![](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/f378839ac8b7132a7829800ce7137d6e41-comebackep8.rsquare.w400.jpg\")
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The Comeback<\/a><\/p>\n Valerie Cherish<\/p>\n \n Season 3<\/p>\n Episode 8\n <\/p>\n \n Editor\u2019s Rating<\/p>\n 3 stars<\/p>\n ***\n <\/p>\n \n Photo: Erin Simkin\/HBO\n <\/p>\n Much like Valerie Cherish, I spend way too much time reading the comments. However unwise that may be, it\u2019s been fascinating seeing the wildly divergent responses to these recaps. Half of you think I\u2019m being overly critical of a season that\u2019s on par with the two that came before it, while the other half have regrettably concluded that The Comeback should never have come back. I imagine the season (presumably series) finale will be equally divisive, and I\u2019m sympathetic to positive and negative perspectives here. Personally, I don\u2019t think the show successfully landed this plane, even though there were certainly moments in \u201cValerie Cherish\u201d that worked for me. Regardless, I\u2019ll never be upset that we got to spend more time with one of TV\u2019s greatest characters.<\/p>\n The fictional sitcom How\u2019s That?! is earning similarly mixed responses from viewers, at least based on the scrolling Val does on the night of the premiere. She seems more concerned by the negative feedback than by the alarming use of an AI Valerie, who pops up at the end of the episode to advertise NuNet, a clear harbinger of what\u2019s to come. On set the next day, however, Val is the voice of reason, using \u201cShake It Off\u201d lyrics to calm the cast down about any bad reviews. I very much related to her experience of seeing a mean comment (\u201cshe can\u2019t act\u201d) and then being forced to scroll until you find a good one (\u201cyeah, she\u2019s old, but I\u2019d still do her\u201d). Ultimately, it doesn\u2019t really matter if people online are tearing the show apart \u2014\u00a0it\u2019s a hit for NuNet. On a video call, Brandon Wollack reveals that they aired the first two episodes back-to-back, and 72 percent of the audience stayed put. (Not to quibble with minor details, but this is\u2026 not how streaming works?) That\u2019s enough to earn How\u2019s That?! an early season-two renewal, with Brandon asking Val to join him for a \u201cvictory lap\u201d press conference at the end of the week to announce the pickup.<\/p>\n After getting torn apart by the internet<\/a>, it looks like Val\u2019s fortunes have turned around. She\u2019s even summoned to see TV legend Jack Stevens (Bradley Whitford). When she arrives at his office, she\u2019s also greeted by Ben Morrow (Justin Theroux) and Matt Wright (Adam Scott) \u2014 together, these are the \u201cMount Rushmore of television writers,\u201d also known as the big three. Naturally, they\u2019ve called Valerie in for a reason: They\u2019ve heard about the press conference, and they want her to use this opportunity to speak out on behalf of writers. If she doesn\u2019t, the success of How\u2019s That?! will inspire more and more shows to opt for AI scripts. Like Val, I\u2019m dubious that her making a statement would affect any real change here, even if that\u2019s the kind of redemptive act I want to see from her. It\u2019s also understandable, with stakes as high as they are, that the big three would concoct this last-ditch effort to save their careers. \u201cThis is not the normal TV evolution \u2014 network to cable, cable to streaming, streaming to AI,\u201d Jack says. \u201cThis is an extinction event.\u201d Matt puts even more pressure on Val when he tells her, \u201cThe future of television depends on what you do.\u201d Back at home, Valerie vents to Mark about the tough position she\u2019s been put in. Never one to sympathize with writers, he points out that none of these men have bothered putting Val in one of their shows. If Jack had cast her in something, she wouldn\u2019t have had to do The Comeback. Still proud of her pioneer status, Val bristles at this. \u201cSay what you will about The Comeback, but that was the beginning of reality TV, and I was there first, just like I\u2019m first with an AI show,\u201d she notes. Mark fires back, \u201cThat\u2019s like saying I was the first one to eat an arm in the Donner Party.\u201d<\/p>\n Backstage at the How\u2019s That?! season finale taping, Billy tells Val that he can\u2019t make the press conference because he\u2019s been offered the Marc Jacobs show in New York. She\u2019s proud of him for getting to walk in a fashion show, until he reveals that he\u2019s actually going to be in the audience. \u201cThey promised second row!\u201d he gushes. Billy has no idea where this exciting opportunity will lead him next \u2014\u00a0there could be fashion shows all over the world interested in letting him pay to attend. He\u2019s quitting as her manager, a job I was not aware he still had, and the two of them share an emotional exchange that does not feel remotely earned, given the state of their relationship all season. \u201cThis is our last show,\u201d they tearfully say to each other, and while I recognize that the subtext here is that it\u2019s also their last episode of The Comeback, I\u2019m not sure how we\u2019re meant to take this. We\u2019ve spent so much time this season focused on Billy\u2019s rapidly increasing ego and uselessness, and we\u2019re ending his storyline with a tender moment between him and Val. Perhaps Valerie standing up for herself and making the choice to end their partnership was too much to hope for.