On paper, “EGOT,” the first episode in the final season of Hacks, is a load-bearing one. Like the season openers before it, the episode has to drop us back into the show’s world while answering questions about the previous installment and teasing yet another new dynamic for its incomparable duo, Deborah (Jean Smart) and Ava (Hannah Einbinder). And to be fair, “EGOT” is quite efficient in its table-setting, resurrecting Deborah (who, okay, didn’t actually die at the end of “Heaven”), bringing Marcus (Carl Clemons-Hopkins) back into the fold, surveying the fallout of her final late-night monologue, and grappling with what Deborah’s legacy should be. But if series creators Lucia Aniello, Paul W. Downs, and Jen Statsky were feeling any pressure when they wrote “EGOT,” you wouldn’t know it judging by the zippiness of the episode, which even makes time for a Schaefer & Lusaque brainstorm at the world’s most picturesque charging station.
Speed is exactly what’s needed in “EGOT,” as Deborah flies through strategies to wrest control of the narrative away from Bob Lipka (Tony Goldwyn), who was busy smearing Deborah in the press and otherwise undoing her previous comeback while she drank and karaoked herself into a near-coma in Singapore. Not even the loyal Josefina (Rose Abdoo) and her burner account (@JoyceGoldblattChang) could defend Deborah against such a coordinated attack, which made her out to be unstable, someone who just couldn’t—forgive me—hack it in late night. “It is a tough gig. Not everyone’s built for it,” Bob fairly coos to a reporter who’s undoubtedly in his employ. “We all just hope she gets well.”
But Deborah returned to Las Vegas with a jet-lagged Ava in tow because she was done licking her wounds. She’s clawed her way back to the top before, and she decides that the best way to combat the unhinged loser narrative is not to appeal to the press or even sue someone (one of her hobbies) but to score “a legacy-defining win that they cannot spin.” Now, that’s something the whole team can get behind, especially if it means Deborah never sports Crocs again. So, what new mountain will she attempt to scale? Just a little feat referred to as an EGOT. Hey, Deborah’s already got a daytime Emmy for hosting a Boggle-inspired game show called Bagongle, and, thanks to an Eric-Idle-sex-fueled haze, a Tony (officially, for co-producing Spamalot). Surely, she can nab a Grammy and an Oscar in less time than it takes for one multibillion-dollar media conglomerate to buy another?
It’s an absurd goal, of course, but no one wants to put a damper on the mood—especially not Ava, who tells Jimmy she can’t focus on her own career right now, not after Deborah gave up Late Night for her. Ava was also the one who had a front-row seat to Deborah’s decline in Singapore, so she’s only too happy to go along with this ridiculous plan, which eventually involves a bit of recasting in the Fatty Arbuckle movie, hiring and firing Tony Kushner as a memoir writer, and Deborah’s short-lived attempt at a Tejano music crossover. But this isn’t zaniness for the sake of zaniness; after Ava co-signs the idea to “primary AOC,” an exasperated Deborah reveals she needs a “no-woman,” not a “yes-man,” even if she’s just going to ignore her. Deborah and Ava have challenged each other as long as they’ve supported each other, and if either one of them wants to move forward, they’ll need to start being honest with each other again. The powerful reset is the latest in a series of them, even if it requires them both to acknowledge over a shared caramel apple that they don’t know what that next step should be.
Starting off the season with both Ava and Deborah at a loss might have been an interesting change of pace, but Hacks has established that they’re both too driven to flounder for long. When Deborah learns that Bob Lipka has effectively scrubbed her oeuvre from the internet, she flouts his exclusivity clause by holding a secret comedy show at Marcus’ workplace (solar panels callback!) where attendees’ phones are confiscated and she makes Resurrection jokes: “Here I am, back from the dead. When a man does it, he’s the son of God. When a woman does it, she’s held for questioning at LAX.” Video from the show is promptly leaked on TikTok, so maybe Damien (Mark Indelicato) should have used Faraday bags. Bob’s retribution is swift—Deborah’s hit with a temporary restraining order—but not as swift as Ava, who intentionally leaked the footage so that Deborah, who’s not supposed to get any airtime, can announce to a throng of journalists that she’s doing a comeback show at Madison Square Garden.
This could all feel like too elaborate a setup for the new stakes that we were all expecting to be established here anyway, if the groundwork hadn’t already been laid years ago. It makes sense for Deborah and Ava, who are now more in sync than ever (at least, until Ava’s guilt really rears its head), to speed-run their usual fight-and-make-up routine to get back to work. Like writers rejecting pitches for their late-night show, they cast off the bad ideas to determine what Deborah’s legacy-defining moment will be. And this time, it’ll be Dance Mom-and-other-gimmick-free.
Stray observations
- • Welcome back, for the last time, to Hacks coverage. I watched last season in tandem with The Studio; for this year’s showbiz sendup pairing, I will be watching Hacks alongside The Comeback‘s final season.
- • Naturally, the Little Debbies made Deborah a shrine that would make Graceland look austere. My favorite tribute? The riff on “R.I.P.”: “Return If Possible.”
- • “Once an arsonist, always an arsonist—Deborah Vance burns down Late Night” is one of the many headlines that sprang up in the wake of Deborah’s outcry that I wish had been shown on a screen instead of quoted, if only so I could see which outlet it was attributed to (my guess would be Page Six).
- • One of my favorite gags in any TV show or film about making TV or film (or, in the case of Only Murders In The Building, Broadway shows) is the titles for all the fake shows, films, or comedy specials. Deborah rattles off a bunch of great ones here, and The Best Things In Life Are At Sears: Deborah Vance Live, Sponsored By Sears deserved a Grammy for that title alone.
- • Based on the few lyrics we hear, Deborah wrote or commissioned a Spanish-language song about her salt shakers (“figuritas” made of “porcelana”) for her Tejano debut.
- • “Doll, Woody Allen is not going to be remembered for playing the clarinet or the movies or the bucket hat. It’s gonna be the other thing, okay?” It was a good night for Ava zings, but we’ll have to wait a little longer to learn if Mall Girl is part of the extended Blart universe.
Danette Chavez is The A.V. Club‘s editor-in-chief.
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