Spoiler alert: This story contains spoilers for the final episode of the Hux series, which is currently streaming on HBO Max.
Deborah Vance never really meant to die. But when “Hax” celebrated its voyage in its series finale, taking viewers back to Paris, series creators knew they needed to up the ante with their protagonists one last time. And it comes in the guise of a serious illness that threatens — but ultimately cements — the unbreakable bond that Deborah (Jean Smart) and her protégé Eva Daniels (Hannah Einbinder) have built over five seasons.
In the series finale of “The Hux,” Deborah reveals that the cancerous mass she removed in the previous episode has spread and that she is not interested in undergoing chemotherapy. Instead, Deborah, befitting her desire for eternal control, wants to go out on her own terms and travel to an assisted suicide facility overseas. “I want to be on top,” she tells Eva, but Eva is not at all happy with the idea.
However, although Eva is against the plan, she knows she must be there for Deborah. After some minor protests, she joins Deborah on her final journey to Paris. While in the City of Lights, the two have the time of their lives. They load up on baguettes, haggle with shopkeepers, tour the Louvre, stay late at discos, and take lots of selfies.
Deborah and Eva have never been closer. And from then on, the jokes start flying. As they are about to go to Deborah’s final resting place, the two begin talking about what they enjoy about Deborah being sick. As his creative juices flowed, the superstar comedian realized that his illness could be the basis for a new special. And she wants Eva to help her write it.
“The purpose of making her sick was for ultimate salvation. The idea of comedy and co-writing saved her life,” co-creator and executive producer Lucia Aniello told Variety. “We wouldn’t have let her die. There’s no reason for her to get sick. Just to tell how her will to keep writing ultimately saved her.”
At the end of the episode, Jimmy (Paul W. Downs) reminds Eva on the phone: “I think you saved her life once, so it only makes sense that you would do it again.”
The whole “Hax” finale was like a wrap-up to the beginning of the series. Aniello says this is much the same way she and fellow creators Downs and Jen Statsky originally proposed the ending for “Hax” when they first sold the show. “Deborah’s inspiration from her banter with Eva is clearly an exciting thing for the pilot,” she says.
Statsky said the three creators wanted to highlight a “hack” about “a very hopeful ending for Deborah and Eva.” “The show ends with them coming together, because the show has always been about them coming together and tearing each other down and making each other better.”
Statsky describes Deborah’s decision to live as “like the final boss of a video game, the evolution of the character. We’ve seen this character for five seasons now, and control is very important to her. It’s a defense mechanism and the way she approaches her career and relationships. Through her relationship with Eva, she softens a little bit and lets it go. Part of Deborah’s growth is the conclusion she makes at the end of this finale in terms of letting go.”
That is, Deborah never died, and there was never an alternate ending other than the one shown on screen. “We’ve been working towards this for a long time,” Statsky said. (Aniello directed the finale, and Aniello, Downs, and Statsky wrote the script.)
The “Hacks” finale also brings together multiple storylines, with many of Deborah’s staff and friends now working at The Diva, a new Las Vegas casino she opened with Marcus (Karl-Clemons Hopkins) and managed by Marty (Christopher McDonald). Josefina (Rose Abdou), Damien (Mark Indelicato) and Kiki (Poppy Liu) all make appearances as well.
Back in Los Angeles, Jimmy and Kayla (Megan Stalter) have a moment of redemption when Jimmy discovers that Latitude’s boss (Kayla’s father) Michael (W. Earl Brown) has been siphoning off millions from deceased customers. Once he and Kayla expose Michael and get rid of him, they take control of the talent agency–well, a smaller version of that after half of the Latitude team is ousted. But nevertheless, it’s a victory for the duo (and their assistant Randy, played by Robbie Hoffman).
“Jimmy and Kayla are going to be doing a job called ‘The Hux,’ and it’s both very funny, but it’s also a very grounding and emotional moment because they’re going through quite a bit of professional testing this season,” Downs says. “I think it was very rewarding for me personally as a performer, not just playing Jimmy, but also the more emotional scenes with Hannah, Jean, and Meg.”
