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The Prestige TV Podcast
‘Hacks’ Season 4 Finale: Fashion Emergencies, Bad Karaoke, and a TMZ Hoax
01:05:52
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- [00:03]
Rachel Lindsay
What's up everyone? It's Rachel Lindsay. And if you love all things Bravo, then you need to be listening to Morally Corrupt. Every Tuesday and Friday, your favorite ringer podcasters and I dive into Bravo's biggest moments and dish out hot and always unfiltered takes. And guess what? Now you can watch us too. That's right, Morally Corrupt is now available in video on Spotify. So whether you're listening in your family van or watching next to your white refrigerator, don't be all uncool and miss out. Catch new episodes every Tuesday and Friday only on the Ringer Reality TV feed.
- [00:42]
Nora Princioti
This message is a paid partnership with Apple Card. One of the most useful things in my life lately has been my Apple Card. It's great for game nights, vacations, just life in general. And applying was so easy and quick. You can apply, see your credit limit offer, and then start using your card in minutes. Do it while you're watching a basketball game and you can start making purchases before halftime even rolls around. I also love how I can get up to 3% daily cash back on every single purchase. That's more money for game tickets. I feel like I scored big time when I started using Apple Card applying the wallet app on your iPhone, then start using it right away with Apple.
- [01:18]
Rachel Lindsay
Pay subject to credit approval.
- [01:20]
Nora Princioti
Apple Card issued by Goldman Sachs Bank USA, Salt Lake City branch terms and more@applecard.com.
- [01:40]
Rachel Lindsay
Hello and welcome to the Prestige TV Podcast. I'm Mallory Rubin joining me today. I took her phone, deleted her posts, got some Taco Bell in her system, Cheesy bean burrito and now she's back home sleeping like she's dead. It's Nora Princioti, our dance mom.
- [02:06]
Nora Princioti
Mallory, I do want you to know that I am renting this place from Adam Levine and we have been texting.
- [02:14]
Rachel Lindsay
Let me know if you're prepared to toss any huffing instruments during the pod and suddenly shout out Steve Nash. Now I'm on guard. Now I'm on guard.
- [02:24]
Nora Princioti
I don't know if I can get fired for saying this, but I promise that I won't ask you to boof it at any point during this podcast recording.
- [02:30]
Rachel Lindsay
Thank you, thank you. Thanks for stating that. I don't think it's the last time that boofing it will come up today. However, it's obviously a core part of the hacks canon in the second half of season four and that's what we're here to discuss today. We're reconvening after our recent hacks mid season check in to chat about the last four episodes of season four of Hacks, including the recent season four finale, which just aired before we ask the flight attendant what pairs well with Xanax, and she very kindly says, water.
- [03:02]
Nora Princioti
Thanks, Doc.
- [03:04]
Rachel Lindsay
Thanks, Doc. Here's what else has been cooking recently on the Prestige TV podcast. There's a ton of great stuff waiting for people to catch up on the rehearsal. Your friends and neighbors, the studio, starring our fellow Ringer podcaster, Matt Bellany of the town, which by the way, also got a mention on this run of hacks, and of course, the last of us. So the prestige TV feed and the Ringer TV YouTube channel are loaded with great pods on awesome recent TV runs. Check it all out if you haven't. And of course subscribe on Spotify and subscribe to the Ringer TV channel on YouTube because you can watch, you can watch video episodes of the Prestige TV podcast. What a thrill. What a joy.
- [03:55]
Nora Princioti
It's so great to be able to see our faces.
- [03:58]
Rachel Lindsay
Nora, any of your many podcasts that you'd like to tease here before we move on?
- [04:03]
Nora Princioti
Oh my gosh. I mean, every single album in the middle of just an electric Miley Cyrus run, people can catch up on that. By the time this is out, Miley's album Something Beautiful will be in the universe. And so I just think that that's the essential syllabus for all things Miley.
- [04:26]
Rachel Lindsay
I quite agree.
- [04:27]
Nora Princioti
I also have to plug we're obsessed. I mean, Jodie Walker, if you want to listen to Jodi talk about the rehearsal, that's fabulous. But if you want to listen to Jodi with me talk about bisexual Jorts, that's right, Bill Belichick and his girlfriend. And just like a lot of things that are going on in the universe, I couldn't recommend it enough. Even though, you know, if I do.
- [04:46]
Rachel Lindsay
Say so myself, you have airline safety regulations on one feed and Jorts on the other. And that is the Ringer, frankly, in miniature.
- [04:53]
Nora Princioti
Absolutely.
- [04:54]
Rachel Lindsay
What a time, Nora. I don't believe in heaven, but I do believe in hell and I do believe in podcasting with you. So let's get to it.
- [05:02]
Nora Princioti
Let's do it.
- [05:04]
Rachel Lindsay
We are going to follow like a similar approach to what we did in our mid season check in. We're going to talk a little bit at the top about the finale and the season as a whole now that it is concluded. And then we're going to hit some superlatives, the episodes that are in the mix today. More prominently, you can talk about anything from the season if you'd like episodes 4, season 4, episode 7, season 4, episode 8, season 4 episode 9 and.
- [05:25]
Nora Princioti
Season 4, episode 10, including season 4, episode 7. Dechristening, decristening. I know which of which is a fabulous title.
- [05:33]
Rachel Lindsay
Which of the weakest slippery slope in heaven were sort of letdowns on the title front after dechristening starring DJ it's just a sensational bit of titling a nice run there with Mrs. Table right into decristening. Great stuff. Nora, give us your opening thoughts. What did you think about the season four finale?
- [05:53]
Nora Princioti
I was sort of surprised by it. It went in. I thought I knew where it was going. After we reach in episode nine, kind of this climactic moment of after. In the first half of the season we've heard Ava say, you know, is Deborah ever really gonna sacrifice for me? Is she ever really gonna do anything but. But take advantage of me and. And. And Deborah does and it's really beautiful. And it's this moment of these two characters that we love really fully finishing their reconciliation. It was just like absolutely heartwarming and wonderful and I loved watching it. And then the last episode which is dealing with Deborah sort of coming to terms with the fact that she has this non compete and that she's off late night and figuring out what she wants to do with that time. I thought went into some. Some places that I was not expecting it to and ended up being a bit of a strange finale to the season. That said, Hack season four as a whole I thoroughly enjoyed was maybe a little scattered but I think the same thing that we talked about on the mid season pod on a lion to lion scene to scene basis. Nothing is funnier than the show and I love it very much.
- [07:12]
Rachel Lindsay
Yeah, I feel very similarly about the finale and the season overall. I'll tip my pick for one of our categories. We'll talk about it more when we get there. But our first category in a few minutes is favorite episode. And I thought episode nine was genuinely great. Not only clearly the best episode of this run for me, but one of the best hacks episodes. I think the emotional wallop and catharsis that we got for the reasons you're describing and just in general the way the end of this season we talked a lot in our mid season pod about like you're noting the pairing of comedy and emotion on that beach scene but the thing that Ava was articulating like you're always going to let me down. Really pulling on something for us as viewers because that's also our fear when we Go to hacks every episode is that, like, no matter how hard they try, they're going to fail each other. And, boy, is that a sad thing to have to confront about the relationships that mean the most to you in your life. Something to just noodle on. But to see that not happen. And the way inside of episode nine, that they very expertly and deftly with our certainty, our ingrained expectations as viewers that that is what would happen. And all the moments that were intended to poke at and heighten our suspicion and our dread, just fantastic. And I was, like, moved to tears by that episode. And then the finale, I was like, wait, what is. Why are we doing this? Why did the season just end in the penultimate episode? And some of why the finale couldn't live up to the penultimate was just all of that, right? This will not be the last, first or last time we do a hacks pod where basically 80% of the conversation is about Kayla and Jimmy instead of Deborah, Ava. And they were sorely lacking in the finale. They just were not. We got like a second of them in the finale, and that is just, frankly, not acceptable to me in a Hacks episode.
