"Vincent Chase, Hyde."

To Vince, it felt like his chair slipped away from him, followed by the floor. He was floating. An arm wrapped around Vince, pulling him back to reality. Vince suddenly faced his mother as she hugged and kissed him.

After taking a couple of breaths, Vince came to his senses and looked around as people stood for him, cheering. He quickly hugged Turtle and Drama, who were sitting behind him. He turned to E, who was sitting to his right and hugged him tightly. Vince was starting to fear that everyone else was getting impatient for him, so he followed with quick hugs to Sloan and Ari and made his way to the podium.

Before he knew it, the Oscar was in Vince's hands.

"Uh, thank you so much to the Academy for this honor. This is incredible. I guess it's finally safe to admit that even I had doubts about whether I could direct this movie or not," Vince said, to some chuckling in the audience.

"But there were people who believed in me and it's because of them that I believed in myself, so I'm thankful for my mom, who taught me how to find my strength, my brother Johnny who was always encouraging me, my friend Turtle who taught me how to find my spirit, and my best friend and producer Eric, who never hesitated to take on my burdens as his own."

"I'd also like to thank Dana Gordon, my biggest supporter at Warner Brothers who saw potential in me when it seemed like no one else did," Vince added. He had asked all of Hyde's nominees to thank her if they won, hoping that frequent mentions could make her a favored candidate to replace Ari and become chairwoman and CEO of Time Warner.

"I'd also like to thank my publicist, Shauna Roberts, for sticking with me all these years, my business manager Marvin for his patience with me, my current agent Lloyd Lee for making miracles seem so easy to perform, and my former agent Amanda Daniels for her dedication and zealousness." E had suggested that Vince start mending fences as he ventured into new Hollywood territory, starting with Amanda. At home, Amanda let a small smile escape her lips because of the pleasant surprise.

"Finally, I'd like to thank my first agent, Ari Gold, who took me on when no one was interested, who kept on challenging me and teaching me, especially when I wasn't receptive to either." Vince paused to take a breath as his eyes began to water.

"You've been a great friend," Vince continued unsteadily while looking at Ari in the front row, "and I've always considered you one of my guys, but you've also been the closest thing I've had to a father since I was eight years old." Vince exhaled sharply as his emotions overcame him. "I love you so much, Ari."

Ari appeared on the screens to the sides of stage. Murmurs spread through the auditorium as the former agent known for his ferocious temperament had tears rolling down his cheeks.

Vince sighed loudly with a smile. "I think I should go before I start crying. Thank you to everyone who worked on Hyde. Thank you to everyone who watched it. Thanks."

After a break was announced, Rita approached Ari and gave him a hug. "Thank you, Ari."

"Thank you for raising a great kid," Ari responded.

Ari and Melissa would mention Vince's victory at their counseling session two days later.

"Sometimes, it felt like Ari was putting Vince ahead of me," Melissa admitted. "After Vince's speech, I understood." She turned to Ari. "That doesn't mean I agree, but I do understand."