'Hacks' stars talk about what's to come in Season 3, Deborah and Ava's reunion

AUSTIN, Texas − Dim the house lights: Deborah Vance is back, baby!

And thanks to a vulnerable comedy special, she’s on top of the world – an elevated position reached while sidestepping the tears and broken dreams of her codependent collaborator Ava.

Max’s “Hacks” returns to center stage with Season 3 Thursday (first two episodes, then two more weekly), nearly two years after its sophomore installment. Last year's Hollywood strikes delayed the comedy’s new nine-episode jaunt.

Last we saw the career-minded comic Deborah (Jean Smart) and her Zillennial writer Ava (Hannah Einbinder), they relished the success of Deborah’s special before she abruptly fired Ava, pushing her to spread her wings amid her newfound fame.

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Smart enjoys delighting an audience with Deborah’s quips, but there’s a part of her job the five-time Emmy winner finds even more delicious.

“When I get to abuse her is probably my favorite part of the show,” Smart admits in jest at a breakfast with her co-star, and series creators Jen Statsky, Lucia Aniello and Paul W. Downs during March’s SXSW festival. Downs, who is married to Aniello, also plays Jimmy Lusaque Jr., Deborah and Ava's manager.

“I've always thought the best part of the show is that generational butting of heads,” she says. (In real life, Smart, 72, is kind enough to encourage a reporter to eat her egg-white omelet and asparagus before they get cold and to apologize to her makeup artist for not getting nips and tucks. “It’s like the man can only do so much,” she jokes. “He’s not a miracle worker!”)

Here's what to know about “Hacks” Season 3, streaming Thursday:

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Ava and Deborah’s restrained reunion

After being separated for a year, Deborah and Ava run into each other at Montreal’s Just For Laughs Comedy Festival. Deborah is there to receive an award and Ava, a writer on a “Last Week Tonight"-style show, is appearing on a panel.

Ava catches her former boss in an elevator. But it’s not the emotional reunion fans of the show might be longing for. Their interaction is at first polite and reserved. “They do have those moments where they bare their souls to each other. But after all this time and all this space, I think they're kind of in a competition of strength,” Einbinder, 28, says. “Like, who's going to hold out the longest?”

Deborah is attempting to keep it light. “Obviously Ava's the more tapped in of the two," Einbinder says, "wanting to have the confrontation. But Ava's also trying to not be thirsty and keep it together.”

What is Season 3 of ‘Hacks’ about?

As a result of the success of her special, Deborah has “more eyes on her than ever, and that’s complicated,” Aniello says. “In some ways, that's what she’s wanted for a really long time, but she's also struggling to still find what makes her truly happy. Is that external validation the thing that makes her whole, or is it something else?”

Although Ava has a job writing on a prestigious show and a live-in girlfriend who stars in a superhero series, there’s “something's also still missing for her,” Aniello adds.

Statsky teases that “Deborah is going after her biggest goal yet": host of a late-night TV talk show. The opportunity is what revives the punny partnership of Deborah and Ava, which bothers Ava's girlfriend.

Deborah and Ava are "still struggling to figure out how (their) relationship can exist, or whether it can exist for them," Aniello says. "Because it's twisted, it's dark, it's not necessarily fully healthy, yet they both crave it, and they can’t help it.”

‘Hacks’ stars reveal favorite Season 3 guest stars

Helen Hunt appears throughout the season as head of the TV network who can fulfill Deborah's dream. J. Smith-Cameron (“Succession”) portrays Deborah’s estranged sister, who had an affair with Deborah’s husband.

Einbinder, who says she watched AMC's “Mad Men” seven times in college, calls Christina Hendricks her favorite guest star this season. Ava and Hendricks’ character share a brief, intimate moment in the Season 3 trailer.

Four “Mad Men” framed prints adorned Einbinder’s bedroom in college, including a painting of Don Draper, the advertising drama’s lead, played by Jon Hamm.

“It's actually creepy,” Einbinder jokes. “It's my favorite TV show – besides ‘Hacks,' obviously – and Christina is such a powerful, incredible actress. She's so dropped in and so real and she has such control and such an incredible presence.”

Smart enjoyed reuniting with Tony Goldwyn, with whom she can be seen smooching in the season preview, after he appeared on Smart’s breakthrough CBS series “Designing Women” in 1987.

“He's a very successful director now,” Smart says. “And of course we all know he comes from a famous Hollywood family, but he's the most humble, down to earth, sweet family man.”

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Hannah Einbinder reviews the famous coconut cake Tom Cruise sends his celebrity friends

The premiere features another well-known celebrity: the white-chocolate coconut Bundt cake that Tom Cruise sends to his famous friends, including Kirsten Dunst and Tom Hanks, during the holiday season. Einbinder is more than happy to give a review of the Doan’s Bakery confection: a coconut cake featuring chunks of white chocolate, iced with cream cheese frosting and topped with shredded coconut.

“The cake itself is incredible. The (icing) itself is incredible,” says Einbinder. “I think it goes a step too far with the white chocolate chips.”

And while the stars hadn't received a cake from Cruise yet, they hoped this would no longer be Mission: Impossible after the premiere.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: 'Hacks' is back on Max for Season 3: Jean Smart talks what to expect