Hacks (S5, Ep. 4-5) "Who's Making Dinner"/"D'Amazing Race"

This week, Hacks serves up a double dose of episodes. Here’s my recap and review of episodes four and five.

Episode 4: "Who’s Making Dinner?" 

In this week’s episode of Hacks, "Who’s Making Dinner?", Deborah Vance is forced to confront the deep-seated erasure of her own history. It’s an hour that balances the pain of a stolen legacy with the exhilaration of a comedic rebirth, proving that sometimes you have to lose your audience and your freedom to find your voice again.

The drama unfolds at the Paley Center during a 50th-anniversary celebration for Deborah’s iconic sitcom, Who’s Making Dinner?. While reviewing archival scripts, Ava discovers a devastating truth: Deborah's late ex-husband, Frank, took sole credit for the pilot they wrote together. This “stolen legacy” is a wound Deborah has harbored for decades, and the sting is only amplified when the event concludes with the renaming of a soundstage to the "Frank Vance Stage."

Seeking to reclaim her narrative despite a live-streaming gag order imposed during her ongoing legal battles, Deborah insists on taking the stage. She attempts to perform “important” new material centered on female silencing and systemic grievances. However, the set is a tonal misfire; devoid of actual jokes, it bombs spectacularly, alienating the audience she so desperately wants to impress.

The humiliation is compounded when Deborah later views an unaired interview clip in which Frank admits she was "the funniest person in any room," leaving her conflicted about still craving validation from the man who betrayed her.

The episode reaches its climax following Deborah’s arrest for violating her restraining order. While sitting in a holding cell, the legendary comic finds an unexpected audience in her fellow inmates. As she begins riffing on their crimes, their genuine, raucous laughter sparks a massive breakthrough: her Madison Square Garden show doesn’t need to be “important” or “nuanced” — it just needs to be funny. In a classic Deborah move, she bails out her entire “audience” and takes them to a Norm’s diner to continue testing her reinvigorated material.

Elsewhere, the legacy of the original sitcom lives on through Ava. Inspired by the exhibition, she pitches Jimmy a modern, “downward mobility” reboot of Who’s Making Dinner? featuring Gen Z characters forced to live together to afford rent.

"Who’s Making Dinner?" is a fantastic episode that really shows why Hacks is such a beloved example of character-driven comedy. The contrast between Deborah’s struggle on a professional stage and her victory in a jail cell is a clever storytelling choice, highlighting how her truest brilliance often appears in the least glamorous spaces.

Jean Smart’s performance captures the delicate tension between Deborah’s need for Frank’s approval and her sense of betrayal in a truly heartfelt way, recalling the complicated dynamic of Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz, a mix of deep creative partnership and painful personal history. The “important” set is hilariously cringeworthy, but in the best possible sense, representing a vital obstacle Deborah has to overcome before her big breakthrough.

Ava’s reboot pitch is also a smart nod to what’s happening in TV nowadays, perfectly matching her ambition with Deborah’s inspiring comeback. If there’s one slight drawback, it’s that Deborah’s “important” set leans so heavily into discomfort that some viewers might find the sequence a bit overlong. Still, the emotional payoff more than justifies the discomfort.

Overall, I give this episode a 9/10.

Episode 5: "D’Amazing Race" 

In "D’Amazing Race," the series delivers a brilliant crossover that forces Deborah and DJ to repair their fractured relationship through a grueling physical challenge. Between the beautifully absurd clown routines and a professional heist executed by Ava, it’s an episode that proves Jean Smart and Kaitlin Olson are a true treasure of a mother-daughter duo.

Fulfilling a long-standing promise, Deborah competes in a special celebrity edition of The Amazing Race alongside her daughter, DJ. While Deborah initially joins solely to leverage the free press to boost her Madison Square Garden ticket sales, the race quickly becomes more personal than professional.

The comedic heart of the episode is the "Break or Dance" detour, which requires the duo to perform a synchronized Mexican clown routine. The challenge becomes a hilarious hurdle as Deborah’s crippling fear of looking “stupid” in clown makeup and her inability to handle failure lead to them being the last team at the pit stop. After four hours of failed attempts, host Phil Keoghan ultimately eliminates them from the race.

However, the loss leads to a major breakthrough: Deborah admits she is genuinely impressed by DJ's resilience and recognizes DJ’s "fear of failure" — a trait Deborah realizes she lacks. This new bond culminates in Deborah finally supporting DJ’s independent career, backing her decision to sell her "D’tachables" jewelry on QVC.

While Deborah is racing for her life, Ava is busy securing the rights to reboot Deborah’s old sitcom, Who’s Making Dinner?. The primary obstacle is Deborah’s sister, Kathy, who demands their mother’s original salt and pepper shakers in exchange for her cooperation. In a masterful “professional heist,” Ava has exact replicas made at an antique shop and successfully swaps them, leaving Kathy emotional over the fakes while Ava secures the sitcom’s future.

The episode leans into its reality-TV roots with a cameo from host Phil Keoghan and authentic Amazing Race props. The celebrity field is rounded out by appearances from Trisha Paytas, Jordan Firstman, and the Property Brothers, adding an extra layer of meta-humor to the proceedings.

"D’Amazing Race" beautifully uses a reality competition format to deepen Deborah and DJ’s relationship. Watching Smart and Olson face the hilarious humiliation of the clown challenge brings some of the show’s most unforgettable laughs — a delightful mix of absurdity and insight into Deborah’s hidden insecurities behind her perfectionism.

Ava’s inventive salt-and-pepper shaker swap adds a fun, heist-style twist that shows she’s just as fierce and ruthless as Deborah in the business world, but in her own distinct way. The episode juggles the heightened reality of The Amazing Race with genuine emotional beats, ultimately landing on a warm, satisfying note as Deborah finally acknowledges DJ’s success and supports her QVC venture.

At times, the Amazing Race gimmick threatens to overshadow the quieter character moments, but the episode manages to pull things back to what really matters: the evolution of Deborah and DJ’s bond.

Overall, I give this episode a 9.5/10.

This week’s double feature of Hacks offers some of the season’s sharpest comedy and most affecting character work, pairing Deborah’s fight for her legacy with a hard-won emotional breakthrough with her daughter. Between the jail-cell epiphany, the clown routine disaster, and Ava’s slick sitcom heist, these two episodes showcase the show at its best.

What did you think of this week’s episodes of Hacks? Which one was your favorite? Let me know in the comments.

You can catch Hacks Thursdays at 9/8c on Max.