[Warning: The below contains MAJOR spoilers for Hacks Season 4, Episode 6, “Mrs. Table.”]

Hacks‘ latest episode, “Mrs. Table,” made way for a major breakthrough in Deborah (Jean Smart) and Ava’s (Hannah Einbinder) relationship as the creative partners finally put their feud to rest, or so it would seem.

Having kicked things off at odds after Ava blackmailed Deborah into giving her the head writer position at her new late-night show, the pair have spent the better part of this season bickering, and in Episode 6, Ava was pushed over the edge. When Ava’s ex, Ruby (Lorenza Izzo), was welcomed onto Deborah’s show as a guest, the actress and host ended up chatting about Ava’s proposal snafu from last season.

And that was only the first layer to Ava’s eventual crash out, which was further sparked when her throuple relationship fell apart after she was kicked out of the relationship for wanting to keep things casual. When Ava walked into the writers’ room the following day, she discovered that, along with some writers arriving late to work, others were abusing her supplementing of lunch budgets by ordering outrageously priced takeout.

Overwhelmed with all of it, Ava flipped out, threw their takeout branzino at the window in anger, and declared she was quitting, before running out and speeding away in her car. When Deborah discovered this, she was upset but still taped her show before she attended an awards ceremony. There, Deborah chatted with Rosie O’Donnell about her renewed popularity and began to realize that Ava had played a major role in her current status.

When Deborah returned home, she discovered one of her corgis had gotten out of the house and was being attacked by a coyote, which led to a harrowing rescue. Ultimately, the dog was OK, but Deborah was distraught, and she dissolved into tears. This reminded her that Ava’s whereabouts remained unclear, and she finally took it upon herself to reach out.

The search led Deborah to the beach, and she ran into the water after someone she believed was Ava in an attempt to save her collaborator. It turned out that Ava just needed time to cool down, and she helped Deborah when she saw she’d jumped into the ocean, clothes and all. In the end, the pair finally called a truce, but Ava was a little reluctant to accept Deborah’s apologies for her cruel treatment.

Max

“I thought it was a really brilliant thematic element that they added. I loved it. I was hoping I’d get to work with real coyotes,” Smart tells TV Insider, adding, “I think that the coyotes represent the fear that Deborah’s feeling and the threat from Ava, but then [Deborah] realizes, Ava’s not remotely the threat… It’s other people, and she suddenly realizes she hasn’t done enough to protect her. She dragged her into the lion’s lair and then blamed her for getting bitten.”

So, does this truce between Deborah and Ava, which is capped off with a toast involving old champagne, mean smooth sailing moving forward? “It’s not all sunshine and roses after that,” Smart admits.

“Yeah, we’re not out of the woods yet,” adds Einbinder.

“But that was definitely a step [in the right direction], and the champagne was very symbolic to Deborah,” Smart confirms.

Still, Ava’s reluctance to trust Deborah is understandable, as co-showrunner Jen Statsky points out, “Ava’s asking herself throughout this series, can Deborah change? Can this relationship ever break this toxic cycle?”

Fellow co-showrunner Lucia Aniello adds, “Deborah’s saying all the things that Ava’s always wanted to hear. And I think the questions that will arise for Ava moving forward are, [Deborah] said all the things I wanted to hear. Why did she say those things? Did she mean it, or did she just need me back?”

Only time will tell for certain, but we’d be lying if we said we didn’t enjoy seeing Ava and Deborah working together as a team as opposed to being on opposite sides. Stay tuned to see how things unfold and let us know what you thought of this pivotal installment in the comments section.

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