Christopher Briney is trading summer love triangles for sharp stand-up punchlines. The Summer I Turned Pretty star is officially heading to Hacks Season 5, and Deborah Vance (Jean Smart) already looks smitten.
Prime Video fans know Briney as Conrad Fisher, the dreamy teen heartthrob in Jenny Han’s YA sensation. Now he’s about to shake things up on HBO’s Emmy-winning comedy, which is currently filming its fifth season. A newly released first-look photo teases Briney’s character arm-in-arm with Deborah, laughing like they’ve been besties forever. Deborah is clearly Team Conrad.
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What Season 5 Has in Store
The upcoming season finds Deborah reclaiming her legacy after Season 4’s finale shocker, a false report of her death. Nothing says “career wake-up call” like reading your own obituary, right? Expect Deborah to double down on her empire, with plenty of biting one-liners and questionable decisions along the way.
Of course, Jean Smart isn’t holding the stage alone. Briney joins a powerhouse lineup including Hannah Einbinder, Paul W. Downs, Megan Stalter, Carl Clemons-Hopkins, Mark Indelicato, and Rose Abdoo. With that mix of talent, chaos and camp are guaranteed.
Briney’s Final Summer
This marks Briney’s first gig since The Summer I Turned Pretty wrapped its record-breaking third season on Prime Video. The series gave fans three summers of heartbreak, beach houses, and sibling rivalry, with Briney at the center as Conrad. While the TV run has ended, he’s already set to reprise the role in a brand-new Summer I Turned Pretty movie currently in development.
Whether or not Briney’s character will survive Deborah’s savage sense of humor is TBD. But one thing’s clear: if you weren’t already watching Hacks, you’ve now got the perfect excuse.
Hannah Einbinder Knows What the Girls Want
Speaking of Hacks legends, Emmy-winning actress Hannah Einbinder recently addressed the fan-fueled dream of her character Ava Daniels locking lips with Deborah Vance. During an appearance on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, she looked right into the camera and told fans: “Girls, you know I want what you want. I have heard you, okay? We want the same things. I have relayed your message to the powers-that-be, okay?”
While Einbinder admitted that a romance between Ava and Deborah likely won’t happen (“and that’s the truth”), she gave a wink to queer fans writing fan-fiction and reminded everyone to keep their eyes on the bigger picture. “There is no kissing on a dead planet,” she joked, after pointing out how often climate petitions get drowned out by pleas for an Ava/Deb kiss.
Since its debut in 2021, Hacks has been widely celebrated for its queer representation, with Einbinder earning three Emmy nominations for her portrayal of the bisexual Ava. Briney might be the shiny new addition, but between Deborah’s takedowns and Ava’s unapologetic queerness, the show still knows exactly what the girls (and gays) want.
