If there's one thing we should know about Deborah Vance by now, it's that she doesn't go down without a fight. After TMZ ran a false report about her death in the season 4 finale, Hacks season 5 begins with the embattled comedian bursting her way back into the spotlight. But it's not just about returning to the spotlight. It's about her legacy, which has effectively been stripped from her.
Last season, Deborah's late-night show was working like a well-oiled machine until it wasn't. Deborah was forced to interview a star who had been facing controversial allegations, and while she couldn't refuse to have the star on her show, a jokes she made at his expense was forced to be cut. Ava accidentally leaked this information, leading to Deborah be forced into firing her head writer.
Well, Deborah didn't do that. She quit her show during its taping, a decision that cost her the dream job for a comedian and landed her with an iron-clad non-compete clause. She can't perform as a comedian without being sued. Looking for alternate avenues to secure her legacy that's currently in peril, Deborah finds a bold loophole that only Deborah Vance would jump through.
Warning: Spoilers ahead from Hacks season 5 episode 1.
Deborah and Ava outsmart her non-compete clause
Before diving headfirst into this loophole that could have gone totally wrong, Deborah turned her sights on cementing her legacy as a comedy star by completing an EGOT. She's already won a Daytime Emmy and a Tony Award (because of course she has), which means she needs to find a way to win both a Grammy and an Oscar. That should be easy, right?
Jimmy and Kayla work to land Deborah a role in an upcoming movie that could potentially score her an Oscar nomination and win, while Deborah tries to wiggle her way into a less competitive Grammy category with a feature on a catchy song. But she soon realizes that Ava has been afraid to challenge her, constantly agreeing to her every decision. It's a sign that she's not taking the right path.
Even though she isn't allowed to publicly perform, Deborah rallies her team to quickly scrape together an underground show. There are backdoor entrances, passwords, and confiscated phones to ensure total secrecy. While it might be under the cover of night in a warehouse, Deborah Vance finally takes the stage again to crack jokes. However, their efforts don't work. A video leaks.
Deborah ends up in court and hit with a restraining order for violating the non-compete clause, but here comes the risky twist. It was all by design. From the sidelines of her secret show, Ava took a video to leak online the next day. See, Deborah wanted to get caught so she could speak to the press outside court and announce that once the circus ends, she's headlining a show at Madison Square Garden.
It's not how most people would have went about announcing their comeback show... that hasn't been planned... at a venue that hasn't been booked. But Deborah knew she needed a major public moment and seized the opportunity. This is the kind of unexpected bait-and-switch that Hacks has been able to pull off so well with a fearless character like Deborah Vance.
She risked going to court to receive huge media attention but to also get the public on her side. There's no better press to ensure that she sells out Madison Square Garden, a venue she somehow hasn't played or sold out in her long career. Only a few comedians have, and this is her new goal to cement her legacy. The final season now has its mission that will be an utter delight to watch.
Hacks season 5 drops new episodes Thursdays at 9 p.m. ET on HBO Max.