Review: Hacks, "No New Tricks" | Season 5, Episode 3

Deborah Vance’s affairs of the heart on Hacks have followed a pattern of brief dalliances. Those include a one-night stand with a sexy 40-something FedEx guy (played by ‘90s heartthrob Devon Sawa) and breaking her no-married-guys rule when she slept with Bob Lipka. Deborah’s longest intimate relationship is with Marty, though for most of the five-season run, they haven't crossed that line. Jean Smart and Christopher McDonald’s chemistry is so potent that it would be easy for them to fall into bed once more. But Hacks is not that show (thankfully). Instead, Deborah’s dating life in “No New Tricks” offers a refreshing exploration of her options and a new beau to consider.  

Nico Hayes (Christopher Briney) is a rockstar in the Harry Styles mold with a penchant for unbuttoned blouses to show off his chest tattoos. Casting Briney, fresh off the back of The Summer I Turned Pretty's popularity, in a role that depicts intense internet fandom falls on the side of meta that I find delightful. Unlike Nico, who by the end of the episode has penned a song about his heartbreak, Briney is encouraging his fans to watch Hacks from the beginning, not just his episode. Deborah thinks that going on a PR date with Nico will help with MSG ticket sales, and this stunt casting is more than just a surface-level gag.

Getting to experience Deborah in the first flush of romance is a joy to behold. It is so rare to see Deborah in full giggly mode, let alone being vulnerable with a man, especially one who is twenty-something. May December relationships aren’t a new phenomenon on TV, and age gap discourse is as prevalent as sex scene discourse. Still, it shouldn’t feel this revelatory that a woman in her seventies is getting the sex symbol treatment, and Hacks doesn’t make any caveats about Deborah (and Smart) being the object of affection.