out that Ava was in the parking lot and Deborah got wet wet and tried to save anyone else, who did not have to save at all and who was annoyed to find a stranger trying to pull her out of the water.
And it was when Ava and Deborah, both of those who are cheated and exhausted and at their lowest moment of the season, had a quiet conversation where they decided to work together again. It restores the relationship for the last four episodes, which involved a trip to Singapore that had already been shot.
So everything that was left of the season was this conversation on a small cabin at a restaurant – the slippery oyster, the sign said – that the production was based on Cabrillo Beach. Some palm trees were “planted” in the sand and some light strands were hung around the set, giving things a desultor dose of glamor.
“We knew that the sixth episode would be a breaking point for AVA, and there would be reconciliation where Deborah says:” I canceled you to fail, and I should not have done so, “” co -creators and showrunner Paul W. Downs, who directed the section, said. “We always knew it, but we went through many, many, many, many, many drafts to find out the environment and the mechanics of that reconciliation.”
Einbinder described the efforts in a similar way. “The idea is: How can we make sure a conversation turns Ava from ‘I’m done’ to ‘I’m coming back’?” she said. “It’s definitely a sensitive and careful transition to play.”
When Smart and Einbinder underwent a low-key repetition, Downs and his Med-Showrunners, Lucia Aniello and Jen Statsky were still fine-tuned the stage. Downs sat near three monitors with the script supervisor; Aniello and Statsky sat behind him, Aniello in a woolen hat and Statsky in a knick cap, with all three sporty heavy jackets. While the actors made a first time of the long scene, the producers kept an ongoing dialogue out of the ear shot of smart and einbinder, and offer constant suggestions for tweaks and audits: delay this laugh, trim this line, smile to that point, rephrase this, add a little more fatigue and a little less anger.
When it was over, Downs looked at the notes he had written down on a cushion and then went to the set to deliver the overall proposals to the actresses. In the second, Smart and Einbinder immediately adjusted, which made a string of Djura tweaks that left Downs, Aniello and Statesky with a variety of choices in the editing room.
“When you have shot a scene like this, you lie awake and think of all different permutations,” Aniello said with a shoulder. “But the truth is that when we develop the stage with the actors, we usually come to a place – and when we know we have it we go on. We don’t too often try a bunch of different things in the editing.”
On a break, Einbinder walked over to the video and nodded at Showrunner Threesome who hugged. “So,” she said, “You’ve seen the Hive mind at work.”
Of course, Hive Mind has been responsible for “hacks” from the beginning. Aniello, Downs and Statesky have guided the relationship between Deborah and Ava from antipathy to friendship and back and carefully calibrates how much verbal and behavioral brutality they can show. “We are very aware that evil can sometimes be uncomfortable, but it also serves as a good grist for the two characters and as a very strong pov for their jokes,” Aniello said.
Statsky added, “It must feel like a development, and it must come to a place in their relationship that they have never come to before.”
Evolution has impressed Smart, who won comedy actress Emmy for each of the show’s first three seasons. “Every season the relationship has gone to another level and has become deeper and deeper,” she said. “I was worried that it was so dark in season 4. You know, we get pretty ugly between them.”
She laughed. “But they still managed to keep humor in the show, and they tided it so well that we could do things in Season 4 that we couldn’t have escaped in season 2. Our fans are so invested in the relationship that we can take them anywhere and they will go with us.”
Einbinder shook his head. “I have said that the audience is the third in our toxic relationship,” she said. “We’re a review. And I want them to get help, frankly.”
Back at the beach, the conversation between Deborah and Ava came down to an important exchange under which AVA admitted, “I don’t even know your voice anymore” and Deborah said softly, “Ava, you are My voice. “It changed the atmosphere, and slowly the characters built a band in a scene that played much quieter and subtle than usual for the show.
When the scene ended the grimace smart. “Champagne mixed with cold coffee,” she said. “It’s like, yum!”
But how much more of this deliciousness comes for “hacks?” You can say that the show is on a role, wins its first outstanding comedy series Emmy in September last year in an upset about “The Bear” and takes the Golden Globe and Critics Choice Awards after that. But the coming season will be its fifth – and according to the outline, the creators were pulled up when they hit the show to the network, the series was designed to end after season 5.
So will 2026 be the last of “hacks?” “From today the answer is yes,” Aniello said, and then laughed. “But as Sheryl Crow says, every day is a winding path.”
Downs moaned. “Wow,” he said. “Wow. You did it.”
“This is something we think about all the time,” Statsky added.
“We still plan to quit in the same way,” Downs clarified. “But we could think,” Dang, we have so many stories to tell, we have to divide this season into two. “I think it would be the only way (to extend the show past the fifth season).”
And if it ends, how hard will it be to say goodbye? “It will be difficult,” Aniello said. “This is lightning strike in a bottle. We love to do a show with all the people we do with, and we would love to do it forever. But we do not want to exceed our welcome, and we feel really sure how we want to finish the show.”
“On the other hand, how many times can something similar happen in a career?” she added. “I don’t know. It will be difficult.”
The actors agreed. “I can’t even imagine it,” said Smart, who left “designing women” by themselves after five seasons. “We weather -bit covid and strikes and all kinds of things, and it’s been like a family. It will be very strange.”
“That’s it,” Einbinder said. “My big joke is” If you think Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande are crying (while I promote “Wicked”), just wait until “hack” ends. “It will be one problemDo you know? “
A version of this story first appeared in the comedy issue of Thewrap’s Awards Magazine. Read more from the question here.