- [09:05]
Nora Princioti
I mean, I think people who are listening to this have seen it. So this is not a. I'm not anticipating this spoiler, but just say it out loud. Why did we go to Singapore?
- [09:16]
Rachel Lindsay
It's, you know, listen, Deborah will find the loophole. If there's a loophole in the contract, she will find it and it will impact not only Ava's vacation plans, but also our television consumption.
- [09:29]
Nora Princioti
I thought what they were gonna do, and I still have a little weird kernel of hope. And we can talk about where things might go in season five, but that this might be part of it. I thought that Deborah was going to write for Ava. I thought that this was going to turn into, oh, Deborah can't perform for 18 months, but she can write. And maybe Ava is going to start getting some. Some time on stage and there's going to be this role reversal and it's going to be really creatively fulfilling for both of them. And I was like. I had decided that's where it was going within five minutes of the episode beginning. And I was so geared up for it. And then they get off the plane, like, what the fuck?
- [10:06]
Rachel Lindsay
Great. It's like you've been asleep for 18 hours and we are in a completely different part of the world. That was very amusing. That. Well, you're. Well, you just. That had never occurred to me as a possibility. I wonder if you have a Purer heart than I do. It had literally never occurred to me that Deborah would try to do something for Ava, even though she just had done something for her.
- [10:27]
Nora Princioti
She did something massive for her.
- [10:29]
Rachel Lindsay
Yeah.
- [10:30]
Nora Princioti
I do think that I have a little bit of a push pull with. And this is something that the showrunners, Jen Statsy and Paul W. Downs, I've heard them talk about that. They write it. They write this core relationship to Hacks as a romance.
- [10:44]
Rachel Lindsay
Yeah.
- [10:45]
Nora Princioti
And I think it was a really interesting idea and it does come through in terms of how deeply you want it to work between the two of them and how emotionally invested I am in this show for something that is ostensibly like, you know, it's. It. It has a relationship to the format of a situation comedy, which is sort of light and fluffy, but. But hacks run so much deeper. And I do think that it is a credit to how they write this. This relationship. That said, sometimes I find myself craving for the Deborah and Ava storyline to be written as like a buddy comedy instead. Where it's not about will these people ever stop failing each other?
- [11:27]
Rachel Lindsay
Yeah.
- [11:28]
Nora Princioti
It is about can these people who have very different ways of seeing the world work together to tackle a shared problem?
- [11:38]
Rachel Lindsay
This is a really interesting point because I think rationally, logically, conceptually, I agree with you completely. But in practice, the episodes that we have gotten that function like, that I never find as satisfying. Like, do you remember the episode in season three where they got lost on the hike, which I think was very much in the mold of what you're describing. That was real buddy comedy energy. And I was just like, what is. What is happening?
- [12:10]
Nora Princioti
I think a lot of people liked.
- [12:11]
Rachel Lindsay
That episode a lot, but for me it was like missing something that felt core about the. The DNA of their relationship and the dynamic between them. But I think what you're citing feels crucial when we assess this larger question of what is the. What is the overall lifespan of Hacks? Hacks has been renewed for season five. Great. We're thrilled to keep. We love to keep watching Hacks. This is great. But this question of we were going to hit this at the very end to wrap today, but I think actually we should just do it right here before we then look back a little bit more on the back half of season four. How top of mind is that for you when you're thinking about the future of Hacks is the way that the relationship needs to evolve? Because we talked about this a little bit in our mid season pod, you sort of want to keep luxuriating inside of the thing that you love about a character set that you enjoy spending time with. But there is that tug of like, how many times can we run back the same thing? I think this is clearly, I will say also beyond just Deborah and Ava as a duo on the show's mind. Because one of the things that was really interesting to me about where the season ultimately went in episodes nine and ten is like it felt like we were building for years to late night. Years. Because we were. We were building for years to late night.
- [13:26]
Nora Princioti
Yeah.
- [13:27]
Rachel Lindsay
And then we did it for a few episodes and now we're done. And that was kind of shocking to me. Not in a bad way though. In a way that I admire where it's like, maybe I could see a little bit of whiplash inducing response for some audience members who were like, wait, I sort of thought this was the grail. And I understand that part of the thematic text is the character saying, maybe that's not what my grail actually is. Right. Well, maybe I need to like assess what matters to me and why and how that has changed and altered based on the people I've spent time with who have enriched my life. Which is like a really cool thing to have gotten to witness. Deborah, one of the most selfish and self motivated people when we started our experience with her, come to terms with and actually decide to actively embrace. Right. And then immediately have to like stew in the inevitable resentment of what that really means in practice. But the like, we're moving toward late night and now we're back to Vegas and then we're on a plane and now we're on Singapore. We're going to go back and like, what does it mean to work on the. I, the, even the discussion about the special? Like, I don't want to spend 18 months working on a special again and look in the mirror. I need the crowd. Obviously some of that was born out of the urine and non compete and like Big Bob is ready to sue you. I will say this about the finale. Incredible opening scene with the rando strip mall lawyer who was like, don't let my cat get out.
- [14:41]
Nora Princioti
The cat was amazing.
- [14:42]
Rachel Lindsay
Let me know if you need to sue anyone if leave an instrument in your body during surgery.
- [14:47]
Nora Princioti
Even a sponge.
- [14:49]
Rachel Lindsay
Even a sponge. That was.
- [14:50]
Nora Princioti
And then she leaves and he goes, where is the cat?
- [14:53]
Rachel Lindsay
Where is the cat? I'm worried about the cat.
- [14:54]
Nora Princioti
Which, and I know, I mean, I know Mallory, that's a, that's a thought that goes through your head.
- [14:58]
Rachel Lindsay
Top of mind.
- [14:59]
Nora Princioti
But yeah, many times on a daily basis.
- [15:01]
Rachel Lindsay
The late Night is not actually the thing anymore, and we're gonna either, like, run it back with a different form of comedy that we've already dabbled in or pursue something new, or whether it's the nature of their relationship. Like, now that we're through the fourth season, where are you with this larger, almost existential question for hacks? How much of it in the future do you want to, like, feel familiar, and how much of it do you want to feel, like, radically distinct from the thing you've loved about the show to this point?
- [15:26]
Nora Princioti
I think I. I return to something that I don't think feels like it was a huge part of this season but is ultimately familiar to me within the Hacks universe, which is I do want to see Deborah and Ava at work together.
- [15:43]
Rachel Lindsay
Yeah.
