I think the fact that we've set up a final episode where "as long as these guys survive, they've won" is a testament to the cleverness of the story's high-level writing.
This show has gotten a lot wrong - its episode-to-episode writing is often weak, a lot of subplots completely fizzle, best mechs are underused, the general mafia-feel of the show clashes with its place in the Gundam franchise... but, I really do love the overarching narrative.
Bunch of orphan slaves more or less rise up, have no real understanding of the complex geopolitics of the world(s), end up teaming with a shady business as a means to an end.
Now note, that after S1, Tekkadan could've stopped there. But because they are young, inexperienced, powerful, and recently successful, they (and Orga in particular) became obsessed with progress. As soon as this "King of Mars" shit comes into play, you knew they were fucked. They get targeted by McGillis, the Char clone with an even sadder past - and he convinces them that their goals are one in the same. Except he's delusional, because he can't stand up to the might of Gjallarhorn, so he dies, and Tekkadan is left in their crosshairs.
So now, the objective is just to survive. I think that is really cool. It's not like other Gundam shows. And if you think about it, surviving on Earth with new identities is a way better life than Tekkadan had at the start of the show. So it's kind of their goal all along.