Insecure Season 3 Episode 4 Recap In the previous episode of HBO’s Insecure, Issa took the property manager job and rejected Daniel again, while Molly struggled to find her place at the new firm. This episode began with Issa moving into her new apartment. “Can’t a B**** Have Goals?” Daniel helped Issa bring in one of her last boxes and hugged her goodbye. Molly brought Issa some housewarming gifts and encouraged her to throw out old things. Issa claimed that insisting she was a new version of herself never helped. She kept falling into the same old habits. They were interrupted when Trina, a tenant, knocked on her door complaining about squirrels in the walls. Later, Issa found her rap journal from when she was in high school. She remembered how passionate and optimistic she was. Back in the Field At We Got Y’all, Frieda told Issa that Joanne agreed to let her back in the field. Her work at the job fair and the new logo were good for Issa’s standing at the organization. However, Issa avoided speaking with Frieda about her new assignment. Issa seemed to be interested in music education and The Beat Crew. The next day, when Frieda told her about her new assignment, Issa quit. The Jungle At her favorite taco place, Issa ran into Nathan from the Party Lyft night. He was a barber who moved from Houston after the hurricane. Instead of going back to work, she took him on a tour of Los Angeles. She walked with him in Leimert Park and The Jungle. They played Truth or Dare, and she was honest with him about how her relationship with Lawrence ended. Nathan confessed that despite complaining about Los Angeles, he had always wanted to live there. LA just wasn’t what he had expected it to be. She took him to the house where she grew up, and they both jumped naked into the pool. After getting caught, they finally picked up their tacos and went to Issa’s apartment. They kissed but were interrupted by a knock on her door. It was her property manager duties calling, and Nathan left. Starting All Over Again At a meeting, Molly had difficulty asserting herself. She spoke with her therapist, who suggested she worry about how she could help instead of where she ranked at the new firm. With that in mind, Molly offered to review a case with two women at her firm, Stacy and Felicia. However, when it came time to work on the case, Molly had decided to help Taurean, a more outspoken, arrogant colleague. She still could not let go of where she ranked in the company. She felt that helping Taurean would be better for her, even at the risk of alienating Felicia and Stacy. What did you think of this episode of Insecure? Let us know in the comment section below!<doc-sep>Season 3, Episode 4, ‘Fresh-Like’ When Molly tries to hype Issa up this week with encouraging platitudes about being “next level” and “brand new,” Issa’s deflating response is all of us watching “Insecure.” “Let’s not do all that,” she cuts in swiftly. “I feel like every time I claim a new me, I end up in some old [expletive].” Indeed, we have been here with Issa before, with proclamations of rebirth after supremely humbling downfalls followed by repeat missteps. As much fun as it has been to watch her and the other protagonists continuously make awkward and silly mistakes, it has begun to feel a bit like an increasingly frustrating form of déjà vu. Are any of them going to take their life lessons seriously? Now that we are midway through the season, it seems like maybe — just maybe — the characters are finally taking a turn for the better. Daniel only has one scene this week — he drops off the last of Issa’s things at her new apartment — so his progress cannot yet be measured. But Molly and Issa make some drastic life decisions here. Were they for the best or the worst?<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>You’ve been warned, Lawrence Hive: There’s a good chance that Jay Ellis won’t return for Insecure’s third season. Fans witnessed Issa (Issa Rae) and Lawrence’s (Ellis) crushing good-bye at the end of season two when Lawrence discovered Issa’s relationship with Daniel (Y’lan Noel), and going by this new teaser, he’s nowhere to be seen in season three. The hive may be up in arms over the decision, but Issa Rae and showrunner Prentice Penny aren’t concerned. “No, I don’t care!” Rae tells Vulture at Insecure Fest in L.A., regarding potential fan reactions. “We want to stay as true to life as possible. They had a great conversation at the end of season two and it was just about like, hey, she’s moving on Daniel, sometimes we have those conversations,” Rae says. “You never see the exes again. And it’s okay! You gotta explore life without Lawrence.” Penny adds, “At the end of the day, we’re always trying to tell stories that are true and authentic. We were in the writers room and we were initially talking about, Okay, well what is he doing?… Well, he’s not in her life right now. It was hard to make stories around that.” It seems closure is closure for these two … at least for now. “We just said, well, if he’s not around, he’s not around,” Penny says. “Let’s just deal with the reality of what her life is now. Let’s be true to that, when you breakup and you have closure.” Like it or not, it seems Lawrence’s exit will make way for new potential suitors in Issa’s life. “It was also like, well where is Issa in her life right now? What would challenge that? And you’ll see lots of people who are her love interest kind of come in and out,” Penny teases. And there won’t just be one new guy, but a few. “Or guys?… Guys! Maybe. I think people will be rooting for her like they kind of always do, to make the right choice.” Work that hoetation, Issa!<doc-sep>
Where can you find this weeks episode of Insecure online? Last week on Insecure Issa lived out her fantasies for a bit, but then realized that they were just that: fantasies. However much she liked the idea of a relationship with/sleeping with Daniel it just wasn’t going to work out. During episode 3 Issa made the important personal decision to move out of Daniel’s house. Regardless of whether she eventually wants some type of relationship with him or not, what they had going on wasn’t healthy. For one thing neither of them were really honest with each other (about their feelings and a whole bunch of other things.) Also there was that whole thing about Daniel having another girlfriend… Yeah. One of them would have to step up and decide to make a move one way or the other and in “Backwards-Like” Issa did. It will be interesting to watch for any parallels between Molly and Issa’s journeys going forward. Last week in “Backwards-Like” Molly began her new job at a black-led law firm. But she quickly realized that her idealistic vision of that job just wasn’t going to happen. The job itself, and the expectations for it, weren’t going to change just because her bosses weren’t white. Issa spent this episode on the other side of the problem. She had convinced the other board members of We Got Y’all that having a more diverse staff was important. But just changing that would not solve all of the problems with the nonprofit, and it seemed like Issa realized that during the episode. In the PROMO for “Fresh-Like” it’s clear Molly still isn’t totally comfortable with the atmosphere at her new job. Hopefully she can get used to it, because I’m not sure the workplace she’s imagining actually exists. Regardless of who’s in charge, there are certain expectations of a law firm that Molly doesn’t seem to have accepted yet. WHAT: Insecure season 3 episode 4, “Fresh-Like” WHEN: Sunday, Sept 2, 10:30 p.m. ET WHERE (TV): HBO