- [15:44]
Nora Princioti
Because I. I certainly take your point that some of the episodes that do function in that buddy comedy kind of vibe have been a little bit strange. I think sometimes that's because those have been the ones where they just sort of choose to take the gang on location, whether it's the woods or Vegas or whatever. And. And those are. It's true, they can be magical in moments, but I don't totally always understand the impulse. But I do think that. That one of my favorite modes for this show, if not my favorite, is when Deborah and Ava are together, but that there is a crackle and a tension in the relationship because there is kind of a third person. They are in a little bit of a throuple. Right. To return to a theme. And the third person is comedy. They both love comedy. They come at it in different ways in combination. That makes magic. But I want to see them doing it. So part of the slightly strange note of the finale to me was that we've just had this. This culmination of the interpersonal relationship, and I'm geared up to see them make love to each other in the way that they do between the two of them, which is to make comedy together. And then because of so much of 10 is, Deborah is not emotionally in a place to be writing new material and working on new material.
- [17:14]
Rachel Lindsay
Not emotionally. Deborah fell asleep on stage.
- [17:17]
Nora Princioti
Deborah fell asleep in a chair for 20 minutes. The honk shoes were coming for her. As they come for us all.
- [17:25]
Rachel Lindsay
As they come for us all. Yeah.
- [17:27]
Nora Princioti
And so I would like to see them working together. Nobody wants to work anymore. Kim Kardashian said it. I say it now. And so I want to see them spending more time riffing and writing jokes together, because I just. I, I. It's my favorite thing to watch on a screen that is showing hacks.
- [17:48]
Rachel Lindsay
You know, this makes me think of one of the kind of classic hacks. You're laughing, you're uncomfortable in a totally intended way, and then suddenly you're like, deeply moved by the thing you just witnessed. And the end of episode seven, where Deborah is. Is really grappling with and wrestling with this. On the one hand, I was very proud of DJ for standing up to her mother the way that she did. I thought that was cool to see. But she really said something deeply hurtful to Deborah when she basically said, you don't believe in anything. And I thought that watching Ava and Deborah in the car, back to the Americana, that was just the role of the Americana again in these set of episodes. Just wonderful stuff for us, the. For the folks who live actually out here in la. And this gets to like what you were just saying about the third person in the relationship and the third person in the throuple, because what Ava was basically saying to Deborah and then what led Deborah to go to the comedy club to, you know, was like, you do actually believe in something. You do have a religion. It's comedy. Like, this is the thing that orients. And Catholicism. It's def. The Mark Wahlberg sends me a rosary every year, not as a gift, as a threat, was quietly one of the.
- [18:59]
Nora Princioti
Best moments of Relatives. I loved it so much.
- [19:02]
Rachel Lindsay
So much. That was. I'm really glad you have that as one of your picks, because that was just sensational.
- [19:06]
Nora Princioti
And somehow a callback to the George Clooney does break because he's a sick man. Oh, God, it's so good.
- [19:13]
Rachel Lindsay
I love that. This does bring me to the last thing I wanted to hit about the finale, though, before we move on to our superlatives. You're getting it on the record here. You want them to be working. And you're not alone, because despite Deborah falling asleep on stage and insisting that after four drinks on the yacht party, she's.
- [19:28]
Nora Princioti
She's sober.
- [19:31]
Rachel Lindsay
Deborah wants to work. And I would like to ask you. I think it's important that we discuss this for your reflections on Deborah's stance on vacation, because this wounded me deeply. We've seen a lot of painful things on hacks, but nothing quite like this. You know, I don't do vacations. Deborah said, I can't stand sitting around all day doing nothing. I just keep wishing I was working. And I would like to say it couldn't be me. I actually am not capable of understanding this. People who love work. Yes, I love work. I spend a lot of time working. You know what I love a lot?
- [20:06]
Nora Princioti
Vacation. Vacation. Absolutely. Vacation. I like to consider myself the dua lipa of the ringer. Or at least I like to say that I aspire to such, and therefore I was. Yeah, no, Deborah's. Deborah's stance is not justifiable. And I also. I know that we were getting a portrait of her in the finale of a woman who is really going through some. Some dark things, but I do feel that she enjoyed herself a little bit when she was just relaxing. She was getting that massage, and she was putting cucumber slices over her eyes, and she was saying, you know, Ava, I don't want to talk about work. And yes, it is because I'm feeling wounded, and I don't want to go through those emotions. But also it's because I'm getting a massage.
- [20:53]
Rachel Lindsay
Yeah. The stretch in Vegas before we got to Singapore, because in Singapore, she has the. The balance, at least that, like, jolt of electricity of, I'm back on stage. I found my loophole. I'm not violating my contract if the translator is actually the one doing the show. Deborah. But that. That great montage we got while we were still back in Vegas, and Deborah was, like, really going through it, lamenting this quiet period. And this led not only to a moment where Sabina had to put her hand over Deborah's mouth to see if she was breathing and ask why she wound up in bed with only one shoe on, but the single most distressing and disturbing thing that I have seen yet on Hacks, which was Deborah getting Diet Coke and a little bottle of booze and then opening it and putting the bottle and the cap of the open bottle down on the top of a public Las Vegas trash can, pouring the booze and shaking it up and then going about her day. This is just not okay. And it's not. It's just not acceptable. So let's embrace vacation rather than putting our beverage vessels on Vegas trash cans. It's just my note to Deborah if she's willing to take it. And it seems like this season was about her being willing to take some notes.
- [22:01]
Nora Princioti
So in our Miley Cyrus series, on every single album, one thing that Nathan and I recently discussed is that Miley last year had to go to the ICU because she filmed a music video for a song called Walk of Fame, and she rolled around on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and it's a.
- [22:21]
Rachel Lindsay
It's a no. It's a no for me.
- [22:22]
Nora Princioti
And really badly infected her knee. And I still think That I would rather do that than drink out of a bottle that has had secondary contact with the top of a. A Las Vegas trash can. It was really harrowing stuff. I also. You did mention that the Josefina asking why she only has one shoe on. The response, I was taking a break.
- [22:44]
Rachel Lindsay
Taking a break was very good.
- [22:48]
Nora Princioti
I like to think that I'm generally in a mentally healthier place than our girl Deb was during this scene. I've taken a break between shoes before.
- [22:59]
Rachel Lindsay
Sure. Yeah. Who hasn't? Who hasn't?
- [23:03]
Nora Princioti
We're all human, Nora.
- [23:07]
Rachel Lindsay
Let's get to our superlatives.
- [23:08]
Nora Princioti
Let's do it.
- [23:09]
Rachel Lindsay
We've already teased it. The first category today is favorite episode. I've already told you that. Mine is episode nine, A Slippery Slope. Is that yours as well? Yeah.
- [23:16]
Nora Princioti
I mean, it. It is. It is not only sort of the culmination of what has been going on through a lot of this season. I do think on some level, the payoff of Deborah saying, you know, there is no show without you. You are the show. It wouldn't have happened without my head writer, Ava Daniels. And doing it at such immense personal cost is a moment that this entire series has built to. And I thought they nailed it.
- [23:44]
Rachel Lindsay
I really agree. I think this is, like, the most important thing for them to execute in a way that felt like, really earned and really believable for us and the characters alike. And the. The great thing was, like, if. If Deborah hadn't done this, if. When she sends Ava down to the red carpet at the Oscars.
