“I was very upset and scared” — Hannah Einbinder reveals how one Hacks finale scene deeply affected her

Hacks season 4 ended with a resounding twist, which started, like always, with Ava (Hannah Einbinder) and Deborah (Jean Smart) fighting. Deborah lashed out and Ava walked away, only to find out the next morning that TMZ reported that Deborah had retired to Singapore and died.

For a while near the end of the season finale, Ava and the rest of the audience thought that TMZ had the inside scoop on the late-night show queen's tragic end. Hannah Einbinder herself said that when she got to that part of the script, reading about Deborah's death affected her. In an exclusive interview with Entertainment Weekly, published on Tuesday, June 3, 2025, she said:

"I'm crying. When I'm reading the script, I am not going, like, 'Well, of course, this could happen.' I'm in Ava's reality. I'm not [thinking], 'They're certainly not going to kill off Deborah.' So I was very upset and scared, basically all of the things that Ava ultimately feels."

That said, as seen in the Hacks season 4 finale, Ava later realized that Deborah is very much alive. Reading the TMZ report about her supposed retirement and death was also the spark that Deborah needed to go back to work because she is "no quitter." Meanwhile, Ava was delighted with Deborah's decision, especially after seeing the comedy queen's decline during their weeks in Singapore.

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Hannah Einbeinder said that filming that part in the Hacks season 4 finale was "f*cked up"

In another interview with GQ, published on Monday, June 2, 2024, Einbinder said that she was "sobbing" while reading the script about the TMZ report of Deborah's death. While she knew that it was unlikely that Deborah was dead because she was hopeful that there was going to be a Hacks season 5, she was sobbing for her character. At that point in the story, she said, Ava believed that Deborah died.

She also told GQ that filming the scene where Ava ran to Deborah's hotel room to find out if she was really dead in the Hacks season 4 finale was "f*cked up" and emotionally difficult. She added:

"Running to the doorway thinking that she was dead was f*cked up. I think in order to play that you have to go somewhere, just to make it look real. It's very frightening to imagine that and really horrible. That was very, very hard emotionally."

As for what comes next for Deborah and Ava in the now-confirmed Hack season 5, Hannah Einbinder said that she was never able to nail the twists and turns in the show. She has "no idea" what's going to happen next, and both she and Jean Smart want to be kept out of the loop in terms of the next season's story. She told GQ:

"Jean and I asked to be kept out of it so that we can just come in fresh."

However, she admitted that she "would love" for the show to have a new location other than Las Vegas and Los Angeles. When it was suggested that her character deserves to have a healthy relationship in the next season, the actress replied that she was not holding her breath for that.

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While Hacks season 5 has been confirmed, there are no details about the upcoming season yet. The premiere date has not been announced, and there hasn't been an official casting announcement either. That said, Jean Smart and Hannah Einbinder are expected to return as Deborah Vance and Ava Daniels, respectively.