Can exes sleep in the same bed and not have it mean anything more? Is it possible to start a new job and not compare it to your old one? Let’s explore this and more from this week’s Insecure. Issa So, Issa has permanently moved from the couch to the bed. While she and Daniel fall quickly back into the ease and comfort of intimate pillow talk, I keep wondering where Vanessa is, which is obviously not a concern of Daniel’s. Issa confesses to Molly about her and Daniel’s new sleeping arrangement and, like any best friend, she openly disagrees and doesn’t want to see her in another situationship. Don’t we just love how easy it is for us to give our friends sound advice, yet we continue to spiral and be stuck in our own same cycle of foolishness? Issa and Frieda attend a job fair on behalf of We Got Y’all, in an attempt to find another employee of color. While there, she is rejuvenated by a performance from the Beat Crew, a musical non-profit. The spark in Issa’s eyes reflects her desire to have greater purpose and impact in her career, which she will no longer find at We Got Y’all. While interviewing one of the candidates from the job fair, Issa doesn’t have much by way of positive things to say about the organization. When the candidate asks Issa directly if she likes it, this challenges Issa to re-think her work situation. In the meantime, she interviews for the property manager role and secures the bag! Rent is hella cheap, and now she can finally move out of Daniel’s spot and get back on her feet. When Issa excitedly shares her big news with Daniel, he is less than enthused, not wanting things to change, since they’re in a good space now, opening up and communicate more. Daniel divulges his feelings about what this time co-habiting means to him and suggests that they leave things how they are, essentially flipping his disappointment into sharing his desire for more. When Issa meets up with the girls for a much need night out, she casually mentions the idea of staying with Daniel longer and her girls veto that immediately. Issa thinks it’s worth them finally exploring being together without any obstacles (except where is Vanessa? ), yet her girls will not let her backslide. Thank God for real friends. TBH, Issa needs a fresh start and a clean slate in love, housing, and career! Molly Molly is really enthusiastic to begin her new role at this new all-black firm. But just like any new work venture, she has to allow herself the time and grace to adjust. Molly must’ve assumed that the adjustment period wouldn’t be necessary, because of the environment, but that’s not the case at all. The little things at her new firm start to bother her, and in turn, she verbally compares her experiences to her old firm in the presence of her new coworkers. While she might have thought that her comments went unnoticed, another associate made a snide remark during a meeting, that let her know she may want to scale back. If she wants to successfully build new relationships with this new team, she has to fully let go of the old. When Molly spends part of the girl’s dinner complaining about her new work environment, Issa points out that maybe she’s being harder on this firm because they are a black business. It brings up a good point, are we harder on ourselves than everyone else? Kelli seems to agree. Issa encourages Molly to give it time and adjust, but will Molly take this advice? This doesn’t just apply to her new job, if Molly truly wants the desires of her heart in love, she should let go of Dro too. Will this translate to her love life as well? Daniel Daniel and Khalil meetup to work on music and see if they can collaborate. Daniel plays the track that he made for Spyder and Khali givesof constructive criticism, rooted in knowing Spyder’s musical tastes. Daniel is really sensitive about his art, and when Khalil changes what Daniel feels makes it unique, he is offended. Instead of discussing this with Khalil directly and to find a solution that works for them both, Daniel internalizes his feelings. He has to learn how to professionally articulate his concerns and advocate for his art, while also learning to receive help and find the balance in maneuvering in this business. Khalil vocalized sharing the edited track with Spyder, but when the three meet up in the studio, Daniel oversteps and instead plays his version. Khalil is fuming and asks Daniel to play the edited version next. Once both tracks are played, Spyder likes them both equally and can’t decide between the two. Ultimately, he passes altogether and Khalil introduces him to other tracks. Issa & Daniel Issa treats Daniel to a thank you dinner and officially lets him know she’s moving out, but Daniel is still on edge after his meeting. When he fills her in, she calls Daniel’s prideful nature out. Daniel should humble himself and Issa suggests he consider apologizing. Instead of taking this advice and pressing ahead, Daniel deflects and turns the situation around on Issa. While he has valid points about her not loving her career anymore, this was a peak time for him to have emotional intelligence and introspective examination about how he could do better and repair his partnership with Khalil. Daniel eventually apologizes and Issa says it’s fine but it’s clearly not, and they really should say everything before she moves out. When Daniel uses physical intimacy to apologize, Issa stops him and nothing more is said. Guess we will have to see how this plays out on next week’s Insecure! Kay-B is a journalist, writer and podcaster living in New York City. She enjoys all things TV & film, world travel, great food and delightful books. Watch Insecure Season 3 Episode 3 ("Backwards-Like") on HBO Go<doc-sep>Issa has deluded herself into thinking this current sleeping arrangement is healthy, to the point where she is now considering staying at Daniel’s longer and contemplating a rekindling of their romance. But Molly, Kelli and Tiffany are right there to call her out, as good girlfriends do. “You and Daniel is always the problem,” Molly says. True. This becomes more apparent when Daniel and Issa go out to eat and clash over their respective flaws. (Again.) In bed, later that night, Daniel