We’re off! Episode 2, “Palmetto,” puts Deborah and Ava back at the eponymous theater, and lets the tension play out. The premiere set the stakes—Deborah dealing with the fallout of the death-report chaos, Ava stepping back into her orbit with more leverage than before—and this episode drops them into a space where those dynamics can’t be avoided. The comedy comes from the friction: Deborah trying to reassert control over a room that used to run on instinct, Ava pushing into decisions she wouldn’t have challenged a season ago, and the staff around them reacting to both. It’ll be a tighter, more situational episode, built on how they work together when neither of them fully trusts the other to run the show.

Episode 2 premieres tomorrow, Thursday, April 16 at 9:00 p.m. ET on HBO Max, with episodes rolling out weekly as the show moves toward its finale. This isn’t a reset season. It’s a closing argument.

Hacks Season 5 episode 2 trailer

We’re about to let Hacks get crazy with setting-as-storytelling. The Palmetto—as theater and symbol in this series—drips with stakes, and the episode uses that to drive everything from the stage material to the behind-the-scenes adjustments. You get Deborah in performance mode, Ava in problem-solving mode, and the gaps between those roles creating the episode’s momentum. It’s less about big swings and more about watching them try to get through a night that doesn’t go cleanly.

Hacks Season 5 FAQ

When does Season 5 Episode 2 air?

The premiere drops on Thursday, April 16 at 9:00 p.m. ET, streaming on HBO Max. Episodes will roll out weekly, with a couple of multi-episode drops later in the season, leading into the series finale at the end of May.

How many episodes are there?

Season 5 has 10 episodes total, and it’s the final season of the series. HBO Max is sticking with a weekly rollout, letting the tension between Deborah and Ava stretch out instead of getting burned through in a binge.

Who’s starring?