- [24:04]
Nora Princioti
She'S really good.
- [24:07]
Rachel Lindsay
Running into Winnie again, like, we're. The mounting tension. Deborah has gone to meet with Bob. He has insisted that Ava be fired. Plants that little seed of doubt not only in our minds, but in Deborah's mind. You sure you can trust her? Then we see Deborah go to meet with Jimmy, and he's like, so I've got to talk to you about something. You know, there's the. The Deborah Jimmy moment of, like, I don't think you had a choice. I know what I have to do, but I don't want to. We were so primed for the letdown. Right?
- [24:33]
Nora Princioti
Yeah.
- [24:34]
Rachel Lindsay
Winnie on the red carpet being like, by the way, tell Deborah Fudge you and she got me fired. And like all of the things. All of the convergence and confluence of all of these reasons, for us to just assume that. That Deborah would do this thing again. If she had, Ava would have correctly, and I think quite righteously said, of course you did this to me. I knew you were going to do this to me. I told you you were going to do this to me. And I ultimately like, put myself in a position for you to do this to me. So the fact that when Deborah actually chose Ava over the show, did the. Did the opening monologue in the post Oscars live show and quit the show. Very. I mean, Jean, smart, icon, legend always. But like watching Deborah well up.
- [25:23]
Nora Princioti
Yeah.
- [25:23]
Rachel Lindsay
And be moved to that point of emotion, talking about, like, how this was her dream and then to see Ava. Great season long bit about the security gate, the front gate paying off there with Ava having to watch from that perch. But Ava, what was her response? She was like, no, don't do this for me. You know, and that was so great. Like, that was. I know, it was like amazing. That was really. And then to run in and find her and like, why did you do this? Are you sure? When Deborah said on air, I've been asked to fire someone I love who did nothing wrong. Like, it was just beautiful. I agree with you completely. Everything is built to this. We also just had Eva. You're. You're a musical expert and I am not. You've. You've invoked some musicians already today and this will be my. The only attempt I'm capable of making on this front. When Jimmy, when Bob goes into the back, he's like, cut the feed, cut the feed. And Jimmy is wrestling him for the phone. Very reminiscent to me of the sequence in a complete unknown when Bob north is trying to stop Pete Seeger from going for the chords. Yeah, that was.
- [26:35]
Nora Princioti
That's why they pay you the big bucks now. It's for these comparisons, I guess.
- [26:39]
Rachel Lindsay
I'm saying Deborah Vance is comedy's Bob Dylan. And I challenge anyone to argue. I think that's right. This was great. This was great. And like also just the kind of like, there have been so many moments up to this where some sort of matter of integrity or soul or substance has like, honestly really led Deborah to be like, off to Ava. You know, that's been one of the. The really rich renewing resources of the show is the generation gap and the way that they genuinely do just see the world in a distinct way and like, think about things differently. And so all of the Ethan Summers stuff and the way that. That built toward Ava doing this thing because she believed it, but also with no foresight and like, not thinking about the consequences at all. And then still, like, I loved the moment where Eva went then to find Lewis. On the contrary guy, he's shooting hoops and asked him to stop and she's just like, yeah. I said like integrity mattered, but not. That was when it didn't affect me, which is such a tougher thing to do. It was great.
- [27:37]
Nora Princioti
But then also the little aside at the end when she's going away and she's like, it's so annoying that when you do one show a week you.
- [27:43]
Rachel Lindsay
Have time to play basketball. Basketball. I haven't been to the grocery store three months. That was great. I really enjoyed that. There was also just going to talk about Jimmy and Kayla a lot again later, but there was just inside of they'll come up in other categories. But inside of this episode there was some of the most remarkable Jimmy and Kayla stuff we've ever gotten have to shout out. This is where in episode nine we got the the the latest peak TV streaming wars era mention of Ringer podcast the Town When Ava asked what Plubo was, Jimmy said, yeah, Pluto and Fubo merge. You gotta keep up on this stuff. I told you to listen to the town. Wonderful stuff. Again, catch up on the Prestige TV podcast coverage of the studio if you haven't yet.
- [28:31]
Nora Princioti
What a huge spring. What a huge spring for Matt Bellany. It's really fun.
- [28:35]
Rachel Lindsay
Unbelievable. Unbelievable stuff. Thriving. All right, I'm gonna ask you to pick your favorite of some of the Kayla and Jimmy stuff that happened in episode nine. Here are your choices.
- [28:43]
Nora Princioti
Okay.
- [28:43]
Rachel Lindsay
Jimmy at a serious planning meeting, noting that Sally Field is not only interested in participating in celebrity strip poker, but has demanded to be topless. Looking good and feeling great. The Kayla Jimmy search for dance mom, which is just honestly, I believe might be coming up in two of my four picks for five or subsequent categories. Gator Tales what is a gator tail? Go to one party. Possibly my favorite moment of the entire season. Just incredible stuff. This is also the buffet sequence and then the once again incredibly emotionally moving touching sequence where Jimmy picks or Kayla picks Jimmy over her dad because she sweet Randy reveals the name. The cementing of the plaque that it is just Schaefer and Lusak because Jimmy ordered the sign without telling Kayla and knew it would mean a lot to her. So wonderful. And then seeing Kayla charge in to defend Jimmy to Deborah and Ava, including the line, you would never boof anything for anyone selfish.
- [29:58]
Nora Princioti
When she when Kayla.
- [29:59]
Rachel Lindsay
Just calls Deborah earrings, earrings, earrings was simply remarkable. I thought that Ava's reaction to Kayla saying if this is how independent strong women treat a nice guy, feminism has gone too far was also a real highlight. But Kayla finding Jimmy beaten to a pulp after getting tossed out of the building APOLOGIZING to him for calling him a little bitch for almost. For considering going to attitude. And he's like, you don't need to apologize for things that I don't know about and you weren't gonna do. This is great, great, great. Can you possibly pick a favorite of those remarkable Jimmy Caitlin moments Episode of television?
- [30:40]
Nora Princioti
I will. Because podcasting. We're professionals here. I do have to say that they are all. They're. They're all perfect.
- [30:46]
Rachel Lindsay
It's like picking.
- [30:47]
Nora Princioti
You know, I don't have children, but I imagine this is what it feels like to be asked to pick a favorite child. There was something about the moment when they find Dance mom on Wisteria Lane.
- [30:59]
Rachel Lindsay
Incredible.
- [30:59]
Nora Princioti
Yeah. And she thinks she's at Carrie Bradshaw's brownstone.
- [31:02]
Rachel Lindsay
Yeah. It's famously New York. Famously New York. That's great.
- [31:08]
Nora Princioti
That I loved so much. I really, you know, I was skeptical if. If Dance mom was gonna go down as an addition and a subplot line that I thought worked. By the end, they really made Dance mom happen.
- [31:22]
Rachel Lindsay
I. I completely agree. This is my runner up for another category we have, which is favorite plotline of the season of this. This chunk of the season. And I was frankly astonished by that, because when Dance mom entered our hax universe, I frankly was like, what the fuck is happening? What's going on?
- [31:40]
Nora Princioti
Yeah. And I also, frankly don't really believe that those dances would go that viral.