<\/p>\n Either way, she\u2019s better off without him, and it\u2019s not like she hasn\u2019t been putting out fires without Billy this whole time. There\u2019s another one to deal with at the finale taping \u2014\u00a0the line \u201cI found the smell, it was in the lost and found\u201d completely bombs. (Quibbling again! That\u2019s not even a joke? I have to believe Val or the director would have noticed the problem at the table read.) Backstage, they scramble for alts, only to discover that the AI system is down. Evan explains that they\u2019ve hit the paywall because the studio is using the same budget for all their AI projects. Val implores him to step up and write some jokes himself, but Evan has given up on his dreams of being a writer because he doesn\u2019t see a future in it. She\u2019s forced to deliver a stirring speech to convince him. \u201cWhat if there\u2019s a space war, and someone shoots the satellites out of the sky, in space? Who\u2019s gonna write the sitcoms then?\u201d Val demands. \u201cWell, I\u2019ll tell you who. You. You are. You\u2019re gonna give those people laughs when they need them the most during troubled times.\u201d She even repurposes Matt\u2019s \u201cthe future of television depends on what you do right now\u201d line, and that seems to do the trick. The Evan-scripted line they end up using isn\u2019t funny either (\u201cI thought that smell was me\u201d), but the studio audience laughs, so what do I know? At the end of the taping, Val tells a visibly jazzed Evan that he wrote on a real show tonight and now gets to join the WGA. I love how supportive she is to this baby writer, especially with the extratextual knowledge that he\u2019s being played by her real-life son. It\u2019s sweet!<\/p>\n Ahead of the press conference, Val meets with Brandon, where she foolishly lets slip that the big three want her to make a statement on behalf of writers. Andrew Scott is brilliant in this scene, as the eerily restrained Brandon has his own version of a meltdown. \u201cThese writers and their fucking feelings. This isn\u2019t about emotions, it\u2019s about business,\u201d he whines. \u201cI didn\u2019t invent technology, you know? I didn\u2019t invent AI. It\u2019s not my fault, big three.\u201d I appreciate this depiction of a tech CEO as someone who obviously considers himself to be a genius, but can\u2019t take any criticism. Many such cases! Of course, this guy reads every single online comment while complaining about the consequences of his actions. When he says the whole town wants to paint him as a villain, Val assures him that he\u2019s not, words that she\u2019ll surely come to regret. \u201cJust could really use a hug,\u201d Brandon continues, in full baby mode. \u201cBut this is an open concept working environment, so I can\u2019t get a hug.\u201d Val gives him a verbal hug instead, and I\u2019m left wondering what to make of The Comeback\u2019s relationship to Me Too this season. Between this, Tommy\u2019s abrupt exit, Val\u2019s aside about her past relationship with a writer, and Mark\u2019s revelation last week<\/a>, this is clearly an issue on the show\u2019s mind, but I\u2019m not sure it has any point to make beyond that times have changed. And this episode sees Mark getting an apology from the man who fired him, along with a new job offer, so I guess we\u2019re moving on!<\/p>\n It\u2019s time for the press conference, where Brandon insists that How\u2019s That?! is not an AI sitcom. They have a real crew and real actors, and while the scripts are AI, NuNet is not done with writers. The network needs humans to produce \u201cthe great work, the culture-defining work.\u201d Brandon says, \u201cWe can only afford these important artistic endeavors because the more lucrative, cost-efficient shows like How\u2019s That?! don\u2019t need genius,\u201d and you can see Val\u2019s face fall. When she\u2019s asked a question about her experience working with an AI writer, she goes off-script and mentions that they hit a paywall at the finale taping and had to rely on a real person for jokes. \u201cSo go humans!\u201d she concludes. Is it wrong that I wanted her to take a stronger stand here? I expected the press conference to be the climax of the episode, the moment of dramatic self-sacrifice \u2014\u00a0like leaving the Emmy Awards<\/a> before her category \u2014 that would show how much Val has grown. Instead, we get a very mild rebuke. If the AI system hadn\u2019t crapped out at the taping, would she have said anything at all?<\/p>\n Brandon is pissed anyway, calling Val into his office after the press conference to tell her he felt ambushed by the way she undermined the expensive technology Comspot has spent years developing. She is firmer here when she reiterates that they need an actual showrunner for a second season, and that the \u201cgood enough\u201d quality Brandon is settling for isn\u2019t enough for her. Great sitcoms can be just as culture-defining as \u201cserious\u201d shows. \u201cYou felt ambushed?\u201d Val says. \u201cI feel betrayed.\u201d It\u2019s easy enough to guess what happens next: Brandon explains that if Valerie doesn\u2019t want to come back for a second season, she\u2019s free to leave. They can just replace her with the AI version they\u2019ve created from her full-body scan. Val points out that AI still has bad branding, but Brandon counters that the ratings tell a different story. It\u2019s a depressing stand-off, made all the bleaker by how it ends. \u201cI take it back, you are a villain,\u201d she tells Brandon. \u201cMy job is to move television forward,\u201d he answers. \u201cI\u2019ve got to look after myself. I\u2019m only human.