Hacks delivered its biggest twist to date in the latest Season 4 installment, “A Slippery Slope,” as Deborah (Jean Smart) essentially blew up her dream by defying the powers behind her late-night show, Bob Lipka (Tony Goldwyn).

After Winnie Landell (Helen Hunt) was fired when Deborah complained about her, Bob became more directly involved in the day-to-day operations of Deborah’s show. When he suggested that Deborah host Ethan Summers (Eric Balfour), an actor accused of abuse, who she and Ava (Hannah Einbinder) had previously agreed would not appear.

Bob wanted it done to cross-promote the company’s film with Ethan, Shadow Soldier, and so Ava and Deborah took the opportunity to craft an interview that would put the actor on the spot with a joke. In the end, the joke was nixed, and Ava was really upset, which led her to vent to former On the Contrary colleague Lewis (Aristotle Athari), who scooped the info about jokes getting nixed to protect criminal clients.

When Bob caught wind of the situation, he essentially gave Deborah one option, and that was to fire Ava, as he and other higher-ups faced potential legal backlash over the leak. On the evening of their post-Oscars live episode, Deborah sent Ava to cover a red carpet, but it was a trick as she had Ava’s access revoked, locking her out of getting back into the building.

Despite appearances, Deborah wasn’t following Bob’s order. She took the moment to speak candidly with audiences live, essentially explaining how a joke had been removed from her interview with Ethan and that she was asked to fire her head writer but couldn’t and, for that reason, it would be the last episode of Deborah Vance’s late night show.

It’s a bitter pill to swallow after she told Katie Couric in the episode’s opening scene that this job has surpassed her dream. Ava was forced to watch from the security booth outside the studio as the gravity of what Deborah had done sank in. Meanwhile, in the studio, Jimmy (Paul W. Downs) went “full gorilla mode” to stop Bob from shutting down the live broadcast as he tried to give Deborah enough time to say her farewell to viewers.

The security guard eventually let Ava wander onto the lot, where she met Deborah moments after she walked out. Together, they got into Deborah’s car but were stopped when Bob all but jumped onto the hood of it. He confronted them and wondered aloud how Deborah could blow up her dream for one person, let alone Ava.

“I really thought it was beautiful the way that they did the last exchange with Deborah when he’s basically saying, ‘What are you doing? What have you done to yourself?’ I think my last line is ‘What a damn shame,'” Goldwyn tells TV Insider.

When it came to the shocking decision Deborah made, Goldwyn adds, “I thought it was a great turn. Like, oh my god, it’s over. There’s no way to come back from it. That’s what’s so great about great writing is they paint themselves into a corner that they literally can’t get out of. And I appreciate that Bob’s attitude towards it at the end isn’t just screaming and yelling, and the enraged a**hole bullsh*t. He literally appreciated this great talent that had just destroyed herself for her sense of loyalty to this young girl,” Goldwyn continues.

As the actor points out, Bob is forced to remind Deborah of the weight her choice has on her career going forward. “You do feel the weight suddenly, and Deborah feels it on herself because she doesn’t realize she’s not going to be able to perform now for the next 18 months.” But in Goldwyn’s eyes, Deborah’s contractual obligations and penalties aren’t something Bob has implemented to hurt her intentionally. “It’s not vindictive, it’s just business. It’s just the contract,” he adds.

Meanwhile, that wrestling on the floor moment with Deborah’s manager, Jimmy, saw Goldwyn and Downs take on some more physical comedy. “It was great. I thought I loved it when I read it. I thought this was going to be really fun. And then wrestling on the floor with Paul was just so silly. And it’s such a shocking thing that Deborah does on the air that Bob has to take matters into his own hands.”

Would Bob ever consider his role in the downfall of Deborah’s show? After all, he’s the one who pushed her to host Ethan. If he hadn’t pushed the booking, Ava never would have vented about the joke getting cut, and she would have never been in Bob’s firing crosshairs. According to Goldwyn, Bob wouldn’t feel any responsibility for the unfolding situation, “Not at all.  In his mind, it is pure practicality. He runs this giant corporation and has this enormous franchise that’s made billions of dollars, and he’s got to promote it. And so he’s going to use Deborah to promote it. The star’s bad behavior is an inconvenience, but he has weighed the costs and the benefits of that.”

“And Deborah’s point of view on this is just silliness. It doesn’t even factor into his thinking.” The decision to push Deborah into firing Ava was reached with the business side of things in mind, as Goldwyn points out, “Ava did what she did by talking out of school about what went down, it’s just common sense to Bob. She’s got to go.”

As a result of Deborah’s choice, Goldwyn adds, “What she does, to him, is such an act of self-emulation. And for Ava, she doesn’t even factor into it. She’s her writer. It doesn’t any sense [to him].”

While it might not have to make sense to Bob, it’s the boldest move Deborah’s ever made with Ava in mind, restoring our faith in the strength of their bond after Season 4’s shaky start with the women on opposing sides. But what did you think of the penultimate episode of Season 4? Let us know in the comments section below, and stay tuned for more as the finale approaches.

, Season 4, Thursdays, 9/8c, HBO Max