Hacks – One Day

By: Kelly Kearney

Deborah’s writer’s block–brought on by a less than thrilling medical check-up, combined with Ava’s depression over the Ruby break-up, leads to a mind-clearing adventure that turns tragedy into comedy and laughs into lessons about life, loneliness, and achieving your dreams before it’s too late. After learning she is in the running to host the Late Night Show, Deborah is faced with her creeping mortality in a business obsessed with youth. “One Day” steps away from the race for Late Night, for a deep character dive down an emotional cliff.

Tough Room

Getting older–something celebrities like Deborah Vance (Jean Smart) rarely do willingly, comes with unfortunate health check-ups that always remind us we have an expiration date. At Deborah’s physical–mandated by the Late Show network’s insurance, the doctor (Ian Alda) can’t help but mention her age every chance he gets, and as you can imagine, it sucks any laughter right out of the room. No jokes–not even ones coming from a comedian of Deborah’s considerable talents, can cover up the uncomfortable news about late-in-life hearing loss. The doctor’s hyperfocus on her aging healthcare sets the mood for the entire episode and circles back to one of the leading forces behind Deborah’s race to late night–she is trying to outrun mortality’s clock.  After the doctor rubs her the wrong way, Deborah heads to where she feels the most love– QVC to sell more Vance-world merch. While she is on camera, Marcus (Carl Clemons-Hopkins) gets praise for the recent boost in sales and all those zeroes he added to his boss’s wallet. Her image and name are everywhere and those deals have his signature attached, and people are noticing.  The poachers are sniffing around to offer him a new job that would take him away from Deborah and branch out his talents. Is it time for Marcus to start thinking about his career instead of spending his life obsessively focused on someone else’s? It’s on his mind, but so is Deborah’s extensive gun collection.

Deborah gets a call from Jimmy (Paul W. Downs) about the possible network deal; he’s booked her as the emcee for a charity event with the affiliates. He thinks it’s a good idea for her to schmooze and charm the group since they have the strongest pull when it comes to network decisions. Deborah has to shine, so she and Ava (Hannah Einbinder) get to work on some new material. The only problem is that Ava hasn’t moved on from her recent break up with Ruby and her depression has thrown some sand in the joke writing gears–which is a problem since Deborah is currently suffering from writer’s block. The two of them are stuck in the quagmire of a creative slump and need something to inspire them and boost their moods. A change of scenery is in order, and since they are currently filming QVC close to the Pennsylvania hiking trails, Ava wants to get sweaty with nature. Deborah was thinking about sweating over a shopping spree but after listening to Ava whine she gives in.

Ankle Turns and Ageism

After her insulting check-up with the doctor, Deborah is feeling insecure about her age. In typical Vance fashion, she marches onto the hiking trail ready to prove to that doctor, and the network, that age is just a number and she is just as capable as someone Ava’s age. Only, she isn’t, and when the two women are faced with a steep incline, Ava suggests they turn back and head to the car, but Deborah has something to prove so she soldiers on. She lasts about two seconds until she tumbles down the hill and Ava hears a snap! Deborah hurt her ankle and while it’s probably not broken, she needs help and they forgot to tell anyone where they were going. Ava reaches for her phone to call for help but Deborah accidentally knocks it into a stream. If only rice grew on trees because her phone needs to dry out before she can make a call. What’s worse is that Deborah didn’t bring her phone since her pockets are already full of handwritten jokes–adding a phone would look too bulky and she dresses to impress. So, with one hand on a walking stick and the other holding onto Ava, the two women make their way through the woods hoping they can find a trail that leads them to the car. No such luck. Somehow they got turned around and instead of finding their way out of this mess, they dead-ended on the top of a cliff with a view of nothing but trees and wilderness for miles. There isn’t much left to do but scream for help, but Ava read somewhere that people who yell for help are often ignored. The best way to get someone’s attention so they don’t think they are stepping into a threatening situation is to scream, “WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS TO ME? I DON’T EVEN KNOW YOU!” As ridiculous as that sounds, the sun is setting and the temperature is dropping, so Deborah joins Ava as they scream across the echoing canyon hoping someone hears them. After a few minutes, Ava breaks the terrible news: they need to make a camp for the night. While the women sit around a cleared area in the woods, Ava makes a splint with sticks and twine. She gets an E for effort but the splint instantly falls apart on the first step. They’re not going anywhere so they might as well make a fire. Deborah tries her best at the rubbing sticks together method, but she isn’t known for being outdoorsy, so she never makes a spark. What does ignite is her feelings of regret and all the things in life she has yet to accomplish. Will she have enough time to make her dreams of a late-night host come true? She is starting to doubt it will ever happen and this turned ankle is a glaring reminder of why. Ava interjects her moment of vulnerability to boost her spirits by reminding her about the affiliate emcee. Sure, she might have to wear a walking boot on that sprained ankle but Ava thinks nobody will even notice it, they will be too busy dazzled by her humor and charm. A boot is no big deal for someone like Ava, but one on a 70-something woman just makes her look old, and nailing her emcee gig won’t change that. What’s fascinating about this relationship–however you define it, is the mentor/student angle. Deborah is a legend, but Ava gets to see the woman and her struggles and frailties battling with her public perception. Ava is at the start of her career and hungry for success, but thanks to Deborah, she also sees how bitter it can taste as you get older.

“This is For All the Lonely People…”

As the two pull up a patch of dirt and hunker down for an uncomfortable night in the woods, they get lucky and a group of teenagers on dirtbikes rescue them. Of course, they came when they yelled–calling for help has been canceled, it’s now “Why are you doing this to me? I don’t even know you!” because it works! As America’s “Lonely People” plays in the background, the two women ride out of the woods holding hands while on the back of the boy’s dirtbikes. It’s a fitting song that fully encompasses the themes of this episode–growing old as you watch life pass you by. It’s a feeling we each experience on our own and that lonely feeling was choking Deborah’s creativity until she got lost with Ava.  Both women learned something about themselves in those woods–Deborah can skip her skincare regimen for one night in 4 decades and Ava can move on from Ruby because she was just one blip in a long timeline of them and each push you forward in life. They are grateful to be alive–so much so that Deborah promises to buy the kids some alcohol after they are less than impressed with her promise to lessen her carbon footprint. These Gen-Zoomers don’t share Ava’s passion for saving the world, they just want to get lit, and after the night these women had, they might join them.