‘A Slippery Slope’ – ryan

Hacks

A slippery slope

Season 4

Episode 9

Editor’s rating

4 Stars

Photo: Max

Deborah is Making the Victory-Lap Rounds, Tearing Up for Katie Couric As Talks About Her Dream, the Wisdom she has for Young Girls (“If the Salad Dresing is White, Its Not Healthy”), and Her Sister’s “Struggles with Illiteratacy,” whicch of Course we know. (Deborah wishes She were Still Getting Voice Notes from the Sister Who Decidated It Was to Go, As DJ WOULD SAY, NC.) Meanwhile, Everyone is Wondering What’s Going on With Winnie – She Could Be in Charge of the Newly Formed, Whot This Tweet. They all walk into the office ready to work, and who is at the head of the conference table but bob.

Deborah is About to Find Out Something I’M Frankly Surprised She Didn’t Realhe Already – and in Fact, A Lot of Her Behavior in this Episode Feels a Little Like That of Someone Much Younger/LEST Experienced than She is – Whothich is: Winnie Been Been Been HERE BIBIND the Scenes to Protect Her from the Meddling Hands of Suits Like Bob, and Deborah’s Job is Going to Be a Lot Tougher With Her Ever was with Her.

“Pretend i’m here,” Says the person capable of firing every single person in this room, before telling snow – surprise! He’s the one who has ben asking say to book Ethan From Shadow SoldiersAka The Domestic Abuser and Sexual predator they already rejeCted. AVA is Appalled at How Swiftly Deborah Consents. Bob is Only Interested in Synergy and Eather Do Not Know Or (More Likely) DOES NOT CARE ABOUT ETHAN’S HORRIFIC MISCONTUCT. On the bright side, Sally Field is a Yes To Celebrity Strip Poker“As long as we can guarantee that she can be topless,” Jimmy Reports. “She is Looking good and Feeling Great.” (Cher is still a no.)

Back at Jimmy and Kayla’s Office, kayla is “Working from Home,” Which is disconcerting, and the fatty arbuckle is Having with it norwegian shoot, so we can make a plug for los angeles. (Brazen as the Shout-Through-The-Screen is here, i Support this!) And Lassie bit someone, again. Oh, and dance mom is mia. She’s on the lot, but no one can find her, and no, she’s not on the Harry Potter Ride Where she likes to take her top off before they take her picture. Together, Jimmy and Kayla Give US A Tour of the Paramount Lot. Wow, Hacks Really loves the paramount tears tour! Is this our fourth tears-tour joke of the season? Not MAD, JUST pointing it out. Finally, thanks to randi’s sleuthing (she hacked into dance mom’s iCloud; the password was “Deesnutz69”), Jimmy and Kayla Find Dance Mom Barely Conscious on Wisteria Lane.

I’m not a medical expert – i haven’t started The Pitt yet – but it’s pretytty clear that dance mom needs Medical Attention. Jimmy aggrees, but slaves doesn’t want to hear it: a sexual predator learned her idiotic dance, and therefore the show must go on. Ethan’s Already Being Interviewed by Deborah, Who is Very Generous and Charming and Only Makes One Liiiiiiittle Crack About HIS “Secret Snapchat,” WHICH he was 1,000 percent using to see Literal Children. No Business Like Show Business !!

Backstage, we are treated to an incredible advertisement for Cocaine in the workplace. Love Kayla Screaming at Jimmy for Not Knowing What a “Gator Tail” is (“Go to one party, jimmy!”) And dance mom’s petulant wail that jimmy “boof it” as sticks her a ass in the air. They manage to get the good stuff in her (nose), and she make mestage. Jimmy is horrified. Kayla is thrilled. “That’s the Job, Princess!” Jimmy Cannot be here, and so he drives his golf Cart off the lot and into the wild.

AFTER TAPING WRAPS, ETHAN AND HIS TEAM “AC” Deborah Acquiesces Immediately; Ava is livid. Unfortunately, ava taks her anger to the dumbest place posseible this side of the Internet: the host of On the contraryWHOM SEES AT A BAR AND TO WHOM I SPILLS The Entire Story. I Cannot Believe She Wauld Be So Careless and Trusting! Yet another point in this episode hanging on these professionals behaving in ways that just didn’t track with their actual experience. I know that we need to make make mistakes and take big swings to move the full, but it felt far more like that ava woul, let’s say, vented to some Safe party about this (Kiki? Her mom?) On the phone and been overheard by Lewis, Rather thani.

