"Hacks" is ending, and HBO Max has stopped pretending it is not. The fifth and final season premieres April 9 at 9 p.m. ET, with ten episodes running through the May 28 series finale.[1]

Hannah Einbinder confirmed it in March, after a previous on-air walkback. "It was real then, and it's real now," she told Collider.[2]

Season four ended with Jean Smart's Deborah Vance struggling under a non-compete contract and fleeing to Singapore with Einbinder's Ava. After some hard partying, it was falsely reported that Vance had died. Season five starts in the aftermath of those mistaken news reports, with the pair returning to Las Vegas determined to secure Deborah's legacy as a comedian.[1]

The creative team — creators Lucia Aniello, Paul W. Downs and Jen Statsky — have said they have always known what the very last scene of the show is, recently calling it "very full-circle."[2]

The supporting cast returns: Downs, Megan Stalter, Carl Clemons-Hopkins, Mark Indelicato and Rose Abdoo. Guest stars for the final season include Robby Hoffman, Tony Goldwyn, Kaitlin Olson, Christopher McDonald, Jane Adams, Lauren Weedman, Poppy Liu, Johnny Sibilly, Luenell, Angela E. Gibbs, Caitlin Reilly, Christopher Briney, Leslie Bibb, Cherry Jones and Ann Dowd.[1]

The season will stream weekly, with two new episodes on April 30 and May 7 ahead of the finale.[2]

"Hacks" has been the best comedy on television for four seasons. The final season is not a victory lap — it is a closing argument. The question is whether the ending earns the journey.

-- CAMILLE BEAUMONT, Los Angeles