“The dynamic between Kayla and Jimmy, we didn’t know what it was going to be until Meg and Paul got together. And then we realized that, really, one of the greatest comedy duos of all time had something with them. So we were like, ‘We’ve got to write more of this!'” Statsky added. It’s an interesting combination of developing Eva and Deborah’s story while also developing this wonderful ensemble and being lucky enough to be able to write for the actors. ”
At the Hux finale event held earlier this week, the cast got to see the end of the series on the big screen for the first time. Einbinder said of the finale, “It’s as perfect as ever. Every time we get to the finale of any season, it feels like we’re leaving like a very beautiful place. I think what we see in this finale represents the arc of the series as a whole. It represents the depth of their love and the depth of their bond. So, yeah, it’s hard to predict the ending, but it’s always fun.”
At the same event, Smart echoed his co-star’s sentiments. “I had a little bit of an idea of how it would end, but I thought it ended absolutely perfectly. I don’t think it hit me until I saw the final scene. Their relationship has always been at the heart of the show. I mean, the only thing we missed at the end was the entire cast and crew. But it was kind of magical to be in Paris because they were out of their element. They were just trying to figure out what was going on.”
Smart said her favorite moment in the finale might be when Deborah asks Eva to join her in uncovering the truth. Throughout “Hacks,” Deborah has often criticized Ava’s hands for being comically large, calling them “catcher’s mitts.” However, in the finale, Deborah confesses that her hands are bigger than Eva’s.
“I should say I wrote the hand joke before Hannah was cast,” says Downs. “And when Hannah read the script, she thought, ‘This is crazy.’ And there’s a picture of her (young) and her hands are so big,” Einbinder says with a laugh. “My hands grew bigger before the rest of my body.”
Smart also praised the choice of music for the ending of the “Hacks” finale, which begins with drone footage of Deborah and Ava walking down the Las Vegas Strip, then an aerial shot. The show ends in a dramatic twist with Judy Garland and Barbra Streisand’s duet “Get Happy/Happy Days Are Here Again.”
“Right before we did the finale, they told me they were going to use that great duet at the end, and I was really excited because it was such great music,” Smart says. “But it was perfect not just for that song, but for it to be a duet.”
Earlier this year, Smart told Variety that this might be his favorite season of Hucks, so he’s glad it’s ending the way it is.
“I never asked them in all these years how the show was going to end. They knew from day one, before they even met me, how the show was going to end,” Smart said in an interview for Variety’s April 8 cover story. “I wanted to surprise them, but when I found out, I was worried at first. I was shocked and a little taken aback. But the more I thought about it, the more I thought, ‘Oh, I see.’ And I said to them, “I trust you.” Whatever it is, I know it will work. ”Because she has cancer and they have decided to go to a clinic in Switzerland to have her euthanized. But there is a twist at the end! ”Now I understand.
As for Einbinder, the ending was cryptically mentioned in last month’s cover story. “I’m really happy with how the show ended, and I’m not exaggerating,” she said. “I’ve never been dissatisfied with anything they’ve ever done. But yeah, I think the ending is typical of this show. I mean, there was a lot of laughter and a lot of tears in the final episode, and I think it was all earned. I’m really happy with the way it ended.”
Now that we know Deborah isn’t dead and another comedy special with her and Eva is also in the works, could there finally be a “Hux” reunion or revival? Aniello, Downs and Statsky are hesitant to say yes. But they aren’t saying no either.
“Never say never,” Aniello says. “It seems unlikely, but we love our actors. We love this character. We love our crew. We’re so lucky. In a perfect world, I think we’d keep making this show forever. We really would. So it’s heartbreaking to see this end.” And I think there’s a sentiment out there that we choose to end the show. That’s technically true, but we’re doing it to maintain a certain quality of what we believe the show is, and we just want people to think that’s the show, and not less. ”
The trio is currently lined up under contract with Warner Bros. TV and are already working on their next project. Although he won’t reveal what it is, Statsky admits he went on a research trip a few weeks ago. “It’s something we’ve been talking about for a while,” Statsky said, while Aniello added, “I would say we’re in the early stages and outlining the early stages.”
Meanwhile, “Hacks” has been eligible for awards for some time now, with the cast and crew meeting regularly to reminisce about their journey on the show over the coming months.
“We know this show is once in a lifetime,” Statsky says. “So I feel really grateful and lucky that everything happened the way it did.”
