Look lively, Ava (Hannah Einbinder) and Deborah (Jean Smart) stans of the internet: Hacks season 5 episode 7 has finally delivered what you've been waiting for.

Let me catch you up. Since season 1 aired on HBO Max in 2021, the internet has made a mission out of getting wayward comic Deborah and long-suffering writer Ava together romantically. At times, there has been a brooding tension between the two that could easily be mistaken for sexual interest... if Deborah were ever to join the LGBTQIA+ community.

In fact, fans' pleas for a sapphic storyline have become so synonymous with the show that Einbinder addressed their wishes live on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert in 2025:

A quick search of Reddit and Wattpad reveals just how much the non-existent love story has been manifested — and Hacks season 5 hasn't missed out on its chance to be in on the joke before it ends for good.

Episode 7 is the perfect fever dream for heaps of stress and lust that has nowhere else to go but a make out sessions between our leading duo. But it's not actually a win for Hacks fans... because none of it is real.

Ava and Deborah's sham romance in Hacks season 5 episode 7 is simultaneously shrewd and frustrating

Let's set the scene. Deborah is inching ever closer to her goal of resurrecting her career by staging a sold-out show at Madison Square Garden. Now, she's fixated on the outfit and wants to wear Carol Burnett's white, bedazzled outfit seen in her final-ever appearance on The Carol Burnett Show.

Should be an easy win, right? Wrong. The outfit now has a private owner, played by Cherry Jones, and her younger girlfriend, played by Leslie Bibb.

In order to try and "steal" the outfit, Deborah heads to the couple's house to try and talk them over — but for her true intentions to stay undetected, she visits under the guise of introducing them to her new girlfriend... Ava.

From the moment the four meet, there's clear sexual tension as Ava lusts after Bibb's effortlessly hot love interest... but there's bubbling pressure between Ava and Deborah too. Of course, this is for a completely different reason, as Ava realizes Deborah is hiding something from her.

To get back at whatever she's concealing (which we later find out is health-related), Ava goads Deborah into making out with her in front of the others, which she reluctantly does. It's a masterclass of power play and deceit, and is also the closest we'll ever come to realizing our fan-fiction dreams.

If we're being completely honest, what we see in episode 7 is probably the better choice to have made. The kiss taps into Ava and Deborah's playful side, but more importantly, highlights their messy and destructive best friend bond that definitely still has its issues.

The saying "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" comes to mind here. The pair's friendship might be off-the-wall, ridiculous, and often self-sabotaging, but why change something that (mostly) works?

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Jasmine is a Streaming Staff Writer for TechRadar, previously writing for outlets including Radio Times, Yahoo! and Stylist. She specialises in comfort TV shows and movies, ranging from Hallmark's latest tearjerker to Netflix's Virgin River. She's also the person who wrote an obituary for George Cooper Sr. during Young Sheldon Season 7 and still can't watch the funeral episode.