OH, MARY Reviews (2026 New) — Page 17

I absolutely adore Meg on Hacks, but it's clear that was a role written to complement exactly what she can do. She's really not an actor, and that's painfully clear in her performance as Mary. It's one speed and the same extreme choice over and over. Even with some of the other Marys who have given very big performances -- I'm thinking Hannah or JCM -- it's always been clear their choices are grounded in a very specific interpretation of the role and script. With Meg, it just feels like completely unmoored maximalism.

Jordan Catalano said: "It is so interesting to have someone (Meg) almost done with her time in the show and only a couple people ever commenting on her. I also agree that she was the weakest I’ve ever seen in the role. It was the first time I’d ever seen it that I sat there pretty much never even cracking a smile. Amazingly she’s still packing them in though, so I suppose the show really can survive no matter the quality of the performance being given."

i assumed the silence over her performance was just people being respectful.

i thought this was a mistake from the moment she was cast--shes a one trick pony, though she does that trick quite well, and i thought when she was tested with actual leading material (that lena dunham show), she was irritating beyond belief.

i actually fear bowen yang might be similarly limited, though he does have that sketch comedy background to fall back on. but salter was never going to blend into this role, she was going to do meg salter in bratty curls.

the real takeaway is that the show with any semblance of a name in it, is the star.

If Hannah ever leaves, Donna would be an amazing replacement.

PipingHotPiccolo said: "

i actually fear bowen yang might be similarly limited, though he does have that sketch comedy background to fall back on. but salter was never going to blend into this role, she was going to do meg salter in bratty curls.

the real takeaway is that the show with any semblance of a name in it, is the star."



I think Bowen is a really funny performer. I'm surely in the minority here when I say that to me he always came across on SNL as just catty without anything that allows me to feel any sympathy for him as a character. I have no desire to see him as Mary. Even when I saw Meg as Mary, I felt the pangs of a wounded spirit in her portrayal along with the bratty spoiled girl.

Updated On: 8/31/26 at 01:09 PM

I have far less concerns about Bowen. The show is sketch-like in structure and he’s going in with a strong ensemble backing him up. They know comedy and how it requires a deceptive amount of discipline to pull off, even with some of the lesser jokes

He is a much better fit for this show than Meg, who serves as the reminder that this won’t be a show that you can just yell and steamroll your way through and think it’s funny.