Recap: Insecure — “Better-Like”
Season 3, Episode 1 | Grade: 8.9/10
Writer: Issa Rae | Director: Prentice Penny
With the return of season three of Insecure, Issa Dee is in a complicated spot in her life as she’s struggling both personally and professionally as she’s been demoted at her non-profit job, “We Got Y’all.”
Navigating a space as the only African American working to help inner city schools with the narrow minded and even jaded attitudes from her coworkers. On top of that she’s practically homeless, and crashing on her friend and ex-lover Daniel’s (Y’lan Noel) couch until she finds her own place.
The scene opens with Daniel in all his naked chocolate glory having sex with Issa, indulging herself in the “”benefits” of their friendship. What a hell of an introduction, right? Until, we see her muffling the sounds of orgasms with a pillow as Daniel’s having sex with a woman he brought home. The nerve and act alone is enough for her to leave and pick up some extra money as a Lyft driver towards rent and is met with a puking customer. Just her luck.
Her best friend Molly (Yvonne Orji) is living her best life, sipping on cocktails with a handsome guy on the beach but she’s also introspective of her life. This quite frankly are the dreams I see for myself in my 30s as well as thriving bank account.
Insecure is real and smart with showcasing being a black millennial in the 21st century of reality television, social media, hook up culture, and post-Obama era living, trying to survive. Outside of the beautiful men and sex…and more sex, it shows women in pursuit of being better versions of themselves and the growing pains it takes to get there. Glowing up indeed ain’t easy.
For Issa, her monetary issues takes the front seat in her life post break-up with Lawrence (Jay Ellis) as she’s struggling to move out on her own. That alone sounds all too familiar to me and every other 20-something working odd jobs, living with people, and climbing our way out of student loan debt.
She feels out of place and in the way. Even her legendary pep-talk/rap session in the mirror is limited as she’s left with a hanging hand mirror (side note: how ghetto was that just to have a missing mirror on the medicine cabinet? I chuckled hard) is interrupted when Daniel walks in and the the topic of the women he brought home comes us.
“Did you know I was here last night?”
“Yeah.”
For Molly, she’s trying to break the ceiling in her own career as she joins a new black law firm to not feel so hyper-aware of being the minority as she did at the previous company. Her beach get away also made her reflect the boundaries she needs to set with her sexual relationship Dro, who is still very married. Bloop. But of course, she backslides as later when she lets him swim with his face in her lady-lake and they spend the night. Blip. As always, contradicting herself when it comes to her messy love life. Blap.
“I’m on some know better, do better shit.” — Molly
The jewel of the episode for me is the reuniting of Molly and Issa who are on better terms than they were before in the series. The two of them talk up about what’s going on with them from their careers to their romantic pitfalls. Molly isn’t on board with Daniel having sex with girls in front of Issa given their history and suggested that she could’ve just stayed with her. The exchange was hilarious between two good girlfriends trying to figure it out and later during their rambunctious “party Lyft” that ended with passengers fist fighting in the backseat. All of this to avoid Daniel sleeping with girls, Lyft is something to occupy her.
Even throughout the episode, Issa and Daniel have an intense and awkward back-and-forth about her intentions of staying with him. She’s not fully honest in their first conversation but eventually she stops sugar coating and tells the truth, that she still has feelings for him. She calls him out about the disrespected by his actions and he walks away and closes the door on her.
After making her boundaries clear with Dro, he shows up unannounced cause he has the keys to Molly’s apartment. Their entire relationship is problematic outside of the fact that he’s committing adultery and she’s the mistress, but the mention of his wife makes him defensive. Tuh! She takes another step in her fulfilling her “know better, do better” epiphany by asking for her keys back.
“You need to worry about what you’re doing and what you want.” — Dro
“I know I want my key back.” — Molly
With Lawrence in the past (breathe Lawrence Hive), and her present situation with Daniel, Rae introduces a new guy Nathan (who favors “Prison Bae” to me) from her Lyft ride who got into a fist fight with a passenger. After fleeing earlier, he leaves Issa a $50 tip which to me hints at her potentially reaching out to him in the future. Possibly?
This will definitely be a season of growing pains for her to get to where she needs to be. Task number one: get off the “bouch,” sis.
Other Episode Notes:
- I loved how Insecure connected back to black sitcom royalty by having actors Bill Bellamy, Darryl M. Bell from A Different World and Erika Alexander from Living Single in the fictional sitcom Ke’vyn. The show was also directed by actress/director Kim Fields. Black excellence.
- Singer Dawn Richard’s appearance as an aspiring singer who should never approach the mic was hilarious as she uncomfortably dances in the booth to Daniel’s horror. And those pants…girl.
- I love how Rae tackles the experience of being the only black employee at an organization that is more than often oblivious to how it serves children of color. Especially the conversations with callers about its problematic logo of a white hang holding up black children with the phrase, “We Got Y’all.” I’ll be happy when Issa finds a better job and drop that letter on her boss’s desk.
- Girl, who broke the vase?
