'Hacks' Creators Explain Series Finale's Big Fakeout: 'We Always Knew This Was the Ending'

Note: This story contains spoilers from "Hacks" Season 5, Episode 10. Deborah Vance was never going to die. That may be a shock to "Hacks" fans who have seen the series finale to HBO Max's Emmys darling. The final episode of Season 5 follows Deborah (Jean Smart) taking her writing parter and best friend Ava (Hannah Einbinder) to Europe following a cancer diagnosis. Deborah's plan is simple: force Ava to try real bread, and then end her life at the best assisted suicide facility in the world. And as hellbent as Deborah is to die, Ava is just as determined to convince her to live. . . .