What “Insecure” episode two, “Hella Questions” may have lacked in jaw-dropping moments like the six-pump Issa (Issa Ray) and Lawrence (Jay Ellis) fuck on the couch not to mention the hilarious Crip-walk party in episode one, it made up in character development. Yes, there are lots of questions, but show founder Rae is starting to fill us in on the answers.
In the case of Molly (Yvonne Orji ), it’s become clear that her man issues of past season have been usurped by her career issues and what she has to face as a black woman existing in a white male corporate culture. It’s rough! Even when she attempts to play the game by going to a hockey game, she still literally is frozen out in the office place. When the boss doesn’t get her lobster roll joke the next morning–very hard to watch! Networking, therapy, none of these things provide an easy fix for not being “one of them.”
In that respect, while Issa is going through all sorts of relationship hell, Molly’s story line continues to be the series’ most painful at a deeply soulful level, ironic if only because in real life actress Orji appears to possess the brightest of spirits.
With Issa (Issa Rae), we discover that she’s a lot like us in that she becomes caught up with comparing herself to her ex’s new boo aka cue SZA’s “Supermodel,” a song themed on feeling inadequate as compared with other women vying for your man’s attention.
The concept of stalking an ex online, “insta-stalking,” is hardly a ground-breaking concept, but it’s hard to think of a film or TV series that’s broken it down in a way that’s as relatable as “Insecure.”
While there’s been seemingly endless scenes of women in response to a break up, most don’t go past a session of tearful ice cream eating. “Insecure” reveals the array of up-and-down feelings, a mash up of resilience/moving on contrasted by emotional devastation and tearing oneself to pieces for not being good enough, smart enough or pretty enough.
And once again, it’s all about seeing through the lens of a female writer. One has to guess if a man wrote the episode, the imaginary bank scene in which Tasha (Dominique Perry) gets popped would have ended with her in the hospital.
Speaking of Tasha, dang in this episode if she doesn’t turn out to be that heart of gold friend with the kindest of hearts who constantly gets walked all over by the men in her life. Watching her stand off with Lawrence over the tacos, it’s hard not to yell at the screen, “Nooooooo, let him walk!” And girl, definitely do not invite him to your family’s barbecue. He is so not worthy.
Which brings the plot back to Lawrence. Last week, the main theme of “Hella Problems” was that the man clearly has issues, but as this episode brings to light, it’s not so much he’s hard-wired treacherous, which, pause, can’t be said about his boy Chad (Neil Brown Jr.)! but once again, he appears to have a drift problem and like a jellyfish, moves with the tide.
Does he like Tasha? Maybe. Is he still in love with Issa? Not sure. In one of the final scenes, Lawrence is asked by Molly whether he’s done with Issa, but he’s claim that he’s over and done with her seems questionable.
Another noteworthy moment is the continuation of the series-contained-in-a-series “Due North,” a TV drama set in the pre-Civil War south in which a slave named Ninny (Regina Hall) is having an affair with her master (Scott Foley). It’s a playfully serious poke at the entertainment industry’s obsession with reliving an idealized version slave history, again as scene through the eyes of white male writers.
The concept behind the series would be utterly absurd in a funny way if it weren’t for the fact HBO, yes the company that also produces “Insecure,” is in the midst of producing an alternate history drama series set in a timeline where the Confederacy won the American Civil War. Cannot make this up!!
Via Insecure costume designer Ayanna James, while the episode was full of delicious goodies (the museum fashion!), and as one commenter said, “Issa’s costume designer took her from Harriet Tubman and The Last Poets to Biggie & Pac in the span of 30 min,” a fave item was the Bella Freud “The Last Poets” sweater (details below).
Check out the soundtrack and an “Insecure” fashion Instagram page below.
Last Poets
