Hacks

Matt Roush says...

Jean Smart’s triumphant performance as embattled stand-up comedy legend Deborah Vance hits new highs in the two-part season finale. (Happily, the show was just renewed for a second season, which should have been a foregone conclusion.) As she nervously works up a new self-revealing set for her final performance at Las Vegas’ Palmetto casino, the last thing Deborah needs is for her maddeningly unworthy young creative partner Ava (Hannah Einbinder) to run off, take a meeting in Hollywood with snark-loving producers (including Chris Geere, who seems to be in every other TV show these days) and then lie about it. Will the inevitable blowup cause a permanent rift? See for yourself, but the finale’s best moment reveals that no one’s better than Deborah Vance when it comes to working a room. Any room.