Spoilers ahead for “Hacks” Season 4, Episode 8
Before Jane Adams was even approached about returning to “Hacks” Season 4, she was already wondering if her character Nina was going to talk to her daughter Ava (Hannah Einbinder) about motherhood. Little did she know that’s exactly what Lucia Aniello, Paul W. Downs and Jen Statsky had in store for her.
“I was amazed when I read the script. I was like, ‘Wow, we really are in sync,’” Adams told TheWrap. “I feel like it’s an important topic, and I can see both sides.”
Ava’s mother Nina has always been one of the more manic characters in Max’s Emmy Award-winning comedy. Adams first portrayed Nina in Season 1, which was filmed during the height of the pandemic. “It just started off on an extreme [note], and she kind of took on that energy,” Adams revealed. Nina was introduced in earnest during the funeral of her husband Dennis (Louis Herthum), a life-changing event that left Nina spiraling about everything from Ava’s old high school belongings to which subscriptions to cancel. Since then, every time Nina has popped up she’s offered a hassled glimpse into how Ava became the neurotic mess she is.
Yet in Season 4, Nina’s arrival takes on a deeper meaning. Minutes after arriving in Ava’s Los Angeles apartment for a visit, she asks her daughter the question every childless career woman dreads: Are you going to have children?
“It’s an interesting topic. My mother worked. Her career was kind of first, and she had kids. It was very difficult. But I feel like it’s an interesting thing to explore what it might feel like. If you don’t [do it], you might regret it not having kids,” Adams said. “I don’t think people can pay enough attention to this topic. There’s sort of nothing more important.”
Adams clarified that it’s highlighting and exploring the question itself that she finds most important. “I know a lot of women who do find themselves surprised to suddenly be in their 40s or their late 30s and wondering, ‘Wait, what happened? How am I going to have a child?’”
After Ava brings her mother to work with her, the two women reach an understanding. Ava starts to realize just how important motherhood is to her own mother and gets that this is an experience she doesn’t want Ava to miss if she wants it. In turn, Nina finally starts to comprehend how fulfilling and important Ava’s work is to her. Ava finally tells her mother that she doesn’t see children in her life, and Nina accepts it.
“Nobody’s really the villain. Nobody’s super right, while the other person is super wrong,” Adams said about the episode. “It’s like life. There’s a lot of gray area, if you’re honest.”
New episodes of “Hacks” premiere Thursdays on Max.
