The 'bitch is back' and Jean Smart is 'doin' Ellen' in Hacks season 2 trailer

Deborah Vance may have bombed at the final show of her Palmetto Casino stand-up residency, but that's not stopping her from trying to mount a comeback.

As Elton John sings in the official trailer for season 2 of HBO Max's Hacks, the "bitch is back," sending Deborah and her young writer — played by Emmy winner Jean Smart and nominee Hannah Einbinder — on the road to workshop her new set.

First thing's first, she needs a tour manager. Enter The Conners star Laurie Metcalf. "Name's Alice. Everybody calls me Weed," she tells Deborah and Ava before giving them a tour of Deborah's bus (basically a version of her Las Vegas mansion on wheels). "That's a nickname Pete Wentz gave me, and once Pete gives you a nickname it sticks."

Their travels take them across the country, including the Grand Canyon — where we see Ava scattering what appears to be ashes (her dad died in the season 1 finale) and Deborah showing a rare moment of compassion — even onto a cruise ship, as glimpsed in the trailer below. And, in what is hopefully just an attempt to see audiences respond to and not a permanent addition to her show, Deborah dances onto the stage during her introduction, reminiscent of another popular stand-up. "Ohhhh, no. She's doin' Ellen," Ava says, watching in dismay.

That aside, there's that little personal-professional matter to deal with: Ava's drunken emails to the writers of Bitch PM (about a hateful prime minister) detailing malicious behavior by Deborah that could be used as material for their show. "She will kill you if she finds out," Ava and Deborah's agent, Jimmy (series co-creator/co-showrunner Paul W. Downs), warns Ava. Cut to: Deborah with a chainsaw and paintball gun.

As Smart previously told EW for our first look at season 2, the season "starts out really, really badly" for Deborah and Ava as they butt heads. But from the looks of things, the show must and will go on. Check out the trailer above for season 2 of Hacks, also starring Carl Clemons-Hopkins, Christopher McDonald, Kaitlin Olson, Poppy Liu, Rose Abdoo, Mark Indelicato, Meg Stalter, Johnny Sibilly, and Jane Adams, along with new season 2 guest stars Ming-Na Wen, Susie Essman, Margaret Cho, and Devon Sawa.

Hacks season 2 debuts May 12 with two new episodes, followed by two more each week and concluding June 2.

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