Hacks – Join the Club

By: Kelly Kearney

Deborah has been waiting 40 years for her shot at hosting the Late Night Show and no smooth-talking Cary Grant wannabe is going to take it from her. The competition is heavy, so it is not the best time for Deborah to have a crisis of conscience just as her return to the spotlight lands her an invite from some of her favorite comedians. Issues arise when Deborah excuses herself from a beatdown pile-on, proving once again she has grown with the help of her writing partner, Ava. Speaking of, now that her boundaries have been set, Ava has time to join Marcus for trivia night at the bar, where she runs into an old friend. Also in the episode, Jimmy and Kayla manage to sneak their way into a pickleball game with Winnie Landell – the head of the network, who just happens to be the woman deciding on the next Late Night host.

Staying in the Spotlight

The episode starts with Damien (Mark Indelicato) running down the airport tarmac, yelling for the plane to wait. Deborah (Jean Smart) was heading to New York for a few appearances when she sent him off to fetch her favorite sunglasses afraid that crow’s feet might stand in the way of securing a seat behind the Late Show host’s desk. She is sick of seeing Jack Danby’s (Luke Cook) face everywhere, and now he is schmoozing Winnie Landell (Helen Hunt), and that can’t be good. Jimmy (Paul W. Downs) tries to put Deborah’s mind at ease and lets her know that he and his assistant, Kayla (Megan Stalter), who is currently passed out in the back of Vance’s private jet, are working on ways to get Winnie’s ear. Deborah is heading to New York to do the Today Show with Hoda Kotb, and she has both Marcus and Jimmy trying to book other appearances that can keep her name on people’s minds “Talk Stoop” on Taxi TV won’t unseat her biggest competitor, Jack Danby, after he hosted the White House Correspondence Dinner. She is feeling the pressure so Ava asks the obvious question: why Deborah doesn’t put out a press release saying she wants the gig? Deborah is old-school and thinks asking makes her look “thirsty,”: and Marcus (Carl Clemon-Hopkins) agrees.

In the green room at NBC, Ava (Hannah Einbinder) pumps Jimmy for career advice. She is looking for open writing assignments, and Jimmy has a few ideas that go from bad to worse: a procedural drama based on the board game “Operation,” a reboot of Beauty and the Beast focusing on the love life of the animated spoon, and lastly, a show about a Bisexual Gumby titled “Gumbi” that could be perfect for her. As hysterical as all of that sounds, the comedy writer passes on the Disney spoon and the two-way clayman to focus on writing something of her own. Jimmy knows original works are harder to sell, but what about a consensual sleeping beauty? None of those jobs are right for Ava.

Backstage at the Today Show Deborah runs into fellow famous comedian Harry Weeks (Stephen Tobolowsky), who has nothing but praise for her and her special. Getting kudos from a comedian she looks up to dazzles Deborah, who quickly accepts an invite to join Harry and his fellow funny men for their yearly party and colonoscopy prep. The legends of the laugh gather at a rented house in Vegas to play cards and run to the bathroom as they group prep for their least favorite yearly test. Deborah is delighted to be included in their colon blast and promises to bring the air freshener.

Speaking of clearing the air, Ava and her girlfriend Ruby (Lorenza Izzo) are on break, so every time their doorbell notifications go off, a curious Ava can’t help but take a peek. She hasn’t deleted the app since she has every intention of returning home after her three months working for Deborah, so she doubts Ruby will mind. This time the notification is food delivery, and Ava spooks the driver when she starts asking if the order was for one person or two. Marcus notices something is off with her, as she is seriously considering a 4-hour drive to make Ruby’s going-away party—the one she was noticeably not invited to. Marcus has a better idea than Ava embarrassing herself; he invites her to bar trivia with his mom, Robin (Angela Elayne Gibbs), and her sassy friend, Loretta (Luenell).

Matchpoint, Jimmy, and Kayla

At the $20,000-per-month Beverly Hills Country Club, Kayla dupes Jimmy into a pickleball match with Winnie Landell. There is just one problem: Jimmy kills it on the tennis court, but he has no clue how to play what Kayla calls “tiny tennis.” His loyal side-kick has total faith in him and knows he can outplay Winnie and secure a deal for Deborah. In her eyes, he is Superman. Unfortunately for Jimmy, his Lois Lane is crazy—or is she?

