'Hacks' ending explained: Series concludes with emotional finale and final twist

Creators open up about the finale’s mirrored scenes and callbacks for Deborah and Ava's full circle moment

The Emmy-winning HBO Max comedy-drama Hacks concluded its five-season run on May 28, with creators revealing how the finale was designed to bring Jean Smart’s Deborah Vance and Hannah Einbinder’s Ava Daniels full circle.

According to source material from a post-screening Q&A in Los Angeles, the final episode intentionally mirrors the opening moments of season 1.

The finale begins with Ava walking through the set of the show she now runs, echoing Deborah’s backstage walk in the series premiere.

“We really made sure it looked the same,” co-creator Lucia Aniello said. “The idea is that we started with this story of Deborah and over the course of the series the two of them have really blended in so many ways.”

Smart highlighted another callback involving a long-running joke about Ava’s hands. In the finale, Deborah compares their hands while the pair sit outside a Paris café, revealing Deborah’s hand is actually larger.

“One of my all-time favorite things about the final episode is when Deborah then holds up her hand and shows [Ava] that [Deborah's] hand was actually bigger,” Smart said.

The finale sees Deborah, after being diagnosed with cancer, travelling to Europe intending to end her life before ultimately changing her mind following Ava’s intervention.

Co-creator Jen Statsky said the series always aimed to balance humour with meaningful themes. “We want to make people laugh but we also want to honor the amazing platform we have been given,” she said.

Smart described the ending as “absolutely perfect”, while Einbinder said the show’s legacy was its ability to connect generations of viewers.