![](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/95f75de2ffbb4dc852363445057ff8df84-hacks-s5-ep1.rsquare.w400.jpg\")
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Hacks<\/a><\/p>\n EGOT<\/p>\n \n Season 5<\/p>\n Episode 1\n <\/p>\n \n Editor\u2019s Rating<\/p>\n 3 stars<\/p>\n ***\n <\/p>\n \n We are always confronting the big questions on this show, such as: Is it so over for Deborah? Or are we so back? On Hacks, we are always confronting the big questions, such as: Is it so over? Or are we so back?<\/p>\n It\u2019s a big week for rising from the dead! Happy Easter to all who celebrate and happy Hacks return for the heathens among us worshipping at Deborah Vance\u2019s godless altar \u2014 the shrine piling up outside her mansion full of flowers and plush Diet Cokes. If you are wondering how we got here and need to brush up on season four, head over to my newsletter<\/a>, where I went over my recaps from last season for exactly this purpose! Then come on back to find fans screaming at the sight of Deborah, who did NOT die<\/a>, and who DID get TMZ to issue a retraction over falsely reporting she had.<\/p>\n While Deborah was in Singapore, Bob was working hard waging a PR war. His smear campaign was total and effective, from buzzy headlines (\u201cDIVA DOWN: Talk Show Host\u2019s Bizarre Behavior Raises Serious Concerns\u201d) to his faux-concerned appearances on interview programs that air on networks he owns and are later cut into clips that can be viewed on streaming platforms he also owns. Josefina is defending Deborah in the comments using a burner account, but she is simply no match for this media mogul.<\/p>\n I still find Deborah\u2019s actions in the second-to-last episode last season<\/a> \u2014 her walking away from her late-night show in spectacularly self-immolating fashion, in brazen violation of her contract and in a move that would obviously torch the bridge with Bob, without even consulting a lawyer \u2014 hard to square with the Deborah we know, a hardened showbiz vet whose business savvy, as much as her comedic talent, has enabled her decadeslong career. As frustrating and awful as her current predicament is, it\u2019s hardly a plot twist for her; how did she expect any of that to play out, except in exactly this way?<\/p>\n Ava wants to sue, but Deborah has another idea in the Don Draper mold: She doesn\u2019t like what\u2019s being said, so she\u2019s changing the conversation.<\/p>\n Who can aid and abet this narrative effort? Her agents, whose only solid project is that Fatty Arbuckle biopic. Despite Kayla and Jimmy\u2019s hustle and merit, they can\u2019t sign any new clients because nobody wants to be attached to an agency that can\u2019t do business with any of Bob\u2019s companies. Their client list is geriatric and\/or canine, and neither base is super-reliable. They lost two clients to bad falls last month, and Lassie ran away! Jimmy wants to downsize \u2014 their office space costs $30,000 a month \u2014 but Kayla and Randi insist they hold on. Perhaps the meeting in Vegas to which Deborah has summoned them will bring the good news they\u2019re hoping for?<\/p>\n Ah well, kind of! Deborah\u2019s plan is to get a \u201clegacy-defining win that cannot be spun.\u201d In that pursuit, she announces, \u201cI have decided to EGOT.\u201d I love 30 Rock, but I cannot believe they made one joke one time and now we all have to act like it\u2019s real. I would rather have Leap Day William!<\/p>\n Deborah already has a Daytime Emmy and won a Tony for producing Spamalot. Legally, as Randi helpfully explains, Deborah can film something as long as it\u2019s not released until the noncompete is over. Deborah says they need to find her a serious part because everyone loves it when comedic actors play serious roles. Also, Deborah has never won a Grammy despite being nominated seven times. (Not even a win for The Best Things in Life Are at Sears: Deborah Vance Live, sponsored by Sears!) She will be competing in the audiobook category instead; she\u2019ll read her own memoir, which has not yet been written, but her good friend Tony Kushner is game.