Back at the Vegas mansion, Deborah asks Ava’s advice on colonoscopy fashion, and the young writer is surprised by how nervous the woman seems. That’s when we learn Deborah idolized those guys when she first started in stand-up, but they never took her seriously as a comic. Sure, she could fill seats, but those guys assumed it had to do with her popular sitcom and not her stand-up work. Now she’s caught their attention, and Ava points out, “And now they want you to clean out your colon with them. Dreams do come true.” Deborah is like a little girl on Christmas day—all smiles and spins as she relishes in her new level of fame and acceptance.

Over at the Country Club, Jimmy catches Winnie’s eye, and she invites him and Kayla to play a doubles match against her current co-worker and former wife, Beth (Blair Beeken). Immediately they realize they’re outmatched since Winnie is a brutal game-dominating badass and Jimmy has to low-key ask Kayla to Google the rules of pickleball. Not only is this a game that could seal the Late Show deal—not that Winnie knows that—but the network CEO can smell blood, and like a shark, she wants a bite out of Jimmy’s wallet. They make a bet, but Jimmy and Kayla don’t have the money to pay off the losses they start to rack up. After bragging about her wins and calling him a “beta cuck,” Jimmy proposes a double-or-nothing match. Winnie is so competitive she can’t say no, but now the pressure is on Jimmy to hit that ball like his new company depends on it, and it does. In the finale game,  Kayla serves through her nerves thanks to Jimmy telling her he believes in her and has her back. The wiffleball sails over the net, and after a volley back and forth, Jimmy beats Winnie. After the game, he reminds her that he manages Deborah Vance, and he jumps on the chance when the sweaty CEO mentions she’s noticed the comedian is having a moment. He thinks it’s a moment Winnie could take advantage of. She loves Deborah, but she needs someone younger, or, as she puts it, “with staying power.” Jimmy points out how she told the press that Late Night TV is on the decline and she wants to shake things up with this new hire. What’s new and exciting about Jack Danby? Deborah is a refreshing idea, and besides, streaming attracts younger viewers while network TV lives and dies on the backs of people who can’t figure out how to order from Amazon but do buy their wardrobes from QVC—a place Vance World put on the map. Nobody is turning off TikTok to watch Danby, but with 4 million DVD sales under her belt, Deborah can keep the audience Winnie already has, and pave the way for that shake-up by hiring a spry 70-year-old in the middle of a career glow-up. The pitch is good, but Winnie isn’t convinced. She does agree to think about it and is open to hearing more about this idea the next morning over another game. Another game means coughing up 40 grand for two club memberships—less if they are married. It is not beneath Jimmy to marry Kayla for the discount, even if it makes her sexual harassment a 24/7 nightmare.

A Break-Up on the Backdrop of Trivia Night

Back in Vegas, Ava joins Marcus’ team, “SwA–Sistas with Answers,” and they are happy she can cover all of the white-coded questions that his seasoned mom missed in the previous games. As the night kicks off, Ava runs into the captain of O’Trivia Newton-John’s team, and it’s the hotel desk clerk from the previous season—the one whom Ava trauma bonded with (mostly against his will) over the deaths of their fathers. As expected, he is less than enthused with the new addition to Marcus’ team. Not that Ava notices; she is too busy catching him up on all the details of her life since the last time she saw him. We learn his name is Raymond (Joe Mande), and he is a stickler for bar trivia rules. He calls out Marcus over his Apple Watch and reminds him of the rules stating no smartphones or smartwatches at the table while playing the game. This isn’t your friendly bar room competition; Raymond means business!

The rivalry between the teams gets real as the game goes back and forth between the SwA and O’Trivia. Ava helps with answers about brands of natural wine and something called “The Corn Cobb Boys,” but when a doorbell notification from Ruby’s goodbye party interrupts their winning flow, Raymond starts yelling about docking them 5 points for breaking the smartphone rule. The phone goes off again, and this time it’s Ruby calling, instead of risking a team loss, Ava goes outside to talk to the woman who is irate over her monitoring the doorbell app. The space has been good for her, and so she is choosing to turn their relationship break into a permanent breakup. Ava panics because she wants to be with him,r so Ruby gives her one last chance and asks her to come to Iceland with her. Ava can’t leave Deborah—even if it means ruining her personal life—and that’s why Ruby finally calls it quits. A distraught Ava wanders back into the bar, but she is crying through her winning answers. Unfortunately, the points docked for her Ruby call put SwA behind the O’Trivia Newton-Johns and now she’s failed in her relationship, and at bar trivia. As nights off work go, this one was the worst. She heads back to the mansion to drown her tears in ice cream, but the rocky road does not end there for her.

