Wouldn’t everyone be a little more confident with someone like Jimmy in their corner?
Paul W. Downs’ Jimmy LaSaque is, in a lot of ways, an underdog, and maybe that’s why he’s a perfect fit to represent Jean Smart’s Deborah Vance. He respects his clients’ talents, and, as an added bonus, he’s not a giant douchebag to his assistant. Even after she insists on renting a Professor Plum-colored Lamborghini to peacock at a talent conference. Is Jimmy LaSaque the only nice guy in showbiz?
Even though Deborah is hitting the pinnacle of a new career high, Jimmy has to step up and represent her in the way that she should be, and he isn’t exactly hitting it out of the part. It also doesn’t help that Hannah Einbinder’s Ava isn’t enthused about writing Gum-bi–the first, I guess, sexually aware adaptation of Gumby?
Downs reveals just how much fun the crew is to bring in talent like Christina Hendricks, Helen Hunt, and Christopher Lloyd. When Jimmy and Kayla try to nail down the option for Fatty Arbuckle’s life story–and make way for Deborah to finally land her dream late night gig. He even says that the hawk isn’t the most temperamental animal on set.
As Jimmy’s relationship with Meg Stalter’s Kayla matures, he realizes that he isn’t giving her the opportunities she deserves. He can take for granted her tenacity and her ability to throw herself into any situation without worry about how she will get out of it. Their scene on the airplane in the finale also gives me major Steve Carell vibes from one of the final scenes of The 40-Year-Old Virgin. Downs’ voice is one of his funniest assets. Before we signed off, I couldn’t help but ask Downs about shocking us all with that ending. I thought that the end of season three would be a light retread of the end of season two, but I was so shocked at how ballsy Ava becomes at the eleventh hour.
If Ava can surprise Deborah, and Jimmy can surprise himself with his growth, anything is possible.
Hacks is streaming now on Max.