This post contains spoilers from Hacks season 4 episode 10 from this point forward.
From the very beginning, Hacks season 4 has been an unpredictable rollercoaster ride. The season started with Deborah and Ava at each other's throats and feuding after Ava blackmailed Deborah in order to secure the job as head writer for her new late night show. For weeks, the frenemies needed a chaperone present at all times to avoid drag-out fights. Thankfully, they buried the hatchet.
Ahead of the season 4 finale, Deborah made a shocking decision about her show following a controversy that Ava inadvertently started. The studio wanted Deborah to feature an actor from one of their major franchises on her show, but the actor had been embroiled with sexual harassment allegations. Ava pushed back, but Deborah surrendered, even though a slight jab angered his team.
When Ava ran into a friend from a newsy show and vented about the debacle, the story of the studio's coverup of Deborah's joke at the actor's expense goes wide. Unfortunately, Deborah's forced to fire Ava, but she had a bigger trick up her sleeve. During a live taping, Deborah explained the situation and announced the end of her show. That brings us to the reality of the non-compete clause in the finale.
Deborah and Ava take Singapore
While she was making her heroic scene saving Ava's job and quitting her show to make a bigger point, Deborah didn't realize that the non-compete clause in her contract prevented her from performing anywhere for 18 months. As the finale reveals, Deborah took her contract to various lawyers to help her get out of it, but no one can find an out. She's slowly going crazy and getting depressed without performing or being able to work. She even tries to convince Marcus to start the company back up.
But Deborah simply resigns herself to the fact that she's stuck. Even though Ava tries to inspire her to write a new hour of material, she doesn't want to without being able to workshop it with an audience. After a brief period of isolating herself, Deborah decides to take a vacation to Hawaii with Ava, which Ava couldn't be more excited about. However, after her pill-induced slumber during the flight, Ava wakes up to discover Deborah rerouted them to Singapore.
Deborah realized she could find a loophole in her non-compete clause: She's not allowed to perform, but if her words are being translated for a foreign audience, the translator is performing. She and Ava are able to write material for a crowd in a casino in Singapore, recreating their lives in Las Vegas overseas. Her stage show quickly becomes a success, and they live and work in Singapore for months... until Ava gets bored and Deborah lives the high life on autopilot.
TMZ reports Deborah has died, but...
Deborah loves her newfound adoration, though it's not at home in the states. She's drinking a lot, partying on yachts, and phoning in her performances. Ava wants to go home and pushes Deborah to realize that she's overstayed her welcome in Singapore. But Deborah doesn't want to leave and drunkenly tells Ava to go home, nearly returning to their animosity from earlier in the season.
Ava leaves Deborah on the boat with the intention to fly home the next morning. When Ava wakes up, she turns on her phone to dozens of messages and missed calls. She finally takes a call from Jimmy, who frantically asks what happened with Deborah. He reveals to a groggy Ava that TMZ has reported that Deborah died. Immediately, Ava's terrified and takes off running.
She makes it to Deborah's hotel room and pounds on the door multiple times. It takes a while, and likely a few years off Ava's life, but Deborah answers the door. She's not dead. The reports of Deborah Vance's death have been greatly exaggerated. It's not even clear how they originated, but when Deborah reads her TMZ obituary, she's offended. She doesn't want to go out as a "failure."
Although Ava tried to light a fire in her the night before, it took a TMZ death hoax/misreport for Deborah to regain clarity on her situation. In an instant, her fighting spirit has been resurrected and she's ready to leave Singapore, return home, and get back to work. There's no doubt that she will be making a huge PR stunt out of her death in season 5 and using that press to her advantage!
Watch Hacks only on HBO Max.