The casting directors for “Hacks” deserve a bottle of champagne for their perfect casting of Kaitlin Olson as DJ Vance. It feels like the role might have been written for her all along — and maybe it was! — because to portray the emotionally abused and spiritually wounded only daughter to a narcissistic workaholic takes a prickly vulnerability that Olson specializes in. From the moment DJ Vance stepped into frame in an army print jumpsuit and platform heels, raging about her UTI, Olson’s place in the “Hacks” universe was solidified: Her presence as a wounded warrior in Deborah’s life was necessary to underscore the trajectory of all of her other relationships. And, in the latest episode of the show, “D’Christening,” DJ finally takes a stand against her mother’s ongoing abuse. In Olson’s hands, the revelation is tender yet tough, scary yet sentimental, and a reminder of what might happen to Deborah if she doesn’t begin to reevaluate some of her own choices.
The general consensus is that loving Deborah is to live a life punctuated by cycles of abuse. As Deborah’s only child, DJ knows this better than anyone.
When I first saw Olson as Deborah’s daughter, I cheered. Not only was I excited to see one of my favorite comedians spar with Jean Smart, I was also psyched to see a 40-something woman cast as a daughter, and not a mother. Olson’s penchant for petulance, spite and sass while still remaining loveable — See: Fox’s short-lived “The Mick.” Seriously. Go see it. — made her an excellent candidate to portray an adult who’s stuck repeating childhood patterns with a parent. So, when DJ met Ava (Hannah Einbinder), Deborah’s new partner / daughter-figure, it fully tracked that the two would bond.
Olson, Einbinder and Smart all share a similar chemistry, giving as good as they get, but never failing to embrace the flawed humanity of their characters. Deborah treats both Ava and DJ similarly when it comes to harsh digs on appearance, and in making herself the main character in every interaction. Is there some sort of treatment for main character syndrome? Because Deborah has it, and she’s made the lives of her loved ones a living hell because of it. Most of the people closest to her are actively on her payroll, and, in fact, Season 4 has made it crystal clear that most of her closest employees have also felt her wrath at points throughout her life. As Ava navigates her latest feud with Deborah, she seeks advice from Kiki (Poppy Liu), Josephina (Rose Abdoo), and Marcus (Carl Clemons-Hopkins), all with the same results. They tell Ava that Deborah can be vengeful and boundaryless, but she usually comes back around. Sadly, the general consensus is that loving Deborah is to live a life punctuated by cycles of abuse. As Deborah’s only child, DJ knows this better than anyone. And it’s fitting that “Hacks” held off on letting Ava consult with DJ until her current feud with Deborah had settled.
Kaitlin Olson and Jean Smart in “Hacks” (Jake Giles Netter/Max).
DJ comes to the realization that her mother has an insatiable addiction to attention, and that’s why she can never be the mom she always wanted her to be.
“Hacks” has carved out a special spotlight for DJ’s growth over the past four seasons, and Olson has brought a light pathos to her character’s metamorphosis. She has gone from the overlooked and underappreciated child to a happily married woman with a burgeoning jewelry business and a newborn son. Let’s note that both her marriage and her business were things that her mother encouraged her to abandon, but with the strength of her therapy, DJ persisted. Her entire life, DJ has been the constant butt of her mother’s jokes — her drug use, general incompetence and even Deborah’s own laissez-faire approach to parenting all on the table for the public’s amusement — and yet, DJ blossomed. Even though she’s a fictional character, I’m so proud of her.
Olson’s talent for portraying characters with scrappy determination and grit lends realism to DJ’s struggles and creates sympathy, but not pity, in the viewer. In Season 1, Deborah berates her daughter about her lack of a prenup in a very public birthday dinner speech, but then reluctantly attends her drive-thru wedding via FaceTime. In Seasons 2 and 3, DJ begins to take control of her role in the mother-daughter relationship. In “The Roast of Deborah Vance,” DJ finally gets her mother to come to one of her NA meetings to present her with her 10-year chip. This is a big deal! But, when Deborah makes the ceremony all about her, first having Ava write her speech, and then testing out some of her roast material to her captive audience, DJ comes to the realization that her mother has an insatiable addiction to attention, and that’s why she can never be the mom she always wanted her to be.
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Olson plays these moments of realization with a wide-eyed innocence, allowing DJ’s inner child to temporarily crack the prickly walls she’s built to protect herself from her mother’s constant failure to nurture and support her. When she has the opportunity to turn the jokes back on her mother at her roast appearance, she digs in with gusto. Everything she says is funny because it’s true, and “What a c**t!” will live on in the lexicon of the greatest fictional catchphrases ever to exist.
As the seasons of “Hacks” have progressed, the world at large has begun to embrace Olson’s singular talents (see: her leading role in ABC’s already-renewed “High Potential”), and DJ’s character has begun to shift to the sidelines a bit. She’s only in two episodes this season, but both appearances carry tremendous weight. In “Mrs. Table,” DJ is about to give birth to her son, but she’s not calling Deborah because she wants her mother to be with her during this momentous occasion; she knows Deborah won’t (or can’t) make time in her schedule, and besides, she’d just ruin everything anyway. No, instead, she wants Josephina. Deborah’s relief is tinged with guilt, and the interaction indirectly leads her to realize that she’s constantly failing to protect the ones she loves. The show overtly illustrates that Deborah’s failure to lock her dogs in the house, away from the coyotes, when Josephina is out of town caring for DJ is what leads to her search for a distraught Ava, but really the house of cards all began to collapse when her baby girl asks for another woman to care for her after she gives birth. It’s here that the weight of Deborah’s failure as a mother crashes down upon her.
Kaitlin Olson in “Hacks” (Jake Giles Netter/Max). In “D’Christening,” Deborah and Ava travel to DJ’s son’s Christening, and Deborah immediately tries to make everything about her. There’s a pattern here of Deborah not learning any lessons, only being reactive when things don’t go her way, but now that DJ is a mother, she’s set to change all of that. When DJ pulls Deborah away from chugging the sacramental wine at Communion, Olson’s eyes are on fire. DJ has waited for this moment her entire life, and now that she has someone to protect, she’s going to deploy the strongest weapon in her arsenal. In a devastating speech, she tells Deborah that she’s not going to let her ruin everything in her son’s life, the way that she ruined everything for her. She threatens to go NC, or no contact, if Deborah doesn’t begin thinking about her actions.
Olson’s delivery of DJ’s speech is scathing and uncompromising, and Deborah agrees to fall in line. In her next scene, she tells her mother that she’s only engaging with the church stuff, such as becoming a eucharistic minister, to sell more D’Jewelry. Her mom is proud, and they enjoy a bonding moment. Later, Ava approaches DJ about her apprehension about being AJ’s godmother, and DJ tells her why she chose her. Ava is capable of believing in her mother, which is something that DJ was never given a chance to do. In an episode that asks Olson to toggle between sincere, heartbroken, and hopeful, it’s an absolutely wrenching beat, and she nails the layers of emotion. I dare you not to cry when DJ gives Ava a sincere look of hope . . . just before devilishly waggling her eyebrows as she asks the fairy godmother to fill a Stanley with stolen holy water. This woman is Deborah Vance’s daughter, after all.
In the end, it’s DJ’s affinity for the “Jurassic Park” theme song that underscores her ability to thrive despite her mother’s continued emotional terrorism. In Olson’s hands, DJ is an integral part of the “Hacks” ecosystem, the DNA that links Deborah Vance’s past to her future. To paraphrase Dr. Ian Malcolm: Just like life, DJ Vance, uh, finds a way.