- [31:46]
Rachel Lindsay
Okay, see, this is interesting. You're thinking about this as an Internet expert, and I'm thinking about this as somebody who really just wants almost every single possible moment to go to Kayla. But Dance mom gave us a lot of Kayla, and so that was a gift.
- [31:59]
Nora Princioti
Yeah, Dance mom did give us a lot of Kayla, and ultimately, I guess I'm glad that it was Dance mom who occupied the role of the Schaeffer and Lussac client who entered the Deborah Vance comedic universe, as opposed to.
- [32:21]
Rachel Lindsay
The.
- [32:21]
Nora Princioti
The biting, the incredibly aggressive.
- [32:24]
Rachel Lindsay
Callie Put a pin in that. I'm coming back to that.
- [32:27]
Nora Princioti
Okay.
- [32:28]
Rachel Lindsay
I am coming back to that. In case. Just in case Dance Bomb doesn't come up again today, let's use this opportunity to share this Kayla gem from the Old Navy, revoking its endorsement deal stretch of episode seven, where Kayla said the stuff she was pinning was nuts on the Pinterest. Softcore, bdsm, Hardcore, asmr.
- [32:57]
Nora Princioti
Remarkable. Me too.
- [32:59]
Rachel Lindsay
Remarkable. Great stuff. Great stuff.
- [33:01]
Nora Princioti
Don't look at my Pinterest now.
- [33:03]
Rachel Lindsay
I was. I. I wouldn't dream of it. That's your space. Anything else on episode Nine. Before we move to our next category, I. I think.
- [33:11]
Nora Princioti
I think I'm really glad that we've covered the. The bouffet sequence. And it. It just.
- [33:18]
Rachel Lindsay
It's important. Okay, our next category today is best scene when you got here.
- [33:24]
Nora Princioti
Well, we have talked about it. I do think that the most important and the best executed scene of this season is. Is Deborah, after the Oscars at the live show, standing up for Ava and essentially professing her love. You know, that's. That's. That is her standing up there with a boombox. And it was, to me, every bit as iconic.
- [33:52]
Rachel Lindsay
I love that you're such a romantic. That's beautiful.
- [33:55]
Nora Princioti
I.
- [33:58]
Rachel Lindsay
I think mostly because I knew we would have already talked about that scene a lot. I'm going in a different direction. Wanted to hit a different character set here, but also you're leaning into romance and possibility. And I have lingered in a different emotional and mental space with my pick here. And it is. This was just like watching an actual conversation I've had with my mother rendered on screen. I will be selecting Ava's mom arriving for a visit, Specifically the first scene in Ava's apartment in the Americana in episode eight, Witch of the Week. Jane Addams is Nina. Always a treat. Whenever we get a stretch in there's. Every season, we get a little bit of Ava and her mom. It's always great. Every single thing about this was perfect. The fact that Ava has no idea where her mom is and can't find her because her mom left her phone on airplane mode, first of all, just literally relatable.
- [34:51]
Nora Princioti
My mom has done that a hundred times.
- [34:53]
Rachel Lindsay
So deeply relatable. So it's like, right down to the glimpse of, like, seeing that she was flying into Burbank where, like, this is. I'm like, this is just where my mom flies in. And then I'm like, I can't find you.
- [35:03]
Nora Princioti
Where are you?
- [35:05]
Rachel Lindsay
All of this.
- [35:06]
Nora Princioti
As someone who flew in and out of LAX last weekend, deeply jealous.
- [35:10]
Rachel Lindsay
Burbank is the single best LA life hack. There's nothing close.
- [35:14]
Nora Princioti
Burbank is a treat.
- [35:16]
Rachel Lindsay
If you can fly into or out of Burbank, you must. You basically live in the Cheesecake Factory. Exceptional, Iconic. I loved it. The moment when Nina opened Ava's fridge and we were treated to this exchange. Are you eating enough soup? I'm not eating any soup. Soup is so beneficial.
- [35:41]
Nora Princioti
Soup. The thing is that soup is so beneficial.
- [35:43]
Rachel Lindsay
This is most of the moments in this scene, I was deeply rooted, as I often am watching hacks in an eva Perspective. But this time, I was the mom. I love soup. I have soup all the time. And then here it is. This is where I was like, I am watching a scene from my own life. There's something I want to talk to you about. Okay. Is it quick? Because I gotta go. It is. Pause beat. I'm worried that you're not gonna have children. Wow. I love to hear your version of a long conversation. You're so focused on this demanding new job of yours. I worry you're gonna get so busy, you're gonna forget. I'm gonna forget to have a kid. I have had this exact exchange nearly word for word with my mother more times than I or count. This was just incredible. And then the offer to give Ava $10,000 to free to freeze her eggs, plus covering the cost of storage. And the ensuing discussion about the lawsuit where David said, I thought you were being sued, right? Yes, I was, but I was also a plaintiff. My upline is longer than my downline. That's just such a vintage hack line to me, where I'm like, who thinks of this? This is absolutely incredible. And then the. The absolute cherry on the Sunday of. This is a moment from my life with my mother, who is wonderful. And I love the guilt trip about Ava having to leave to go to work. Are you leaving me? Oh, my God. What am I supposed to do all day? And then Ava's running. I live in a mall. Go shopping. You have $22,000. Apparently, the whole point of me coming here is to spend time with you. When my mom, who again, is wonderful and might be listening to this podcast.
- [37:29]
Nora Princioti
Comes to la, Hi, Mel's mom.
- [37:32]
Rachel Lindsay
She sometimes emails Joanna.
- [37:36]
Nora Princioti
Wild.
- [37:38]
Rachel Lindsay
I'll like, mention on a pod that I like, I'm squinting, I can't see. And she'll email Joanna and say, can you encourage Mal to go to the eye doctor? Very normal. Very normal thing that happens.
- [37:46]
Nora Princioti
And that she does.
- [37:49]
Rachel Lindsay
When my mom comes to la, she expects that every single. There is an itinerary where every single moment is accounted for with an activity. And I'm like, you have been to LA 60 times in your life. Go explore. So this one, this scene just hit hard. Very memorable to me. I thought this was a great one. That's my pick.
- [38:10]
Nora Princioti
I particularly loved Are you still waiting to meet Leonardo DiCaprio to have a child? She said the first part of the line, and you're going to.
- [38:19]
Rachel Lindsay
You're.
- [38:19]
Nora Princioti
You're primed to expect the thing that comes next to be. It's not going to happen. You need to Lower your standards.
- [38:27]
Rachel Lindsay
And then that's not what happens.
- [38:30]
Nora Princioti
Being kind of a pain in the ass. She still manages to be sort of beautiful and really supportive by then saying, I think there's something to that.
- [38:37]
Rachel Lindsay
You move in the same Hollywood circle, the same circles. And then like 10 minutes later in the episode when she's at the show and sees the guy that the guy who's a part of the production, she's like, you have similar hair coloring. So are you interested in having children one day? Just unbelievable stuff. This brings us to our next category, Favorite Plot Line. I have already tipped for you that Dance mom was a stunning contender for me. Obviously, the actual picks here, no question, are everything with it, with Ava and Deborah and the beautiful resolution there. That's obviously the most meaningful plotline of the season or anything that involves Jimmy and Kayla. But we have other categories where I will be getting to that. And so I went. I went in a place that I don't think you're going to support.
