HACKS Season 3 is finally coming to Max and HBO. The comedy series is as funny and touching as ever. Both Jean Smart and Hannah Einbinder continue to shine, but so do the supporting cast – and the awesome guest stars. Read our Hacks season 3 review here!

HACKS is premiering Season 3 on Max and HBO with two new episodes. Of course, watching just two episodes will leave you wanting more immediately.

Hacks is a show I have adored since the first season, but not until now have we had enough foresight here at Womentainment to get our hands on some press screeners. Season 3 has nine half-hour episodes and I am as crazy about this season as the previous two. Which says a lot, I can tell you.

Continue reading our season 3 review of Hacks below. Find the first two episodes on Max/HBO on May 2, 2024.

A year later and a little wiser

In season 3 of Hacks, we pick things up a year after parting. Season 2 ended with Deborah Vance (Jean Smart) essentially firing Ava (Hannah Einbinder). Not as any sort of punishment, but rather to help Ava move forward in her career.

Of course, she grossly underrated the importance of Ava in her personal life. Especially as a person who has a professional and personal life that is extremely intertwined. As does Ava, I might add!

In any case, it’s a year since they parted and Deborah Vance is still riding high off the success of her standup special. So much so that people will laugh at anything she says. It’s not exactly preferable for Deborah, who has been used to working for her success. Now she’s getting a taste of the gratuitous success where you cannot lose… until, of course, there’s a backlash.

But none of that is coming just yet, so Deborah Vance is still on top of the world. So is Ava who is pursuing new opportunities back in Los Angeles. She’s writing on a TV show that has exactly the kind of style and messaging, she lives for. Also, she has a new boss who thinks she’s amazing and wants to help further her career.

Hacks Season 3 – Review – Max/HBO Series

Do people ever really change?

For Ava, it isn’t just her career that is going well. Even her relationship with her ex-girlfriend-turned-girlfriend-again, Ruby (Lorenza Izzo), is swimming along wonderfully. Ruby has a role in a new DC-based TV series as the lead, so they’re both doing great. In fact, during her work hiatus, she’s going to Iceland where Ruby’s show is made.

Or that was certainly the plan until Deborah Vance called her up and asked for her help. In an almost cruel twist of fate, there’s a chance that Deborah could finally get the job of her dreams as the first woman hosting a late-night show. However, her new writers are not working out, so she needs Ava to make sure she can give it her very best shot.

Once again, Ava finds it impossible to resist when Deborah asks for her. Since this is a comedy series, there are many funny moments, but it is also a drama (or “dramedy” if you will) so there are many touching scenes as well.

Also, there’s a good shift in season 3, when Ava figures out that she can set boundaries and ask for things as well. It also becomes obvious to both lead characters that they’ve been influenced by one another. In good ways that allow them to see the world from a broader perspective, I might add.

Amazing casting in every single role

There are so many wonderful guest stars in season 3 of Hacks and if you’ve heard of just one, it’s probably Christina Hendricks as this has been part of the PR for season 3.  It’s quite a rabbit hole that Ava (Hannah Einbinder) is about to go down – pun very much intended – when Christina Hendricks guest stars.

In season 3, Christina Hendricks plays a gay Republican oil heiress which virtually sums up everything Ava loathes. But she also comes in the shape of Christina Hendricks, so there’s that.

Other than this particular guest starring stint – which I definitely enjoyed in several ways – we see many other amazing actors in smaller roles. However, for me, it was also Deborah Vance’s amazing team of agents that had some great moments.

Co-creator Paul W. Downs as Jimmy has been amazing from the beginning, but so is Megan Staler as his assistant/co-founder, Kayla. They have a great story with Christopher Lloyd in one episode, and a recurring bit with Helen Hunt as well. Basically, you have a lot to look forward to in season 3.

Watch Hacks Season 3 weekly on Max and HBO!

Hacks was created by Lucia Aniello, Jen Statsky, and Paul W. Downs. It’s one of the most intelligent and fierce comedy series ever. Always looking at people and circumstances through different lenses thanks to the Ava and Deborah characters.

Also, Hacks is one of those series that you can’t just binge-watch unless you want to wait until the entire season has aired. And, trust me, you don’t want to wait. Personally, I’ve actually started appreciating having to wait. Okay, that’s easy for me to say when I’ve been able to watch a screener of the entire season.

However, I am not always that fortunate, and right now I love that Under the Bridge on Hulu is something I watch weekly instead of binge-watching it. Because if I could have, I most certainly would have!

Instead, I did a review of Under the Bridge based on the first two episodes over on Heaven of Horror. I had to struggle to hold myself back and simply said “…we can feel the tension and chemistry from their first scene together”. By episode 3, it became very apparent that my queer instincts were spot-on. Spoiler: They usually are!

Anyway, enough about Under the Bridge as this was supposed to be about Hacks. And yet, I get a feeling that you’ll be watching Hacks if you’ve watched the first two seasons, which is probably why I feel fine plugging Under the Bridge here.

Also, if you’ve watched Hannah Einbinder’s “God is real!” comment when asked about Christina Hendricks’s guest-starring role, then you’ll definitely be checking out season 3.

The nine-episode season will release two episodes each week until the season finale (episode 9) on May 30, 2023.

Hacks Season 3 is premiering on Max on May 2, 2024.

Womentainment Recommendation

Womentainment recommendation: Watch Hacks season 3 weekly!

I was a bit slow to start watching Hacks when season 1 came out. Maybe it was just being scared that it would get canceled – as far too many shows with LGBTQ core characters often are – but once I started, I was hooked.

Season 1 was great, season 2 had an extra layer, and with season 3 it feels like both Ava and Deborah have finally realized how much they need one another as people. They are actual friends and despite being wildly different, the two women respect each other in ways they don’t respect anyone else.

Also, yes, there’s the Christina Hendricks story, which is fun and great. Before we ever get that far, there’s also Ava enjoying domestic bliss with Ruby, so there are plenty of reasons to watch. Actually, even Deborah Vance herself gets some before the end of season 3. And that’s all I’ll say about that.

More than anything, if you’ve watched Hacks so far, you know you want to keep watching. If you still haven’t started, then you definitely will want to start watching now!

Creators: Jen Statsky, Lucia Aniello, Paul W. Downs
Cast: Jean Smart, Hannah Einbinder, Paul W. Downs, Megan Stalter, Carl Clemons-Hopkins, Kaitlin Olson, Christopher McDonald, Mark Indelicato, Rose Abdoo, Lorenza Izzo, J. Smith-Cameron, Helen Hunt, Christina Hendricks, Christopher Lloyd, Dan Bucatinsky, George Wallace, Tony Goldwyn, Aristotle Athari

Official plot:

A year after parting, Deborah Vance (Jean Smart) is riding high off the success of her standup special while Ava (Hannah Einbinder) pursues new opportunities back in Los Angeles.