Party Pooper

Welcome to the clean-out party! Choose your bathroom wisely! Deborah gets a grand welcome from the legendary comics and her fellow colonoscopy warriors. Her nerves are gone as the night kicks off with a less-than-appealing cocktail of magnesium sulfate–straight up. They all gather around a card table for some poker and gross humor, and Deborah is in her element—finally making her way into the big boy’s club. The evening takes a turn when the men praise Jack Danby and then go on a rant about bisexuals and the LGBTQ+ community. Besides her popularity in drag circles, Ava softened Deborah’s hard boomer edges and brought her into the rainbow-accepting light—something even the Queen of Comedy is surprised by. She can’t help but defend the community and then excuses herself for a bathroom break. The old Deborah would’ve laughed and tossed in her out-of-touch jokes, but not this Ava-inspired version, she can’t stomach the hate and it’s not the colon prep making her sick. Off-screen she goes off on the men and then bails on the party poopers but not before absconding with all of their toilet paper.

Running into a crying Ava drowning her sorrows in ice cream, Deborah radiates anger as she pounds down cheese, hoping to plug up her leaky gut. Before Ava can escape her mood, Deborah orders her not to take food to her room and then blames her for the terrible night she had. “You ruined my poop party!” she yells, but it’s her feelings for Ava that wouldn’t allow her to be a part of the punch-down crew. She spent decades hoping those guys would notice her, and now she can’t be friends with them because Ava got into her head. How any of this is Ava’s fault is lost on the depressed and newly single writer, but like D.J. said in the previous episode after forgiving her laugh-addicted mother for hurting her, “You always hurt the ones you love.” Ava is in Deborah’s heart as much as her mind—it’s why she continues to push her to focus on her career as much as this Late Night hosting gig. Before Ava came around, Deborah was happy with her Vegas residency and her QVC life, and now she wants more for herself, which requires her to leave her comfort zone, and that’s all Ava’s fault. Through the door of the bathroom, Ava apologizes about the party, but she can’t focus on that with her heart shattered from her break-up with Ruby, which she also blames on Deborah. She lost her girlfriend, her home, and their mutual friends, all because she couldn’t say no to Deborah. So if the bisexuals tanked the poop party, then it was Deborah’s fault–not Ava’s, just like it’s Deborah’s fault Ruby ended things. Deborah points out that Ava didn’t have to take the job, but Ava admits she did it because “I wanted to be here with you, ‘cause you’re in my head!” Ava needs this partnership to be successful if they are risking so much for a redo of Deborah’s biggest career failure. The yelling simmers down, and Deborah lets Ava in on a little secret: she has wanted this job ever since she was a little girl and watched the show with her father. It was the only time in her childhood when his drinking took a backseat to laughing. She wants to recapture that feeling– trapped in that nightly hour of happiness. Ava is moved by her story and assumes others would be too. She pushes her to tell it and let everyone know she wants that job. Now Deborah is listening—because the last time she trusted Ava’s instincts, she sold four million DVDs and landed the guest hosting job. She never played by the rules before; she is a take-charge woman; so she should ignore the what-ifs and go for it! Deborah Vance has always been shameless, and as Ava points out, feeling shame over what you want most in the world isn’t you.” Her belief in Deborah is enough for the woman to dive into the media circus, and so she announces she wants the Late Night Show while co-hosting the Thanksgiving Day Parade. From then on, she is the talk of the town. She is a hot topic on The View, she visits The Stoop, her face is on coffee drinks, burgers are named after her, and even the Las Vegas airport welcomes arrivals with the news: Deborah Vance wants to be the Queen of Late Night TV. Not a single person on planet Earth hasn’t heard about it thanks to her team working overtime to sign every merchandising deal that comes across her desk. The massive push eventually finds its way into Winnie Landell’s home when she rings Jimmy to let him know her son is doing Deborah Vance make-up tutorials. So it’s time to talk about the hosting job now that Winnie sees how far her reach goes. Deborah has that staying power she was looking for and now that she has reached the TikTok generation, the network would be crazy not to be interested.