Warning: The below features spoilers for the first two episodes of Hacks season two.
Hacks is putting the LOL in lawsuit.
In the two-episode premiere of the HBO Max comedy's second season, which debuted May 12, Ava (Hannah Einbinder) confesses to boss Deborah (Jean Smart) that she wrote a damning email about her that will be used as inspiration for a TV show starring Helen Mirren. Deborah's initial response? To throw crystals and other tchotchkes at her panicked comedy writer.
"You ungrateful bitch," Deborah shouts as Ava comedically dodges the weaponized minerals.
If you think throwing things is over the top, just wait until you find out how Deborah took her revenge a step further by serving Ava with a lawsuit. Now, before you rush to Ava's defense, it should be mentioned that Ava did break her nondisclosure agreement and said some pretty brutal things about her boss. (And, as Deborah cheekily told Ava at the end of episode two, "It'll be a good learning experience for you—an expensive one, too.")
In fact, in an exclusive interview with E! News, Einbinder revealed that she can see why Ava didn't quit her job the moment she was sued. "She knows that she f--ked up," she said. "So she's like, 'Fine, this is my punishment.'"
On whether she'd react similarly if faced with this situation IRL, Einbinder noted, "I have to think that if she was keeping me on, but still suing me, I would, like Ava, assume that she wasn't serious."
While it remains up in the air whether Deborah is serious about following through with the lawsuit, we know that Ava's job is safe, for now. The new season follows the unlikely duo as they work on revamping Deborah's act while on tour.
And though fans were eager for the critically acclaimed hit's return, Einbinder—who nominated for a Primetime Emmy, a Golden Globe and Critics' Choice Television Award—admitted that she "felt a tremendous amount of pressure" heading into production for season two.
"Since it came out, season one, there has been this whirlwind of this world that is, like, very new to me," she explained. "And all of these various elements of the business that are separate from the work itself. And so, all of that swirling around my head before the second season, I was like, 'Whoa, whoa!'"
And, with all this attention, Einbinder said she was determined to give the new season her all.
New episodes of Hacks arrive Thursdays on HBO Max.