The pressure that comes with ending a beloved TV show is both a blessing and a curse. Countless creators would love nothing more than to get a chance to write a highly scrutinized finale, but their shows never make it that far. But that doesn’t change the fact that fan expectations are enormously high, and even Hollywood’s best artists worry about sticking the landing.
During his recent appearance on IndieWire’s Craft Roundtables, “Hacks” editor Jon Philpot was very open about the anxiety that the entire creative team felt in the run-up to the series finale.
“This was a huge plane to land, and it wasn’t exactly easy,” he said. “I know they were stressed out in the writers room trying to figure it out.”
Philpot took a trip down memory lane while discussing past seasons of the show, recalling the alternating love-hate relationship between Jean Smart’s Deborah Vance and Hannah Einbinder’s Ava Daniels. And while he expressed appreciation for every era of the show, the editor explained that he was happy that the two characters were on good terms during the final episodes.
“The two of them are this intergenerational duo, and it varies from season to season,” he said. “They were pitted against each other and then they fell in love and then they fell out of love and now they’re back in love in this final season. It’s a beautiful thing to be back with them and have these comedic moments that don’t feel like they’re biting one another. They can pick at one another and it’s funny, because you don’t feel like they’re going after each other.”
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