Hacks Season 4: All About the New Installment — And How Deborah and Ava Will Move On From That Shocking Twist

Warning: Hacks season 3 spoilers ahead!

Hacks will be back following a bone-chilling season 3 finale — and a slew of Emmy awards at the September 2024 ceremony.

The Max series finished airing its third season in May 2024, with season 4 announced the day after the finale was released. The show follows the relationship between Deborah Vance (Jean Smart), an out-of-touch and past-her-prime comedian, and Ava Daniels (Hannah Einbinder), an up-and-coming writer who is hired to revive Vance's struggling career.

Season 3 left off in a dire place — in a shocking twist ending, Ava betrayed Deborah after the comedian had stabbed her in the back by naming someone else as the head writer of her new late-night show. Ava blackmailed Deborah in retaliation, threatening to expose a secret that could jeopardize her career in order to get the position of head writer.

The two women have dealt with each other's difficult personalities throughout the show's three seasons, but the moment marked the first time they had betrayed each other to such a deep level — and left a seemingly permanent mark on their now-broken friendship.

In September 2024, the show got its flowers at the Emmy Awards, taking home the award for outstanding writing for a comedy series, outstanding comedy series in an upset over The Bear and an outstanding lead actress nod for Smart.

The three creators — Paul W. Downs, Lucia Aniello and Jen Statsky — always planned for the show to have five seasons and knew from the start exactly how it would end, though Smart and Einbinder told Deadline in May 2024 that they weren't privy to that information.

“That’s still our plan,” Aniello said of the five-season idea. “We started pitching the show in 2019, but we’ve been thinking about it since 2015, so we’ve had a great time to plot out and talk about where we wanted the show to go.”

So what's next? From who's returning in the cast to when it may come out, here's everything we know so far about Hacks season 4.

What happened in the Hacks season 3 finale?

A number of storylines aside from Ava and Deborah's come to a head at the end of season 3. Marcus (Carl Clemons-Hopkins), the CEO of Deborah's business, tells Damien (Mark Indelicato), her personal assistant, that he is leaving his post for a new job. Damien breaks down, but it seems like no one knows this news other than him.

Elsewhere, personal agent Jimmy (Downs) begs Kayla (Megan Stalter) not to leave the business, even chasing her onto her plane and pleading with her to return to Deborah, making other passengers assume he is proposing to her. After getting a promotion to manager, Kayla agrees to stay.

Deborah's daughter, DJ (Kaitlin Olson), is getting ready to have her baby, giving the stand-up comedian a new role as a grandma in addition to her fresh work title.

Most significantly, however, Deborah gets a second chance at what she's always wanted: her own late night show. However, now that she's at the top, Deborah decides to cast aside Ava, thinking that she would be a risk to hire.

Ava fights back, blackmailing Deborah with the knowledge that she slept with network executive Bob Lipka (Tony Goldwyn) before she got hired to host her show.

When will Hacks season 4 be released?

A release date for season 4 has yet to be announced.

Season 3 premiered on May 2, 2024, and episodes dropped in pairs until the finale on May 30.

Who is in the cast of Hacks season 4?

Though no new announcements have been made about who will join the season 4 cast, it is likely that main characters Smart and Einbinder will return as Deborah and Ava. Downs, Stalter and Olson will likely also reprise their roles.

Season 3 featured some exciting guest stars, including Goldwyn, Helen Hunt, Christina Hendricks, Christopher Lloyd, Dan Bucatinsky, J. Smith Cameron and George Wallace. For the upcoming season, Smart teased that she wants comedy icon Carol Burnett to join the show.

“I worked with her once very briefly, and I just adore her, and I just think she’s incredible,” the actress told Deadline in July 2024.

Meanwhile, Einbinder said it "would be sick" if they could get Elton John on the show.

What will Hacks season 4 be about?

After the big twist ending, fans were left wondering: what's next? Deborah has finally earned her "white whale," as Aniello described it to Deadline, and she is desperate to not let anything stand in her way.

“It’s giving her what she wanted for so long, but at what cost?” co-creator Statsky told the outlet.

“What we’re setting up is that Deborah is now on the biggest stage of her career,” she continued. “She’s got this huge gig that she now has to make work, because it’s what she’s wanted more than anything. But now she’s at odds with her closest collaborator — and closest friend, to be honest — because she has betrayed her.”

Smart herself is wondering where the season will go, she said during a May 2024 Hacks FYC panel.

“I'm very curious to see how this is going to play out in that situation where [Deborah and Ava are] working together very closely every day with that wicked, wicked thing [Ava] did,” Smart said.

Following the show's Emmy win, Aniello teased that the show will start right where it ended.

“I think the tease that I can give legally is that we pick up 20 minutes or so after where we left off,” Aniello told press following the win, per The Wrap. “The tension is still high, and there’s still a lot of fallout to explore.”

When did filming for Hacks season 4 start?

During her acceptance speech at the Emmy Awards, co-creator and director Aniello teased that shooting for season 4 was about to kick into gear.

 "We have to go because we start shooting the next season in five days," she joked.

Where can I watch Hacks?

The first three season of Hacks are available to stream on Max.