- [39:21]
Nora Princioti
Oh, wow.
- [39:23]
Rachel Lindsay
I used Favorite Plot Line not to actually honor one of the most important plot lines, but instead to spend just a moment on something that brought me more joy than I can possibly understand. And it is rabid Lassie.
- [39:40]
Nora Princioti
It is rabbit Lassie.
- [39:43]
Rachel Lindsay
The first of all, just. If it had just been the initial scene like that episode seven for. I mean, we talked last episode about all of this. Like, please write down your species, like if you're a dog or a human. Everything was building toward this with Kayla's entrepreneurial spirit. If it had just been the scene in episode seven where Jimmy is on set and can't find Kayla. And the PA who Kayla has been tormenting brings Jimmy fancy sunscreen and a coconut and then asks him if it's young enough and says Schaefer gets upset when the coconut isn't young enough. And then Lassie had come over and bitten Jimmy, that would have been enough. But that's not all that happened. This becomes a through line of the second half of the season of Hacks. Jimmy gets bitten. Kayla shouting, magic, I cannot believe this is happening again. Jimmy saying, what do you mean again? And then Kayla revealing that it's the third person Lassie is being bitten, and then saying, by the way, her owners are anti vax. You're going to need a lot of shots. Which leads toward a stretch where Jimmy's festering wound means he has to, when he's having business meetings, say the so sorry about the smell. It's something in the building. And then Clive on the couch across from saying, I thought you'd been eating kimchi before the doctor arrives to administer rabies shot. But it all led to the most important thing, which is our shared love. Randy, in an Episode 9 string of updates for Jimmy about all the things that are going wrong. Saying like, it was the single most important bit of news anybody had ever delivered to anyone on anything. She bid again. She bit again. I just was like, in tears. I was laughing so hard when we built toward the she bit again. So I just thought this was, like, inspired and so bizarre. But I loved it. So that's my pick. What about you?
- [41:42]
Nora Princioti
Fabulous. Okay. I, first of all, I totally support this. I absolutely support this. And mine is a little niche as well. Although it is not rabid. Lazy, who somehow I believe gave Jimmy ring war.
- [41:55]
Rachel Lindsay
That's correct. Yeah, it sure did.
- [42:01]
Nora Princioti
Mayor Joe.
- [42:02]
Rachel Lindsay
Oh, yeah. Okay. Good pick.
- [42:05]
Nora Princioti
Mayor Joe. When last we spoke.
- [42:10]
Rachel Lindsay
Yeah.
- [42:10]
Nora Princioti
I had slightly mixed feelings about the Mayor Joe cameo so far this season because I didn't totally get this is again, sometimes hacks goes on location. And I don't quite get why the trip to Vegas was not, to me, one of the high points of the season. Although within that Mayor Joe showing up to get Deborah out of a ticket was a high point of that.
- [42:34]
Rachel Lindsay
Yes.
- [42:35]
Nora Princioti
So maybe mixed feelings at the midpoint. The second Mayor Joe subplot line.
- [42:45]
Rachel Lindsay
Which.
- [42:45]
Nora Princioti
Is that she has been caught having sex with multiple hockey players on a Zamboni.
- [42:56]
Rachel Lindsay
Yes.
- [42:56]
Nora Princioti
And this has created a scandal.
- [42:59]
Rachel Lindsay
Yeah.
- [43:00]
Nora Princioti
That everybody is talking about. And Deborah has to figure out her way into. Because she won't make fun of a friend.
- [43:07]
Rachel Lindsay
Right.
- [43:08]
Nora Princioti
And then Ava pitches. Why don't we have her on the show bringing Mayor Joe, who at first is nervous, but then. Then is an absolutely excellent guest and I think does a lot for her reputation to own the joke, which, as Deborah brings up, is like the old Nora Ephron line where if you slip on a banana peel, but if you tell the story, it's your joke, which she, Deborah believes in. Even though Nora Ephron famously called her a bitch once, which that was such a great line.
- [43:40]
Rachel Lindsay
But I feel that story. But I feel like I can steal it because she called me a bitch. Incredible.
- [43:45]
Nora Princioti
You could make the argument that I'm really, really making a case for one line, but I do. I just found this whole thing really, really funny and sort of bizarre and out of left field in a way that only hacks can do.
- [43:59]
Rachel Lindsay
Yeah.
- [43:59]
Nora Princioti
But truly the reason that I loved this whole little detour was for one line.
- [44:05]
Rachel Lindsay
Yeah.
- [44:05]
Nora Princioti
And that was the Jimmy's railed me my second gang bang of the week.
- [44:11]
Rachel Lindsay
Just remarkable stuff. Absolutely remarkable stuff. That was great. And I think in. In many television shows, when there's six pairs of hands, you stop looking for wedding rings. Takes the cake, but not hacks. That was just a warm up. I think.
- [44:29]
Nora Princioti
I, I love when they acknowledge the other late night hosts.
- [44:33]
Rachel Lindsay
Yeah, yeah.
- [44:34]
Nora Princioti
And so that part of it, like already has something that I love, but that just. It's just a great. It's just a great line.
- [44:42]
Rachel Lindsay
Fantastic pick. It's just an absolutely fantastic pick. And it's, I think, a great transition into our next category, which is funniest one liner. We were both just downright incapable of actually picking one thing here last time. I assume that will be the case today. So why don't you run me through your 3 to 25 contenders, however many you have today.
- [45:04]
Nora Princioti
So really, I mean, I actually do have one here.
- [45:07]
Rachel Lindsay
Oh, wow. This is. I, I struggled with this more than last time actually to pick, to narrow it down. What did you, what did you go in?
- [45:14]
Nora Princioti
That doesn't mean that I only wrote down one thing here. But there was. I just. When I was sort of cataloging and going back.
- [45:21]
Rachel Lindsay
Yeah.
- [45:23]
Nora Princioti
Mark Wahlberg still sends me a rosary every year as a threat. I felt.
- [45:29]
Rachel Lindsay
It's great.
- [45:30]
Nora Princioti
I felt cosmically pulled to that joke.
- [45:33]
Rachel Lindsay
It was incredible. It was genuinely incredible.
- [45:36]
Nora Princioti
We did, we, we talked, I think in, in the context of the, the Clooney thing that was sort of similar at mid season about the way that they are capable of writing these little lines that have a whole world behind them. And I just, I thought the whole thing about Deborah having beef with the Catholic Church was really, really funny, but that that line in particular was my favorite.
- [45:58]
Rachel Lindsay
Yeah, I agree. I thought when, when that started, the, like the history of the church coming after Deborah, I wasn't sure it was gonna totally pan out, but it was quite entertaining across the entire episode. I love that. That's a great pick.
- [46:11]
Nora Princioti
Also randomly random. I'm not gonna say good timing, but sort of strange timing because of the Pope.
- [46:18]
Rachel Lindsay
Yeah, I know. I know. But real rips from the headline stuff.
- [46:22]
Nora Princioti
And then the other one that just I. The dance mom delivery and we've been texting when she reveals that she is paying $25,000 a week.
- [46:33]
Rachel Lindsay
A week. A week. That scene was so funny. And a buzz ball like white or green? Guess I'll take green.
- [46:47]
Nora Princioti
If, you know, if you have lodged in your brain, as I do, the way that Adam Levine texts, at least as is public knowledge, as related to women that he might have texted with at one point.
