Just as I was falling in love with Issa and Lawrence, this week’s episode of INSECURE, “Thirsty as F**k”, decided to rip my heart out and throw it on the ground. I don’t think Issa and Lawrence are going to make it, ya’ll.
This week starts with a hilarious scene between Issa and Lawrence, where Lawrence decides to join Issa in the shower for some post work out exercise (sex). Hilariously, what starts out as a sexy scene between the two of them becomes awkward as they slip in the shower, knock things over, and realize that shower sex is one of the hardest feats known to man.
The shower scene is smart, because it sets up the problem between Issa and Lawrence. While they are undoubtedly in love and have years of history that keeps them together, there’s a certain spark that’s missing between the two of them, something that both of them are craving but aren’t receiving from one another.
With that in mind let’s start with them:
We start of this week with Issa and Lawrence being all cute, buying a new couch to replace their old couch which symbolizes their “fresh start”. Then everything hits the fan.
At work, while Issa plans a Career Day for her students, Daniel (her “what if guy” from episode 1) tracks her down at her job. Stalker-ness aside, Daniel comes to apologize to Issa for how things left off between them, and hints at rekindling their relationship. Issa, remembering she has a whole boyfriend at home, lets Daniel know that she’s taken. Daniel leaves, leaving Issa a bit shook.
Meanwhile, Lawrence starts his first day at Best Buy, where he’s told he has to help out in the washer/dryer section of the store. For those of you that have worked crappy hourly jobs, ya’ll know how managers don’t give a rat’s hat about your feelings, and even though Lawrence expressed that he wasn’t comfortable working the non-tech section, he’s forced to swallow his pride and do it.
On his lunch break, Lawrence meets up with Tasha. For those of you wondering, I failed to mention her during her first appearance in episode 2, because I thought she was irrelevant. Clearly not. Tasha is Lawrence’s motivating friend, constantly praising his efforts and letting him know that she’s proud of what he does. During lunch, Lawrence tells Tasha that he used to work on an app, and she’s thoroughly impressed. She encourages him to get back to working on the app and that she’s all about moving forward. The two obviously have strong chemistry, but then again, any woman that strokes a man’s ego is bound to have some chemistry with him
Later that night, while Issa works with her partner Frieda to plan Career Day, they realize that they don’t have anyone coming from the “Arts.” Frieda suggests Issa calls Daniel, who works in the music industry. While everyone in the audience is shouting, NO GIRL NO, Issa contacts Daniel.
During Career Day, Daniel is a hit. The kids pick up on his crush on Issa, and they learn an important detail about her. Daniel lets the kids know that Issa is a rapper herself. Boom. Issa rushes to the bathroom where she finds herself daydreaming about Daniel. Molly confronts her, reminding Issa that she is in a relationship.
The last scene of the episode presents us with a bomb drop: Issa overhears some students who’ve found a video of her rapping Broken P*** rap. Oh snap.
Meanwhile, Molly experienced her own hot mess this episode. We meet her on a third date with her The League match. While the date appears to go well, she turns off her date once she confronts him about not texting her to let her know he arrived home after work. After the second date. Girl, bye. She eventually finds a new League boo, played by Jidenna, who hopefully she won’t chase away.
At work, Molly is approached by one of the law partners, Hannah, who asks Molly to talk to Rasheeda. Hannah uses coded, prejudicial language, stating that Rasheeda isn’t “fitting in to the office culture” — aka she’s too black. Molly, not wanting to be the black whisperer of the office, asks Hannah to speak to Rasheeda herself so things aren’t “lost in translation.” This seems like a win, until Molly spots Rasheeda being cornered in a boardroom by Hannah and the rest of the partners.
What I liked about this episode was the set up of what seems to be the downfall of Issa and Lawrence. If you asked me a couple weeks ago, I would’ve been for it, but the lovely way that they reconciled last episode is making it hard to watch them drift apart from each other.
What I appreciate about the Issa and Lawrence storyline, is how real it is. Without the need for grand arguments and drama, we’re watching the two of them fall apart before our eyes. Both Issa and Lawrence are craving something from their partner – Lawrence approval and encouragement, and Issa excitement. One thing the writers do really well is expressing the ebbs and flows of modern relationships. It all feels very real to me, which helps me have an emotional connection to the characters.
For some reason, I love that they brought back Tasha. Tasha is the representation of what men say women should be, “down for her man no matter what.” Lawrence’s attraction to her is greatly influenced by her ego stroking and I find it interesting that the writers chose emotional infidelity vs. physical infidelity for Lawrence.
Meanwhile, I loved the predicament Molly was put in this episode. I love how the writers gave us both sides of the Rasheeda story. Yes, no one should be judged by being who they are, but in a workplace that is full of racial bias, it’s easy to see how Rasheeda is looked down upon by her superiors. While I hate that Molly was right, the truth is, what Rasheeda is going through is (in my experience) pretty realistic for black people in the workplace. Whether it’s hair, how we talk, or how we dress, black people are often discriminated against and policed at work, making going to work feel like a prison sentence. What I am interested to see is if Rasheeda will decide to quit her job or “conform”. Either way, it’ll be painful.
Season 1, Episode 04 (S01E04)
Insecure airs Sundays at 1030PM on HBO
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Writer based in LA. Just trying to write good stuff while deep conditioning my hair.
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Vanessa Jay | Contributor
