Spoiler Warning: Hacks Seasons 1-2

In Hacks, if a character is unable to bring the heat, humor-wise, and if readers can pardon the pun, they simply can’t hack it amidst the highly accredited cast of this HBO Max original. The show is led by the lovely and talented Jean Smart (Sweet Home Alabama, A Simple Favor), who portrays tenured Las Vegas comedian Deborah Vance, and Hannah Einbinder (The Late Show with Steven Colbert, How to Be Broke), who embodies the awkward yet ambitious canceled comedy writer Ava Daniels.

Additionally, this impressive cast boasts such names as Christopher McDonald (Happy Gilmore, Requiem for a Dream) in a turn as casino CEO Marty Ghilain, Kaitlin Olsen (It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, The Mick) as Deborah Vance’s affluenza-ridden daughter, Rose Abdoo (Gilmore Girls, That’s So Raven) as the manger of Deborah’s sweeping estate, and Paul W. Downs (Broad City, Inside Amy Schumer), the show’s creator who also portrays Deborah’s agent.

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Given this talented cast, it’s even more impressive that Carl Clemons-Hopkins (Candyman, Canal Street) manages to steal the show as Marcus, Deborah Vance’s long-time business partner and CEO of her management company. While everyone else jostles to fill every moment of Hacks’ runtime with jokes, Carl Clemons-Hopkins effortlessly slides into his straightman role.

Large and in Charge

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Without the keen business eye and forethought of Carl Clemons-Hopkins’ Marcus, it is unlikely that any of the characters in Hacks would have reached their respective heights of success. As his character explains early on in the show’s run, Deborah Vance swooped him up as a bright-eyed boy after a young Marcus boldly made business suggestions to the already wealthy and well-established Vance. Since that time, and as viewers can see, he has played an essential role in the day-to-day machinations of Deborah Vance and, as such, all those who find themselves wrapped up in her sweeping orbit.

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Herein lies the reason why Carl Clemon-Hopkins, like Marcus, is essential to the success of Hacks. The straightman has long been a stable of comedic programming, and in a show literally littered with comedians, this role becomes all the more important.

Marcus’s Love Life

Given his obvious acting ability, it would be a crime to force Carl Clemons-Hopkins to portray a character with no emotional complexity. While Marcus starts as little more than a background business manager, Carl Clemons-Hopkins quickly makes Marcus his own. The character’s personal life, from the struggles of balancing his love life with that of his myriad business concerns, to his eye-rolling relationship with his ever-present mother and aunt, to the adorable little puppy he adopts midway through season one, become just as important as his role as business manager.

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Though Carl Clemon-Hopkins’ Marcus is always attempting to present himself as a stone-faced business automaton, cracks in his icy facade continue to form. When Deborah Vance leaves him in Las Vegas to go on tour, he intentionally overuses water on her sprawling estate to inspire the ire of the gorgeous water cop Wilson, portrayed by Johnny Sibilly (The Deuce, Queer as Folk). Here, Clemons-Hopkins gets to flex his acting chops, and we see the ways in which his relationship with Deborah Vance and his own success put a strain on his personal life.

Marcus & Ava’s Relationship

Hannah Einbinder’s Ava Daniels doesn’t have any friends. She’s not entirely alone; no one on Hacks really has many ‘friends,’ per se. Each character seems absorbed in their own personal orbit. When they interact, though there are often shared goals and aspirations, it is often only an excuse to hurl and insult and drop a backhanded comment framed as constructive criticism.

Carl Clemons-Hopkins’ Marcus has never been all that nice to Ava. Their relationship largely consists of Marcus huffing at what he perceives as the personal failings of the scatterbrained Ava. However, the two grew closer during season two. Were Marcus portrayed by a less talented actor than Carl Clemons-Hopkins, it would be difficult to see the nuances in this relationship. Sure, Marcus is still quick to mock Ava but to be frank, that’s how the characters on Hacks, who are largely associated with the wicked world of comedy, talk to one another. Nevertheless, Marcus continues to help Ava, putting her Los Angeles home up for rent, and in one of season two’s final episodes, the two spend the day cavorting around a state fair, where their insults and eye rolls take on a much brighter tone.

It’s fair to say that Hacks was a coming-out party for Carl Clemons-Hopkins. With season three likely around the corner and the way in which the season two finale brought back together with Marcus and Wilson, albeit platonically, fans will demand that Carl Clemons-Hopkins is a prevalent presence in any and all subsequent seasons of Hacks.