\u201d You want her to storm out,\u00a0and she does \u2014\u00a0while also saying she\u2019ll call tomorrow to let Brandon know her decision.<\/p>\n I\u2019ve spent a lot of time wondering how this season would end, and if Val would learn something from the mistake of doing How\u2019s That?! in the first place. As I\u2019ve said, I don\u2019t need my characters to be perfect, but after the stunning way that season two concluded, I expected a resolution that would cap a three-season arc of character development. That\u2019s not really what we get. As Val and Mark discuss her options at home, he points out that she can just walk away. They don\u2019t need the money, and she shouldn\u2019t do something that won\u2019t make her happy. The problem is, she\u2019d be bored not working. \u201cI just hate that they win,\u201d she says, defeated. \u201cNo other options. What am I gonna do, cut off my nose to fight my face?\u201d Just then, she gets a text from Jack \u2014\u00a0he has a new project featuring a woman of a certain gravitas (not age!), and he wants Val to be the lead. Suddenly, Valerie doesn\u2019t care about doing another season of the sitcom. They can just replace her with her digital double. \u201cAI\u2019s here, Mark, can\u2019t deny it,\u201d she reasons. \u201cGotta move forward.\u201d I don\u2019t mind the Deus ex machina of the job offer, but it\u2019s a pretty deflating ending. Even if she chooses to walk away, it\u2019s only because something better came along at the last minute. What was all this for?<\/p>\n And look, it\u2019s 2026. Everything is on fire, including the entertainment industry. Perhaps a less-than-inspiring ending like this is the only thing that makes sense for The Comeback. What\u2019s frustrating is that the show doesn\u2019t seem to realize that it\u2019s not as simple as \u201call\u2019s well that ends well,\u201d a line Val quotes from Cheers instead of Shakespeare. When she sits down for a final interview with Jane, it\u2019s clear we\u2019re meant to take her ending as a triumph. \u201cFinally, it all worked out. What an evolution you\u2019ve had,\u201d Jane reflects. \u201cThe way you stood up for yourself with NuNet, the way you took this new job and didn\u2019t look back.\u201d Again, the show is insistent on proclaiming Val\u2019s greatness without putting in the work. She was all set to come crawling back to Brandon! And she\u2019s now letting NuNet use her likeness indefinitely!<\/p>\n Did I still find the last interview poignant? Of course. Like Brandon, I\u2019m only human. Jane says she\u2019s watched Val for 20 years in an industry that has given her nothing but humiliation. \u201cI think you have to agree to be humiliated, and I never signed up,\u201d Val replies. \u201cJust did the best, you know, with what I was given, right? And isn\u2019t that what being a human being is, though?\u201d This is what I will miss most about Valerie Cherish \u2014\u00a0the way she never allowed herself to be the butt of the joke, no matter how hard everyone was trying to make her one. Even if I don\u2019t love where this season ended, I\u2019m still moved by the idea that Val is, at her core, a survivor. \u201cYou have to adapt,\u201d she says. \u201cKeep going. Anyway, that\u2019s what I tried to do.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2022 The season as a whole felt light on jokes, but the finale did have some great lines. Of the social media critics, Val says, \u201cWhen I did Seeing Red, that was around the time when regular people online started thinking their opinions mattered.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2022 I also appreciated her loose interpretation of Martin Niem\u00f6ller\u2019s famous words: \u201cWhen they came for the writers, you said, \u2018Okay.\u2019 When they came for the actors, you said, \u2018Sure.\u2019 And when they come for you, there won\u2019t be anybody left to say, \u2018Okay, sure.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n \u2022 And then there was Tommy, back for the finale taping, and reflecting on Billy\u2019s gender-bending ensemble with, \u201cIn my day, men couldn\u2019t even wear chapstick.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2022 It was nice to end on a callback to The Comeback\u2019s most iconic moment. After Jane says, \u201cI got it,\u201d Val tells her, \u201cI\u2019m gonna need you to sound more excited.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2022 And yes, it\u2019s made all the better by her announcing it as a \u201cComeback callback\u201d and then explaining, \u201cA \u2018callback\u2019 is a sitcom writing term.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2022 Of course, the real ending is a postscript revealing that How\u2019s That?! is in its third season and now has an entirely digital cast, and that Val\u2019s show, The Judge\u2019s Table, has been nominated for multiple Emmys, including for her.<\/p>\n \u2022 \u201cNo A.I. was used in the writing of this series.\u201d Let\u2019s be grateful for that.<\/p>\n Sign Up for the Vulture Newsletter<\/p>\n Entertainment news, for the pop-culture obsessed.<\/p>\n Vox Media, LLC Terms and Privacy Notice<\/p>\n