This article contains spoilers for Hacks Season 5 Episode 1
Hacks returns to HBO Max with its Season 5 premiere on April 9.The series opens its final act by stripping Deborah Vance (Jean Smart) of everything that once defined her – her image, her platform, and control of her own story. “EGOT” sets the stage for a farewell driven by legacy, defiance, and the need to be remembered on one’s own terms.
“EGOT” opens with Deborah and Ava (Hannah Einbinder) returning from Singapore to quash rumours of Deborah’s death, sparked by her abrupt exit from late-night in Season 4. Fans have built a memorial, but she assures them she was never dead.
Debunking her death proves the least of Deborah’s worries. Her absence has given Bob Lipka (Tony Goldwyn) room to smear her in the press, painting her as unstable in interviews while burying positive coverage across outlets he controls. After Ava plays a clip of Lipka claiming he wished Deborah had spoken to them first, as it’s a tough gig not all are ready for, she suggests legal action to force retractions. Deborah knows the damage is already done. They must shift the narrative to something bigger.
Elsewhere, Jimmy (Paul W. Downs) and Kayla’s (Meg Stalter) business is struggling post-Season 4. Meetings go well until potential clients learn they can’t work with Lipka’s companies, at which point they ghost them. Randi (Robby Hoffman) notes their ageing client list doesn’t help. Jimmy reveals they’ve lost two clients to bad falls in the last month and revisits the idea of downsizing the office. Kayla refuses, despite the $30,000 monthly cost.
Hope arrives when Deborah tells Ava she has a plan to secure her legacy. Obituaries lead with a person’s defining achievement or failure; she needs a win that no one can spin. Deborah has fought too long to be remembered as a quitter, a late-night killer, or a hysterical woman. She will be remembered for her accomplishments, so she has decided to go for an EGOT. Deborah expects Ava to think it’s a crazy idea, but Ava counters that she’d be crazy not to do it. Try as she might, there’s a clear sense that she thinks the opposite.
At lunch, Deborah lays it out for Damien (Mark Indelicato), Jimmy, Kayla, and Randi. It’s ambitious, but she’s halfway there. She has a Daytime Emmy for hosting Bagongle and a Tony for producing Spamalot after Eric Idle persuaded her, post-coitally, to invest. She needs Jimmy to get her the “O”. He hesitates and insists on reviewing her contract to see what she can do legally.
The contract shuts most doors. Randi explains the network paid Deborah out via an exclusivity clause, not a non-compete. She cannot do anything scripted or paid, including TV, film, or new media. They control her socials, and there are to be no live performances. She has already signed her injunctive relief clause; any violation could lead to a restraining order or worse. Jimmy asks if Randi memorised all that; she confirms she did. When she notes someone recently asked if she was autistic – Jimmy, that morning – the delivery is laugh-out-loud funny. Season 5 of Hacks makes many smart choices, but folding Hoffman further into the ensemble is among the best.
Randi does find a loophole: Deborah can film now, provided she doesn’t release anything until the clause expires. Deborah doubts the Oscar will be difficult – voters love comedians turning serious – and wants Jimmy to find her a Mo’Nique moment. She then pivots to the Grammy. Deborah has received seven nominations for her stand-up records but has yet to win. With stand-up off the table, she’ll record her memoir for Best Audiobook, written by the best writer in the world – not Ava, despite Ava’s assumption – but Tony Kushner. Deborah insists Ava is too obsessed with her to write it, which tracks, even if there’s another season in that idea.
Afterwards, Ava tells Jimmy how bad Singapore became. Deborah slept all day, drank until noon, and wore Crocs in public without heels. Whatever Debrorah wants to do, they need to back her. Jimmy reluctantly agrees but asks Ava for a huge international hit with sequel potential. She finished her Mall Girl script in Singapore and will send it. He’ll get Deborah an Academy Award.
When Deborah and Ava meet Kushner, Ava gushes, telling him that it’s an honour to observe the writing process of one of her heroes. Angels in America was formative for her. Deborah tells him Ava is shadowing, so he can feel free to ignore her – she often does – though “EGOT” makes it clear that this isn’t the case.
Deborah proposes a chapter a day, with fifteen in total, wrapped in a couple of weeks. Kushner needs far longer, favouring an immersive process. Deborah has little patience for “whiny childhood” memoir tropes – despite claiming she held up her blonde head at three months – and suggests “I was born blonde” as an opening. Smart never misses a beat, particularly as awards chatter inevitably circles the final season. Kushner doesn’t last long, and Deborah soon eyes a weaker Grammy field: Regional Mexican Music Album. If she features with the frontrunner, she gets her “G”.
Meanwhile, Jimmy explores other angles with Kayla and Randi. He suggests Deborah produce a Documentary Short, but Randi notes that war-related films crowd the category. Unless Deborah wants to trek through the Congo, it’s unlikely. That leaves the Fatty Arbuckle movie Jimmy is producing. He initially refuses, since the project is the only one without Deborah or a dog attached. Still, he relents when he realises that Esme, their current choice for Deborah’s potential role, cannot handle it.
If previous seasons of Hacks positioned Deborah and Ava as adversaries, Season 5 leans firmly into their friendship. The material Smart and Einbinder are given feels like an ode to their chemistry, cementing them as one of comedy’s greatest duos. When Deborah suggests primarying Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to secure her legacy, Ava agrees and even suggests they should get her an NYC address in the Bronx. Deborah calls her out as Ava is not challenging her as she usually would. She doesn’t need a yes-man; she needs a no-woman to ignore.
Unsurprisingly, the show’s strongest scenes arrive through Deborah and Ava. Ava argues that gaming obscure awards categories isn’t how Deborah wants to be remembered. Deborah insists she might discover a new calling, like Woody Allen, a gifted clarinettist. Ava counters that Allen won’t be remembered for the clarinet or the movies or the bucket hat – but for something else entirely. Deborah will be remembered for comedy because she’s a comedian. Comedians host late-night shows and sell out Madison Square Garden, though Deborah can currently do neither. Ava can’t find a workaround, and they hit a wall. Lucia Aniello, Paul W. Downs, and Jen Statsky’s writing remains as sharp as ever; it’s easy to see the series sweeping come the Emmys.
The breakthrough comes when Deborah and Ava discover that everything they have built over five years, including late-night clips and a special of Deborah’s, has been scrubbed from the internet by Lipka’s team. The last time the press smeared Deborah, she let it happen. Not this time. She declares she’ll write her own story. She’s a comedian, and she will perform comedy tomorrow night.
After performing the set in a secret location, with Marcus’s (Carl Clemons-Hopkins) help, Deborah receives court papers. A judge rules that, with ComStar’s investment in promoting Deborah as the host of Late Night, the clause barring her from performing is enforceable. A temporary restraining order is set in place until the trial. Deborah tells the crowd outside the court that free speech is under attack; she can’t perform a single joke without risking jail. When her contract ends, she’ll shout her truth at a comeback show at Madison Square Garden. Selling it out is the ultimate win – and her legacy.
Hacks lands one final twist, settling viewers into the final season’s rhythm as Ava reveals she leaked the video. They needed to announce Madison Square Garden somehow.
As a season opener, “EGOT” is both ruthlessly funny and sobering, proving that Hacks still knows exactly where its strengths lie – and how to utilise them for a final act.