- [47:01]
Rachel Lindsay
Right. It adds an extra dimension.
- [47:03]
Nora Princioti
Really adds a layer to that.
- [47:05]
Rachel Lindsay
Yeah. Okay. Here are some of my contenders. This is like the short list and maybe. Maybe I'll pick a favorite at the end. Gonna. Gonna hit some highlights here.
- [47:14]
Nora Princioti
We'll figure it out together.
- [47:16]
Rachel Lindsay
Episode 7 Seth Rogen during celebrity strip poker. My boxer shorts are from Kirkland and my circumcision is from Rabbi Bregman. Was that absolutely killed me. Just tremendous.
- [47:31]
Nora Princioti
That's really good. The. The. The other celebrity strip poker as they're like little bit. It was really funny to me. And in the same way as thank you to Nancy Pelosi and Glorilla will always be special to me. Just something about the combination of Kaia Gerber and Seth Rogen for celebrity strip poker really worked.
- [47:52]
Rachel Lindsay
Genius. Absolutely inspired. I loved it. DJ and Ava share the following exchange when they're. When Ava Deborah are meeting AJ and Deborah has gone to steam the bonnet. I believe. Beautiful baby, hot husband, thriving career women can have it all. Bitches need to stop complaining. And then aversbands with totally. Look. As a single childless woman who lives in a mall. I agree. As a single childless woman who lives in a mall. I agree. Is just. That was so funny.
- [48:27]
Nora Princioti
I'm not as I. You have done the Lord's work in catching me up on the Americana and its lore.
- [48:34]
Rachel Lindsay
Yeah.
- [48:35]
Nora Princioti
And I do believe that that was a sub character that did amazing work. Was the Americana itself.
- [48:41]
Rachel Lindsay
I quite agree. I quite agree. I hope that that continues. Maybe a lot of change awaits in season five, but hopefully. Yeah. I always like when we get little insights into the DJ Deborah backstory. And so Deborah saying, no, thy enemy. That's from the Bible. And DJ responding no, that's from the Art of War. Which I know because you made it made me read it when I was in fourth grade. Very strong. Very strong indeed. You already. I had the mayor Jo lines that that you already. That you already hit. I. Let's see what else is. What else is in the mix here. You know what I liked in episode eight when Kayla and Jimmy were after Clive reveals that he's cancer free and thus will be leaving their firm to go to Kayla's dad at Latitude. And Jimmy is catching Kayla up on this and she shouts, we saved his life. And Jimmy says that was the oncology department at Cedars. Just sensational. Wonderful stuff. We already talked about.
- [49:41]
Nora Princioti
Always like tied tied to reality in a way.
- [49:44]
Rachel Lindsay
He's anchored and rooted in a way that is necessary. Necessary in the show we already talked about what I think is actually my pick for this category which is Gator Tales. What is a gator tail? Go to one party Jimmy. Like go to one party Jimmy. Just abs. I just could not have loved it. More wonderful stuff. I enjoyed Ava saying in episode nine on the Ethan Summers censorship front. Let me know if there's any other sex criminals reputations you need me to help launder. Fantastic stuff. This was one where I wish they hadn't tipped it in the next week on in the preview for the finale that we got in the end of episode nine. But I thought that Safina greeting Ava at the door and the do I look like a fun flirty vacation girl leading to you look like Ace Ventura pet detective. Both are sexually, sexually viable. Really good. And we already talked about Ava loading up on her. On her pharmaceuticals ahead of the flight to not Hawaii. After all. Was worth it for this line alone. When she offers Deborah some. Some pills. Deborah passes and Ava says smart benzo use is highly correlated to dementia. But that's a tomorrow problem. Oh and then we have to shout this out because you were very. You were very focused on Ava's shorts in our mid season pod. And so I felt I was thinking of you most of all when we got a callback when Deborah. Or continued acknowledgment really. When Deborah said what do you do while we're here? This was in their fight. Like their mini breakup in the finale. What do you do while you're here except follow me around with your empty little notebook in your big shorts?
- [51:19]
Nora Princioti
Something that has been a talking point recently on We're Obsessed is the concept of bisexual jorts.
- [51:27]
Rachel Lindsay
Yeah.
- [51:28]
Nora Princioti
Which was in a Page Six headline I believe. And so that was really, really top of mind to me in that line. And the spirit of that line had a lot of relevance to me. So I think that's a wonderful choice. The other one that I'm. I'm. I'm now thinking of that I think we would be remiss. Not to mention comes from our dear Randy who is off the phone with Jimmy on a bus.
- [51:53]
Rachel Lindsay
Yeah.
- [51:55]
Nora Princioti
And says I'm on the bus. I like to mentally map out a city.
- [52:04]
Rachel Lindsay
It's great. Randy's the best.
- [52:07]
Nora Princioti
Randy's really special edition. I mean like this season had so there was so much that happened.
- [52:16]
Rachel Lindsay
Yeah.
- [52:17]
Nora Princioti
And at times I felt like if maybe a few of those things had been pared down. But I do think that there's a real beauty to like when they are just throwing all of this Stuff up against the wall. Quite a bit of it really sticks.
- [52:30]
Rachel Lindsay
Yeah.
- [52:31]
Nora Princioti
And if it's that ethos that brought us Randy on the bus, then that's really special to me and I, I, I, I can't fault it for a second.
- [52:38]
Rachel Lindsay
I quite agree. I'm just sitting here still waiting for the Schaefer and Luceak spinoff. That brings us to our final category of the day, which is once again favorite duo. And I have once again picked Jimmy and Kayla. Have you?
- [52:50]
Nora Princioti
Yeah, yeah, absolutely.
- [52:52]
Rachel Lindsay
This is. We can rename the category if we're back to pod about hacks in season five. Let's just assume that favor two is just an opportunity and an excuse, not that we need one to talk about Jimmy and Kayla. We've hit a lot of the highlights again already. What that we have not gotten to. Do you want to shine a spotlight on here?
- [53:10]
Nora Princioti
I mean, I first want to just second. If Schaefer and Luce act does not become its own spin off. That's going to be our sp. We're just going to do Schaefer and loose that corner. We're going to check in on what's going on with, with, with the squad. I, I loved this season you mentioned. I'm so glad that it's been renewed for season five and that we will get more hacks. I, you said that there had been some, you know, stuff percolating about are, is there going to be more hacks? What's the future of hacks? And it's. It has always landed strangely with me because I think that this is a special show. There's nothing like hacks other than hacks. And while I think that they do have this. I don't know if I want to say it's a problem but a hurdle in terms of how do you, if you're choosing to write this core relationship as this. Will they, won't they.
- [54:06]
Rachel Lindsay
Yeah.
- [54:07]
Nora Princioti
Really be there for each other. There is only so much that you can do otherwise. It's just, it's, it's punching us in the face and then bringing us back to life over and over again with. Are they gonna be so hurtful to each other and then they're gonna make up.
- [54:24]
Rachel Lindsay
Yeah.
- [54:24]
Nora Princioti
But I do, I do just think that there is still a lot that they can do if they put them especially within the context of, of making comedy together. Because if we've learned nothing else, I mean this was just a really pro thing throuple season of television.
