first of all, so sorry you're going through what seems like something pretty intense and difficult!
per your request, a distraction in the form of a question!
not quite Hacks but another Jean Smart character so adjacent, if you had been in the writers room, what would you have wanted to see happen with Martha Logan? not even like pragmatically within the confines of canon, just, fuck it, your dream story arc for Martha Logan?
Thank you so much 💕 and omg THANK YOU SO MUCH for this ask, this is so unexpected but I love it so much that it broke three pages in Google Docs lol, please enjoy!
To start, let's take her primary s5 arc and generally stick with it (I'm sure there were problematic elements I'd have tweaked—Evelyn would've come back at the end, for one, safe and sound), and completely ignore s6. And honestly, the immediate aftermath wouldn't be great television, so let's skip over the next couple of years, during which Martha would voluntarily, consensually, and safely remain off-grid while participating in and receiving top-notch mental healthcare with the support of a close network of trusted loved ones (including, of course, Aaron Pierce). And maybe it's just because of Hacks, but I think it makes sense to imagine her doing this in Europe! Somewhere very private with easy ability to avoid endless exposure to US politics.
I'd love to pick back up with her at some point post-s5 coming back to the US more permanently. This would be a super different genre of show, but I'd be obsessed with like a 6-8 episode miniseries following her rebuilding her life in the US while also flashing back to her earlier life (it's a dream arc, casting isn't an issue!). Jean and Greg Itzin had a pretty elaborate backstory involving them having lost a son not long before s5, and we know she was really close to David Palmer—I'd love to see her as a younger woman with tremendous political savvy, much like Sherry. (sidenote: her relationships with David and especially Sherry would be really, really interesting to dig into, so let's do that too!) But back to Charles—how did he and Martha get together? There was love there, I think, but was there a part of Martha that recognized that attaching herself to a pliable young politician was her best chance at attaining meaningful political influence? I'd love to see more of those earlier days and what I feel like must have been a complicated dance around running a household, motherhood, her own career aspirations, and the careful manipulation that allowed Charles to be politically successful while letting him think he was responsible for his own success.
More! So much more!
Seeing her in those early years would also be an opportunity to see more of a mental health baseline—did she struggle with depression, anxiety, etc.? Or signs of something more serious (psychotic episodes, paranoia, etc.) as alluded to in season five? Either way, how did that play out pre-breakdown/the death of their son (lumping those together here) compared to the version we meet in s5? We only get one day with Martha, and it's a day that starts out horribly and over 24 hours subjects her to intense grief, emotional manipulation, gaslighting, threats of and actual physical violence, and the unspeakable knowledge of her husband's involvement. She's also pretty heavily medicated for a lot of that time. I don't actually think I have a preference as to what story I find more interesting for her—someone who developed significant mental health symptoms after trauma vs. someone who's always navigated them, and if/how the circumstances of her later life (including/especially her institutionalization, forced treatment, and the ongoing threat of being sent away again) impacted that manifestation. They're all fascinating explorations, so in this dream world where this story can be told well, I'm open to any version of it.
And then the present-day Martha, I think, would be looking at what's next for her. I would like to see her wrestling with the decision to not expose Charles publicly, and Aaron would be a big part of that. I think of Aaron in this little series as serving a role very similar to what he did in s5—a close, steady presence, a moral baseline for Martha. I think their relationship would have built slowly while she was recovering with no real romantic progression for a couple of years, maybe with a shared understanding that it’s something they’d explore when their worlds stabilized a little. That would be part of what this story would explore, but in a quiet and undramatic way. I feel like they’d have one major conflict that would see Aaron getting truly angry/sad/upset/whatever at some point, and that would ignite a turning point for Martha in some fashion towards the end of this story.
I think the main story here would be her trying to figure out what’s next, personally and politically. Assuming we’ve got a great team of writers, I’d love to see her explore a political career. I don’t know what would be involved in making that a feasible option for a person with her history, but watching her dip her toes back into Washington waters and navigate her public perception and personal/emotional reaction to being back in those spaces.
Luckily, at this point, those spaces would include Cherry Jones Allison Taylor! I have no idea what the timelines here are, but if they’re imaginary, let’s set this arc during Taylor’s historic campaign to be the first woman President. Martha would have an unofficial role with the campaign that would drudge up a lot for her—could this have been her if she’d bet on herself instead of attaching herself to Charles, or made any other number of different choices along the way? What possibilities are open to her now? Does she even want to get back into politics, after everything?
She’d connect with a lot of our other horribly-underutilized and/or done-badly women: Karen Hayes is in the political arena at this point and both she and Martha are in desperate need of just a friend, especially a friend who understands what it means to survive a day in the life of Jack Bauer. Audrey Heller has been tortured to the point of catatonia and/or psychosis iirc and is under her father’s care in some fashion, which would be fascinating to contrast with post-s5 Martha reckoning with how her own mental health was weaponized and used against her “for her own good”. Hell, let’s throw Lynne Kresge in there, too, and force Mike Novick to reckon with his s2 villain-era. And Evelyn would be working for her again/still in a major role (maybe as someone Martha recognizes acumen in and begins to quietly mentor)?
Through all of this, Martha’s mental health would be a very present story point. We’d see her ups, her downs, what tools and resources she has available to her and if/how she utilizes them, etc. I would want at least one major mental health setback, both because it feels like a pretty natural occurrence for a woman with her history in this situation and because this is a dream show where all of this is handled with nuance and care and can present a character who has to manage her mental health on a daily basis, not always super effectively, and not have that dictate her entire life. (It would also contrast s5 where this was all “managed” for her without her consent, leaving her traumatized and unwell.)
Charles would make exactly one appearance. He’ll have spent most of the season trying to get in touch with her/spin his own redemption arc/whatever, and while Martha would generally be much more even-keeled in this arc than she was on the day s5 took place, Charles would be an emotional landmine for her. I don’t think she’d see him in person. She’d take a phone call at some point towards the end of the season, though, probably contrasted against flashbacks to both the beginning of their relationship and what it devolved into in the aftermath of their son’s death/her institutionalization. It would have similar vibes towards her final scene of s5—victorious, done with him, etc.—but sad, too. Like, I think she’d probably be crying on her end but her voice wouldn’t give any hint of it as she leaves him with whatever words she’s decided she wants to haunt him the rest of his life. But there’s grief, still, for all of it.
After, she'd go to her son’s grave, and then David Palmer’s. Then she'd make her way towards the White House (escorted by Aaron Pierce) to start her day—the President is waiting for her, and wants her advice.
If Jack Bauer (24) was in Game of Thrones/A Song of Ice and Fire, which Great House of Westeros would they be part of or at least the most affiliated with?
House Targaryen
House Stark
House Lannister
House Baratheon
House Greyjoy
House Tully
House Arryn
House Martell
House Tyrell
Voting ended onNov 13, 2025
Ways to approach the poll if the character isn’t a royal:
If you think they’d be from a smaller house, go with the Great House that that smaller house is sworn to (ex: House Manderly —> vote Stark)
They don’t have to be a nobleperson, they can be someone working for the house or being ruled by them. Roles could be a sworn-sword, a septa, a butcher, a blacksmith, or even a lowly peasant.
You can consider the region itself. For example, if you feel the character would be from Dorne, pick House Martell.
You can consider the personality of the character. For example, if your character is all about honor, then consider either House Arryn or House Stark.
Last, but not least, be creative with it! For example, there was a comment I read that the character who was the subject of the poll would be pulling a Littlefinger, so they went with either Lannister or Tyrell as that would be that character’s target houses.
