Hacks returns Thursday on HBO for its fifth and final season, and the critical consensus ahead of the premiere is unusually uniform for a prestige comedy: this is the best the show has been. [1]

Decider calls it "whipsmart, funny, and audacious from start to finish." Collider says it "delivers laughter, heartfelt moments, and satisfying closure." THR notes it "evokes the hilarious first run" that won Jean Smart her first Emmy for the role of Deborah Vance. AwardsWatch gives it an A grade. The Hollywood Reporter is the dissent, arguing the season "trades sharpness for sweetness" — a genuine criticism that other reviewers interpret as the show doing what a final season should do. [2]

The new season picks up with Deborah Vance at the height of her cultural redemption and Ava Daniels — Hannah Einbinder's co-creator character — navigating the entertainment industry's latest disruption. The Playlist identifies an "AI and the fallacy of intelligence" thread running through the season's comedy, which has particular resonance in April 2026 as the industry processes what AI tools are doing to writers' rooms, comedy writers' routines, and the question of what human comedic intelligence is worth. [3]

Hacks premiered in 2021 as a show about what happens to women's careers and voices when the entertainment industry decides they're past their prime. It ends in 2026 as a show about what happens to anyone's voice when the systems around them decide they're replaceable. The thematic thread, however unintentionally, has widened. [4]

Two episodes premiere Thursday, with additional episodes weekly. All ten episodes of the season have been screened for critics, and none of the reviewers with advance access broke the plot. That restraint — in a media environment where spoilers arrive before premiere night — is its own form of critical endorsement.

-- CAMILLE BEAUMONT, Los Angeles