Hannah Einbinder, Christina Hendricks Talk Caddy Ava sex scene

SPOILER ALERT: This interview contains spoilers for the sixth episode of “Hacks” season 3.

Season 3 of “Hacks” started with Ava (Hannah Einbinder) finally feeling happy in both her career and her love life, but the stability obviously didn’t last. After Ruby (Lorenza Izzo) dumps Ava for restarting her toxic work relationship with Deborah (Jean Smart), Ava desperately needs a win, which she gets in the form of a hot, older rebound – until everything goes to hell again .

In Episode 6, “Par for the Course,” Ava accompanies Deborah to a golf tournament where they will chat with top network executives as they continue to try to get Deborah the late-night gig she has wanted for decades. After Deborah points out that Ava is not as “of the people” as she thinks, and has never worked in the service industry before, she agrees to act as Deborah’s caddie this weekend.

On the course, they encounter an unnamed “beautiful golf queen” (Christina Hendricks) who grins when a male caddy suggests she use the easier women’s T-shirt. “Fuck that,” she replies, before doing a perfect swing in front of all the network executives and walking away. The next day, golf queen orders Ava to get down on her knees to fix a divot in the grass, and later that evening she reprimands Ava at the hotel bar. “I don’t think caddies are allowed to drink here,” she says, and when Ava offers to leave, she agrees, “I think you should. And I think you should come to my room.”

Upstairs, the two start kissing and undressing, but the golf queen’s nastiness only gets stranger. Ava insists on being showered while golf queen tells her how bad she smells, but continues until golf queen calls her “caddy girl” one more time. ‘I want to be clear about one thing. I’m not actually a caddy,” Ava says, before bragging about her gig as a writer and producer on a comedy news show. Wave Queen is immediately eliminated. Ava calls her “problematic” because she is only interested in working-class subordinates, which she readily admits: “What, you’re going to lecture me about inclusivity? Tell me how I can’t fund fracking?’

Ava is shocked to learn that Golf Queen is a Republican. Golf queen is more miffed about losing the ability to pee on a caddy.

Variety spoke with Hendricks and Einbinder about their fandom of each other’s shows and the politics of piss play.

Hannah, did you know Christina was cast when you read the script? What was your reaction?

Binder: I didn’t know it at first when I read the episode, but they solemnly told me that early on in the taping because they knew how big a fan of hers I am. I died more or less a thousand deaths. I was reborn again. I was introduced to Christina through “Mad Men,” a very strong hyper-fixation of mine in college. I’ve watched the series six or seven times, and once actually from back to front, which was interesting because it’s about a guy who’s really enlightened and just throws his life away. So yeah, they knew I was such a fan.

Hendriks: I didn’t know that – I had no idea! I’m so flattered!

Binder: I just think you’re a national treasure.

Christina, have you been a fan of “Hacks” for a long time? How did you react to the script?

Hendriks: I watched it right away, from the jump. It was the talk of the town – I can’t remember a time when I didn’t watch it! I watched the first season two or three times while I was waiting for season 2. So when I got the chance to come on the show, I was already a big fan, and that doesn’t happen very often. It’s a little surreal because you’re like, “Oh, I walked into my TV!” And I loved it because my character is so despicable. So disgusting. It’s something completely different.

For Ava, this episode is all about learning the power dynamics and sexual dynamics that come with supporting roles. And Christina, we watched you navigate that for years as Joan Holloway. Did you ever feel like this episode was in conversation with ‘Mad Men’?

Hendriks: We haven’t talked about that, but because women are so often, sexual politics and those kinds of relationships between people are scripted anyway. Whether it was Joan dealing with it in the 1960s, or these characters dealing with it now, it always plays a role.

Your character doesn’t care how “problematic” her sexual tastes are and she has an attitude that we normally only see in heterosexual male characters. How did it feel to play that and be kind of terrible?

Hendriks: It’s fun to get inside the mind of someone you don’t want to see on the news and can’t imagine being at a party. Our job is to justify people’s behavior and understand why someone would behave in a certain way. The idea is to stay true to that character and discover what makes them tick. It will always be fun to be on the opposite side of a human’s mind than normal.

What did that process require? We don’t get to see much of what she is like in the world. How do you imagine the life she leads when she’s not humiliating caddies in the bedroom?

Hendriks: You know, she comes across as quite powerful, but she’s still in a man’s world. As a woman, no matter what happens, you always try to hold your ground and fake it until you make it. I think she probably mimicked it until she made it for a long time. But she does it comfortably. She still keeps an eye on the other women around her. In a scene like this, it’s a work environment. So everyone is friends, quote-unquote, but it’s still a competitive arena. She has an eye on everything in the room and knows where she can exert her power, and where she can’t. And she sees something in Ava that says, “Okay, I can work with that.” She senses her admiration quite quickly. She’s good at telling things.

Presenting herself at the golf tournament as a badass who shows the men how it’s done, Ava makes assumptions that leave her shocked when she discovers she’s dealing with a gay Republican. Tell me about her experience with this attraction during the tournament.

Binder: One of her first experiences while there was totally chastising these big dogs in the social landscape of this tournament and their business. When something gay happens between them, I think Ava also assumes, “If she’s queer, she must be on the right side.” I don’t think it occurs to Ava that she could be a Republican – or invest in fracking operations. It’s just assumed, and that’s why the reveal won’t happen.

Ava is thrown off by all the insults, but she’s still generally unhappy about it, until she hears that she’s been called a caddy too often and has to announce that she actually has a cool job in Hollywood. What does that say about her?

Binder: It speaks to what Deborah says early in the episode. Sometimes there is a gap between the theory Ava presents and how she feels and behaves in practice. Deborah called out a bit of hypocrisy early in the episode, and I think we see that again when Ava says, “Just for full transparency, I’m not really a caddy.” She’s very proud to say she’s a writer and producer, and it’s this beautifully poetic moment where it all comes together. Ava wants to position herself as more powerful, and that’s actually a problem at that point. It’s not just about Ava’s prejudices, but also about conservative ideology as a whole.

Hendricks: I also think the whole twist to my character as a Republican is something we all recognize about ourselves, but perhaps don’t talk about: we’re allowed to have loose morals in the bedroom and behind closed doors because that’s our decision, and we may behave the opposite of how we behave in the real world. But suddenly you bring politics into it, and it’s like, “Things have gotten real now. Really damn fast. I might lower myself, but I can’t stoop so low as to agree with your politics.” It is funny. “What I choose to do with myself is my own business, but if you start fucking with the rest of the country, I’m out.”

The scene ends with an argument about how the night would have gone if Ava hadn’t revealed her job: the Republican insists she was going to pee on Ava, and Ava insists it wouldn’t have happened – even though she says she should have done. I made a socialist pee on her. What do you think would have happened?

Hendriks: I think they would have had a pretty wild night. And then they would have had an awkward breakfast because at some point it would come true.

This interview has been edited and condensed.