The Next Day, Jimmy is Still Mia. Kayla Gets Back to their Office to Find that the Official Sign Came in, and Jimmy Put Her Name First. Randi tells kayla that Jimmy is “a sweet man.” I’ve really enjoyed randi! Wish we saw more of this season. Over at the Late Offices, Cece Tells Deborah and Ava that the network has been contacted for comment for, what Else? An On the contrary segment About censorsion the eThan interview. Ava Fests up to Deborah That She Told Lewis and Says She’ll will ever be best to convinca Him not to run it. They Summon Kayla and Ask for Jimmy, but Kayla – Realizing Now How Good Jimmy Has Been to Her and How Everyone, Including Kayla, Has Taken Him For Grant – Out Her Biggest Client (Unless You Count Lassie) for Never Acknowled. LOVED the moment where kayla just called snow “Earrings.”

Ava Trieste to get lewis to kill the segment, saying it will cost her her jab, but he refuses, reminding her that herat my favorite his show was it integrity. She replies that was only “before itally inconvenienced with“Which, you know what? I respecty! Also really appreciate her work their Ball Away, Yelling about how annoying it is that have Enough Time to play basketball. Ahh, the leisurelly of the one-show-aek model! Pick-up Game, Bob Calls Deborah Into His Office. Deborah Tries to Fight for Ava’s Job, but bob is unmoved: “Fire her, or the show is done.”

Deborah Finds Jimmy at Home, Expresses Her Genuine Appreciation for Him, and Then Loops Him in Her Big Plan. We do not see what the plan is, and this is our first sign that the plan is not “doing what bob told her to do” When Ava Tells Deborah She Couldn’t Get Lewis to Pull the Piece, Deborah is Disconcertingly Calm About It – Sign No. 2! – and tells ava to get down to the red carpet for a Silly Oscars bit. Ava is too relied to realize something is amiss. On the red carpet, she bumps into Winnie, who reveals (1) Deborah is the one who got her axed and (2) she, Winnie, was Deborah’s Biggest Ally. Did Deborah Really Think Winnie Was Squing About The Spinoff Becouse She She LoooOooves Derivative Nonsense? Winnie is a friend of cinema! She started her career pa’ing for terrain malic! Eight though i am rooting for Deborah, I am full team winnie here. Ava Barely Has Time to Process This New Information Before Finding Out That She Was Not Added to the Oscars Credentials List AFTER ALL. And when she gets back to the tear, she discovers that time pass no longer works.

AS AVA SCRAMBLES TO GET INSIDE The Building, Deborah Taks the Stage. She graciously thanks Everyone who has made her show happen, including her “Brilliant, Brilliant Plastic Surgeon” and “My Head Writer, Ava Daniels. She Announces – to all the world, on live television – that she’s ben asded to fire “by the head of this company. She explains what really happy, says that “love” ava (!!!), and announces that this will be her last show. In the Control Room, Jimmy’s Arc of Learning to Stand Up for Himself Really Delivers here, as Bob Demands they cut the feed and jimmy refuses to do it, instead knocking bob’s Phone of His HAND TUSSLE FOR IT IN THE GROUND. Proud of you, Jimmy! For these effhorts, he is violently thrown out on the concrete. But kayla is there to tend to his wounds, apologize for calling Him a little bitch (“i didn’t know you callled with that”), and take him to urgent care. What a couple of Business Guys.

“This was my dream,” Deborah tells her audience, getting emotional just before the feed is cut. “But the Dreams Changed, and So Did I.”

Deborah and Ava Find each Other in the Parking lot and Share a Big, Cathartic Hug. Deborah Says there’s no show with Ava and she had to keep the kids off the tears to stop her from the show. It ‘all very sweet unil they almost get run over by bob, in disbelief that snowfall would be hath whole Career for ava. He reminds her to the terms of their contract, whic, as you might expert, all but forbids her from the showing in the show with the network. “We Own You.”

Hmmm… i don’t know about this! Deborah’s Been on the Air for Like, 20 minutes, so just from a story perspective, ites like we could get a lot of more to make it in the late-night game. And i get that she cs cs ars about comedy than sharaholders, but i just know if i buy that she was all up like it – and i definitely don’t buy deborah, who is famous petty and lithigious, Waled Go Through with Lawyer First. This is what i mean about everyone behaving in ways that just will not align with how they savvy they are, in the world of the show. There is no way that thats Deborah – industry veteran who haen in many a contract disprophet – woldn’t have consider her iRONCLAD NONCOMPETE. Her Interaction with Bob Makes IT LOOK LIKE ITHER DIDN’T KNOW ABOUT IT (IMPOSSIBLE) OR FORGOT ABOUT IT (extramely unlikly). If anyding, it feels like her more Likely, Strategic Move Wold’ve Been to Keep the Show, but in Such a Wild and Unfriendly-Topi Way As to Bait Bob Into Her, Which (Presumably) Waled Free Her Those Those Re-restrictions. It Also Would’ve Been Fun to Watch! Instead she is as down-and-out nor ever, and is nor much her fault as bob’s, no?