breaks the tension by going down on her for real this time, but Issa, reaching a moment of clarity, cuts him off. “I can’t do this,” she says. “It doesn’t feel right.” About time. Professionally, Issa makes a solid choice. She gives an impressive interview for the property management job, which will offer her a sharply reduced rental rate, despite having zero experience. (I assume she didn’t include the landlords of her old apartment, the site of that Season 2 trash can fire, as a reference.) At We Got Y’all, however, Issa could have been more forthcoming with a black job candidate about her experiences working at the company. As a private moment between black women, the candidate deserves more warning than Issa’s tepid smile and nod acknowledging that she has worked in this miserable job for five years. Growth: +1 for taking that flyer from The Beat Crew, a music-based organization with a mission similar to We Got Y’all, except with an ostensibly inclusive staff who seem to really love what they do; +1 for finally realizing she can’t make the same mistakes with Daniel all over again. Spinning Wheels: -2 for sleeping in Daniel’s bed. Final Score: 0<doc-sep>The paradox of Issa is that she feels much more confident encouraging others to go after the things they want in life than she does herself. This has been true when it comes to Lawrence, Molly and now Daniel, who’s reluctant to do the networking necessary to take his music producer career to the next level. He hems and haws about an opportunity he has to connect with a hot new rapper, Spyder (Roshon Fegan), at a nightclub, but Issa calls him out for letting his pride get in the way. (He’s also probably a bit afraid of rejection, too — Issa Rae has said in interviews that this season will focus on facets of black masculinity.) When Issa and Daniel arrive at the club, it’s clear that he needs to work on those networking skills. The presence of an old high school buddy named Khalil (Aaron Jennings)— who like Daniel is a producer, but has attained more success — brings obvious feelings of resentment. It’s natural to compare yourself to your peers at a particularly difficult crossroads in your career. But the moment when you’re trying to get face time with and impress a potential collaborator is not the time to let those emotions rise to the surface and be awkward about it. Thank goodness Issa is there to prod him in the right direction. Growth: +2 for finally getting over himself and taking Issa’s advice to reach out to Khalil about working together. Spinning Wheels: -1 for offering to let Issa sleep in his bed after she reveals the discomfort of the couch (What happened to knowing better, Daniel? ); -1 for that Playboy Bunny sweater he wears to the club. Final Score: 0 Worst Decision Maker of the Week: Daniel, again. Honorable Mention: Joanne. The look on Issa’s face when Joanne says the new logo will be designed by her niece — rather than an objective outsider or person of color, or both, says it all.<doc-sep>
Insecure Season 3 Episode 3 Recap In the previous episode of HBO’s Insecure, Issa helped Daniel reconnect with music producer Khalil, and Molly interviewed with an African American firm. Insecure Season 3 Episode 3 begins with Issa and Daniel in their new “sleeping together platonically” arrangement. “We’ve Given White People Enough Time” Issa and Frieda were at a job fair looking for potential new hires for We Got Y’all. They wanted to hire more African Americans after Issa had suggested it to Joanne. While there, Issa was drawn to a band called The Beat Crew, who taught kids music with a cultural spin. She approached their representative who asked if she was interested in a job. Frieda and Issa interviewed a young black woman for a position at We Got Y’all. Her passion for helping kids helped her connect with Frieda. When Frieda left the room, the young applicant asked Issa what it was like working there as a black woman. Upon finding out that Issa had been there for 5 years, the woman commented that Issa must love it. But with Issa out of the field and stuck in the office, it definitely didn’t seem that way. At her desk, Issa scrolled wistfully through The Beat Crew’s website. “At My Old Firm” Molly joined the African American firm. Soon, she ran into subtle differences like couriers instead of Docusign and no outside storage. She complained to her friends about it feeling like she had been demoted. Issa pointed out that she was being harder on them because they were an all-black firm. When she made a comment about a coworker being late to a meeting, her colleagues joked about how meetings must have started on time at her old firm. They clearly picked up on her pretentious attitude. On Call Issa interviewed for the property manager position and toured the property. She would need to be on call for maintenance, but would only pay half the rent. Despite her lack of experience, the owner offered her the job. However, Issa was torn about leaving Daniel’s apartment. She felt bad about staying so long, but Daniel insisted he liked having her there. In the end, she decided to take the job. Drums Low Daniel showed Khalil the new track he worked on for Spyder. It showcased instrumentals that he had been experimenting with and featured a low drum beat. Khalil insisted that Spyder liked a more prominent beat and tinkered with Daniel’s track. When it came time to present the track to Spyder, Daniel played the original. When Khalil played the alternate version, Spyder couldn’t decide between the two, and they moved on. At a nice dinner out, Daniel told Issa that Khalil was angry with him for playing the original track. Issa said he should’ve listened to Khalil since he knew what Spyder liked. She thought he should apologize, but he didn’t think she should be giving him career advice. Doesn’t Feel Right While they were in bed, Daniel apologized to Issa, insisting he was upset with Khalil and not her. They started kissing and getting physical. At the start of the episode, Issa had fantasized about this very scenario. But when it was actually happening, it didn’t feel right to her. What did you think about Insecure Season 3 Episode 3? Let us know in the comment section below!