<\/p>\n Once more, I struggle to believe that Deborah, the jaded, world-weary vet, really believes this is the move. Ava knows this is insane but tells Jimmy she is just relieved Deborah is doing anything at all besides drinking until noon. Jimmy confesses that the financial situation of the agency is not so hot; he really needs \u201cto write and sell a huge international hit that has sequel potential.\u201d Ava can send him the Mall Girl screenplay she wrote in Singapore \u2026 will this be her big break!?<\/p>\n As someone who has actually written a book \u2014 my novel, Retro, is out June 23; you can preorder now! Ahh!!!<\/a> \u2014 I nearly passed out listening to Deborah tell Tony her vision for knocking out her entire memoir: \u201cI\u2019m thinking a chapter a day, 15 chapters, wrap this up in two weeks, easy.\u201d Tony suggests it will be more involved. He wants to start way before her childhood, like in Scotland where her ancestors are from. Ava is riveted. Deborah not so much. Later, she breezes through her adolescence \u2014 \u201dLet\u2019s start with high school. I was gorgeous, smart, and popular. College: same.\u201d \u2014 but Tony chastises her: He has a Pulitzer, and she needs to listen to Peggy Lee\u2019s \u201cIs That All There Is?,\u201d the soundtrack for his writing process.<\/p>\n Let\u2019s focus on the Oscar: Deborah can\u2019t get in with Documentary Short because, as Randi wisely notes, there are too many wars going on and they\u2019ll surely take the prize. (Actually, this year\u2019s winner was about school shootings<\/a>, so \u2026 okay, but it still doesn\u2019t sound like it\u2019ll be Deborah\u2019s category.) Could they get her a part in the Fatty Arbuckle movie? At first it seems like a nonstarter \u2014 Jimmy doesn\u2019t want to jeopardize the only good thing his agency has going \u2014 but when it turns out an actress of Deborah\u2019s age can\u2019t deliver, he and Kayla fire her (from the movie) and hire her (as a client, in Kayla\u2019s too-aggressive attempt at \u201cgood cop\u201d), leaving a perfect opening for Deborah.<\/p>\n Back in Grammyland, Deborah has fired Tony and moved on. Despite Ava\u2019s insistence that she never rely on McKinsey, Deborah employed them to run the numbers and tell her how to win the Grammy. This year, Regional Mexican Music Album (including Tejano) is the weakest category, so all Deborah needs to do is be featured on the likely winner\u2019s album and she\u2019s set! While I did enjoy the sight of Deborah singing in Spanish with her maracas, I do fear I am watching a woman having, if not a breakdown, something adjacent to it.<\/p>\n So I was relieved to see her test Ava that evening by pretending she wanted to primary AOC just to prove Ava isn\u2019t being honest with her anymore. \u201cI don\u2019t need a \u2018yes man.\u2019 I need a \u2018no woman\u2019 to ignore,\u201d Deborah tells her. Ava concedes that Singapore was very dark and she is treading lightly because of it, but if she is, you know, being honest, she does not think EGOT-ing on multiple technicalities will do much for Deborah\u2019s legacy. She asks, What\u2019s the biggest achievement for a comedian? \u201cBeating a rape trial\u201d is Deborah\u2019s first crack, then she says wistfully, \u201cHosting a late-night show.\u201d (Still, though!? Like, honestly! I know it was, but I feel like now it\u2019s really not!) Finally, she lands on something better: \u201cSelling out Madison Square Garden.\u201d Once again, I see we are using the time-honored \u201cWe need $3,000 to save the rec center, and here\u2019s a dance contest with a $3,000 prize!<\/a>\u201d storytelling technique. Who am I to argue with a classic?<\/p>\n Having admitted she can barely remember her final monologue and never even watched it, Deborah tries to stream it, only to discover Bob has scrubbed not only that monologue but all her monologues, every single clip from her late-night show, and her special. All her work from the past five years has been ERASED BY BOB. What a vindictive prick! Also, sorry, bold move for a guy who\u2019s been giving his wife the runaround with an infamous arsonist!<\/p>\n
\n Photo: HBO Max\n <\/p>\n