I already know that every time Deborah Vance seems defeated or “retired,” it’s only the beginning. Hacks leans more toward comedy than The Bear, but it’s still dramatic — even if it’s about making people laugh.

Long gone are the days when Deborah Vance and Ava Daniels didn’t trust each other or didn’t even know one another. From the moment Deborah admitted that Ava was her voice, they became a unit. And it’s a good thing they’re together, because the mess they got into isn’t easy to navigate — especially not alone. Stuck in a contractual 18-month work hiatus, Deborah finds a loophole: if she performs abroad using a translator, it doesn’t count as her doing the show. And just like that, off they go to Singapore.

At first, it’s all fun and games — but excess becomes routine, and bitterness soon creeps in. A fake news alert — announcing Deborah’s death — literally wakes them up. That’s when they decide to return to the United States and take back control of the narrative. To be continued next season.

The thing is, while their constant bickering had begun to wear thin, so has this new phase of harmony. Hacks thrives on unpredictability and Deborah’s narcissism. Trying to tame her is not a good idea. Of course, more than just a “comedy,” the series has become about “Hollywood.” And if it weren’t for the brilliant Jean Smart, it might feel like just another show — as the more jaded viewers have already started to claim.

The truth is, even though we’ve been told the next season will be the last, there are fewer possible surprises. Will Ava and Deborah fight again? Will they pull off one last comeback? What now?

If authenticity matters in comedy, truth matters in drama. And in this case, the rollercoaster ride is Deborah Vance herself — addicted to conflict and conquest. She doesn’t know how to stop — and maybe she shouldn’t. Hacks is ultimately about that restless urge to keep going, to want more, to refuse the limits imposed by time, the industry, or other people. Even if the next season is the final one, it doesn’t feel like we’re saying goodbye to someone ready to go in peace. Deborah Vance wants to go out on top — even if no one is quite sure where that top is anymore.

And that’s what keeps the series alive: not just the comedy, not even the showbiz behind the scenes, but the relentless drive of a woman who always turns the end into a new beginning. Ava, now more cynical and hardened, might finally be starting to understand that. So are we.