Marvellous Ms Vance

An immaculate first episode is a thing of rare beauty. It's uncommon to see a series emerge fully formed, with a voice, a vibe, originality and self-awareness.

- RAJA SEN

Even the most loved shows usually can only establish an original premise or protagonists in the first episode, growing into a world over time and seasons. Therefore, I remember how delighted I was with the first episode of Hacks back in 2021, compelled to write about the show in this column even when it wasn't then streaming in India (all four seasons can now be found on JioHotstar, mercifully).

Created by Lucia Aniello, Paul W. Downs and Jen Statsky, the Hacks opener is a marvel. Up and coming comedy writer Ava has been cancelled for making a problematic political joke on Twitter, and the only gig on her immediate horizon is to work with old-school standup comedian Deborah Vance who performs so regularly in Las Vegas that she doesn't bother changing her rusty, sexist material. The episode immediately sets up the different lenses through which to look at comedy, positions the progressives and the regressives across a generational gap, and then... a knockout punch: Deborah demands to know the joke Ava posted, and dismisses it—not for being political or provocative, but for not being funny enough. She fixes it on the spot, and Ava (along with all of us) is awestruck.

This is a superlative coup de grace, showing how the art of the joke takes us to the heart of the joke. It's a Sorkinesque flourish—and given how much I revere the glorious first episode of Aaron Sorkin's The West Wing, there really is no higher praise. The first season builds on this crackling start, with unique and compelling characters and a screwball energy built on comedic contrasts, with leads Hannah Einbinder (who plays Ava) and the majestic Jean Smart (as Deborah Vance) forever talking over each other.