- [54:43]
Rachel Lindsay
Boy was it. Boy was it.
- [54:45]
Nora Princioti
It really was. I mean, Mayor Jo, I don't know if I. I guess six hands. Yeah. So, Mayor Joe, our girl Ava, and I do believe Ava, Deborah and comedy are. Are the throuple of.
- [54:56]
Rachel Lindsay
Are Jimmy, Kayla and Randy a throuple? Are we officially there? Have we gotten enough time with Randy to graduate this from a duo to a thruffle? It's something for us to think about between seasons here when in episode nine, walking away from the burning wreckage of the. The late night show that they had left behind. It's gonna be Schaefer and Lusak for life. Kayla said, we're gonna die together. To which Jimmy responded, I don't doubt that this is for life, man. This is for life. And so all we can hope is that Randy is with them for life as well. You know, that would be a treat. That would be a gift on the like. Comedy is a key part of their relationship, is their religion, is their belief network, all of it. Front. I would be remiss to not shout out a subtle, but I think very special and also important, like as a tether to the ethos of the. The worldview and mission of the show. Front. On the last. He said, I will be returning to the Lassie set once more. I'm sorry, I'm not. When Jimmy was bitching about all of the stressors and he's so cranky and Kayla just says, some people are doctors. Have fun. It's like, yeah, right.
- [56:08]
Nora Princioti
That's right. That's right.
- [56:10]
Rachel Lindsay
That's exactly right. Did you enjoy when Kayla snuck into Jimmy's house and she was like, cher, cleaning lady later. Of course. Great stuff. I also really enjoyed the soap Opera digestion conversation when Kayla's like, did you stand up for yourself? No, they're busy. It's fine. You were the last to know. This is like when you found out your parents were getting divorced from Soap Opera Digest. Which then led to a story about going to Gelson's for cheese for his lunch before school. Another very LA story. So that was just. It's great stuff, man.
- [56:45]
Nora Princioti
I mean, I do think that one thing that we didn't mention is, is Jimmy really growing in his ability to go full gorilla?
- [56:56]
Rachel Lindsay
That's right.
- [56:56]
Nora Princioti
Kayla's only gone half gorilla up to this point. And Jimmy does go full gorilla. Does his. Does his Bob Dylan thing, and it's really magical to see.
- [57:08]
Rachel Lindsay
So it's another. It's like a mirror, right? You know, we've got. We've got Deborah and Ava working toward each other and Kayla and Jimmy too. Everybody's teaching each other a lesson. Sometimes you lead with love and sometimes you don't. Kayla learned a little bit from Jimmy and he learned a little bit from her.
- [57:22]
Nora Princioti
And isn't that sometimes you give up a Malibu house with its own Jet Ski.
- [57:28]
Rachel Lindsay
Comes with the house.
- [57:29]
Nora Princioti
Comes with the house.
- [57:32]
Rachel Lindsay
Real uptick in perks from corner office to Malibu beach house. Wow. Great stuff. All right, Nora, any other closing thoughts before we conclude today?
- [57:45]
Nora Princioti
I mean, you have heard my both wish casting and guessing as to where season five might go. Is there anything that you're dying to see them hit? Mel.
- [57:59]
Rachel Lindsay
So this is not. Not. I'm not dying to see this necessarily, but that is. That does remind me. We got that sequence of the implosion of the Tropicana in Vegas and Marcus watching with. And that felt like clearly there to tease because there's a discussion. Marcus partner, his mom or partner the soul of Vegas having shifted. Right. That we've gone from gritty, dirty Vegas with an identity and a sense of self to like corporate Vegas and everything is sterile and cookie cutter and the same. And that look in Marcus's eye really close in the season to Deborah visiting Marcus at his new job and was like, don't you miss the conniving? Don't you miss the. You know. And he's just like, well, yeah, but like, this is profitable. Seems clear that we're going to get some sort of like they're launching their own boutique hotel slash casino slash live event space plot line in or season five.
- [58:55]
Nora Princioti
Is Marcus gonna challenge Mayor Joe in the next election?
- [59:01]
Rachel Lindsay
I. I mean, I'm just gonna be frank. With love and respect for Mayor Joe. I would be voting for Marcus, who seems much more equipped to handle public office.
- [59:09]
Nora Princioti
Seems actually like incredibly organized and responsible and with a mind for growth and business and efficiency.
- [59:17]
Rachel Lindsay
Yeah. Mayor Joe just vibes Marcus either opening a hotel or running for office or maybe both. Damien hopefully treating his ulcer. It's like, no, I haven't taken care of it yet. Don't tell Deborah and I really given.
- [59:34]
Nora Princioti
The amount of barrier and he's been.
- [59:36]
Rachel Lindsay
Exposed to over the course of this.
- [59:37]
Nora Princioti
Season, I really hope he sees a doctor.
- [59:40]
Rachel Lindsay
Me too. Me too. I did enjoy when they were like, I'd get, you know, these calf dance. We never. We weren't sure they'd see the light of day. That was great. The root of what you have identified as works its way into my mind. I think what you're citing about building toward a moment where Deborah is like, it's your turn, Ava, and I'm here to help you. I agree I think that's where this is probably ultimately heading. I, I, I, I don't know if season five still feels too soon for that. I wonder if like I wonder if the, the Golden Trio driving the, the hacked creative machine like has an X number of seasons and this is like the dream but we could do it in this many like how, how they're approaching structuring their story. You know how much they feel like they have to do each season versus like having the, the comfort to, to wait on. But yeah, I'm interested to see what the next evolution in that relationship is and I do hope that we get more not just thematic throuples but actual thruffles.
- [60:36]
Nora Princioti
Yeah. I mean we don't need to limit it to three either. You know.
- [60:39]
Rachel Lindsay
That's right. Exactly.
- [60:41]
Nora Princioti
Hacks has told us loud and clear the more the merrier. I do.
- [60:44]
Rachel Lindsay
Yeah.
- [60:44]
Nora Princioti
I, I, I guess I think that I felt like it was building that way just because of Deborah's non compete.
- [60:50]
Rachel Lindsay
Yeah.
- [60:50]
Nora Princioti
And because it does feel true to me that that's not that the role reversal and who gets the spotlight is maybe not something that even in this moment when she has sacrificed so much for Ava and profess love that Deborah would be willing to take on just because she thinks it's time and, and a Ava has earned it.
- [61:13]
Rachel Lindsay
Yeah.
- [61:14]
Nora Princioti
But when structurally prevented from taking the.
- [61:17]
Rachel Lindsay
Stage herself she has literally no other choice.
- [61:19]
Nora Princioti
I can see it, I can see it being possible.
- [61:23]
Rachel Lindsay
I'll be curious to see if we pick up inside of that 18th, 18 month window still.
- [61:27]
Nora Princioti
Yeah.
- [61:27]
Rachel Lindsay
Or out of it. That that'll be, that'll be fascinating to see. So. Okay. Well I look forward to season five. I look forward to reconvening with you to talk about all of the amazing things that we got to see Randy. See and say Shout out to Randy. Yeah. Thank you. It's time for thank yous. Thank you to Randy most of all obviously. Thank you to you. Thank you to Kai Grady and Justin Sales for their work on this episode. We will see you for season five, whatever that might be. In the meantime, go to one party.