"Insecure" gave us a "Beach House" episode this season. "Beach House" is the famous moment in "Girls"--Season Three, ranked among the top "Girls" episodes--when the four protagonists gather and attack one another, Edward Albee-style.
"Insecure" has recently done something similar. The four main women go to hear Beyonce at Coachella. "Here we are," says one woman, "standing with the whites in The Field." This later becomes: "We're out fighting the whites in The Field." References to slavery seem to be a recurring thing this season (and, certainly, last season, as well). There's the "field" discussion, the line, "Look at you, working away like a little slave," and also, in a kitchen scene: "We are slaving here." There's also a startling moment when a cop uses a taser on one of the four characters--a moment played for (uncomfortable) laughs. "Remember me different," says Kelli, as she writhes on the grass. This is ballsy writing.
Anyway, the Coachella weekend provokes some discomfort. The women have to confront some things they maybe wouldn't otherwise confront. Molly tries to dodge the outing to score some more points at her new legal firm (and her struggle with Taurean is compelling. Should Molly simply try to be "helpful," or should she point out unconscious sexism when she spots it?) ...Tiffany can't stop talking about her fetus, and making annoying declarations about what she can and can't ingest, and at the same time Tiffany is justifiably upset that having a child will maybe drive her friends away from her.
(I love the later Tiffany confrontation. The women are angry that they weren't allowed to host Tiffany's baby shower. Tiffany coldly observes that two women didn't ask, and the two women sputter inadequate bits of justification. Molly: "I have this new job!" Issa: "My life is a mess! I had that stuff with Daniel!" Tiffany scores points here, but she loses them immediately, when she turns to Kelli. There is absolutely no reason that Kelli should not have been allowed to plan the shower. Tiffany: "Well, it's just my new friend seemed best because she has had babies before." As if having babies makes you more qualified to host a party. Kelli lets us see the hurt on her face. The moment is so painful and so real: It captures the way that decisions in one's late twenties can impact multiple relationships, and how we sometimes hurt people without consciously "registering" what we are doing.)
I felt slightly less invested in "High-Like" than in "Beach House," because "Beach House" had good foundational work. By the time "Beach House" arrived, I had spent many hours with all four of Dunham's protagonists. By contrast, with "Insecure," I still don't really feel I see either Tiffany or Kelli in three dimensions. So, at times, their problems don't fully "engage" me. But it seems like Issa Rae is slowly correcting that. (I think, also, about how "Girls" seemed to wander into the creative "woods" in Seasons Three and Four, or at least into the fields of Iowa, and how many people became impatient. And then how the show bounced back and had a stunning fifth and sixth season. It's exciting to me to imagine six seasons of "Insecure"--and to try to guess where we might end up.)
Other thoughts:
-It's impressive how Issa Rae misdirected viewers before the start of the season. "Lawrence is over. I'm really excited to see where Issa will go with Daniel." Issa Rae knew full well that neither of those two sentences was strictly true. Brilliant!
-In the most recent episode, I love the plausible run-in Issa has with her ex. For the first time in a long while, Issa and Lawrence are able to speak civilly to each other. Issa acknowledges, later, feeling newly "over" Lawrence. It's sweet, and it's not something we see often on TV. By contrast, the run-in between Molly and Dro also feels very real. A friendly overture very quickly becomes poisonous, and soon the two can't wait to get away from each other. I'm reminded of those exhilarating, toxic run-ins Maura has with her sister in "Transparent."
-Sometimes, like "Girls," "Insecure" resembles a "Peanuts" cartoon. And so I love it. I'm a big fan of the Lawrence montage. It seems that Lawrence has been in many bars, having brief, shallow conversations with young women, then cheerfully fucking them back home. This is all well and good, but then he gets chlamydia, and he must call all of his sexual partners. The inevitable punch line: One of the women he calls reveals he never had sex with her. "You can't even keep straight the women you have been fucking? You. Are. The. Worst." Who wouldn't feel for Lawrence here--and, also, earlier, when he tries to make a joke about his friend's impending fatherhood, and it comes out as strangely sexual? "Hi, Daddy! ...Ummm....I'm just going to stop."
-The fascism of a baby shower. A woman bakes cupcakes, and she's told there is simply no room for "back-up dessert." Ah, to be alive! As Issa says, in bed: "People are just trash."
Eager to see how we wrap up Season Three! And, just so "the universe" knows: My dream is to get invited to one of those little "Wine Down" sessions Issa hosts, post-episode--invited for no reason. We all must think big.
"Insecure" has recently done something similar. The four main women go to hear Beyonce at Coachella. "Here we are," says one woman, "standing with the whites in The Field." This later becomes: "We're out fighting the whites in The Field." References to slavery seem to be a recurring thing this season (and, certainly, last season, as well). There's the "field" discussion, the line, "Look at you, working away like a little slave," and also, in a kitchen scene: "We are slaving here." There's also a startling moment when a cop uses a taser on one of the four characters--a moment played for (uncomfortable) laughs. "Remember me different," says Kelli, as she writhes on the grass. This is ballsy writing.
Anyway, the Coachella weekend provokes some discomfort. The women have to confront some things they maybe wouldn't otherwise confront. Molly tries to dodge the outing to score some more points at her new legal firm (and her struggle with Taurean is compelling. Should Molly simply try to be "helpful," or should she point out unconscious sexism when she spots it?) ...Tiffany can't stop talking about her fetus, and making annoying declarations about what she can and can't ingest, and at the same time Tiffany is justifiably upset that having a child will maybe drive her friends away from her.
(I love the later Tiffany confrontation. The women are angry that they weren't allowed to host Tiffany's baby shower. Tiffany coldly observes that two women didn't ask, and the two women sputter inadequate bits of justification. Molly: "I have this new job!" Issa: "My life is a mess! I had that stuff with Daniel!" Tiffany scores points here, but she loses them immediately, when she turns to Kelli. There is absolutely no reason that Kelli should not have been allowed to plan the shower. Tiffany: "Well, it's just my new friend seemed best because she has had babies before." As if having babies makes you more qualified to host a party. Kelli lets us see the hurt on her face. The moment is so painful and so real: It captures the way that decisions in one's late twenties can impact multiple relationships, and how we sometimes hurt people without consciously "registering" what we are doing.)
I felt slightly less invested in "High-Like" than in "Beach House," because "Beach House" had good foundational work. By the time "Beach House" arrived, I had spent many hours with all four of Dunham's protagonists. By contrast, with "Insecure," I still don't really feel I see either Tiffany or Kelli in three dimensions. So, at times, their problems don't fully "engage" me. But it seems like Issa Rae is slowly correcting that. (I think, also, about how "Girls" seemed to wander into the creative "woods" in Seasons Three and Four, or at least into the fields of Iowa, and how many people became impatient. And then how the show bounced back and had a stunning fifth and sixth season. It's exciting to me to imagine six seasons of "Insecure"--and to try to guess where we might end up.)
Other thoughts:
-It's impressive how Issa Rae misdirected viewers before the start of the season. "Lawrence is over. I'm really excited to see where Issa will go with Daniel." Issa Rae knew full well that neither of those two sentences was strictly true. Brilliant!
-In the most recent episode, I love the plausible run-in Issa has with her ex. For the first time in a long while, Issa and Lawrence are able to speak civilly to each other. Issa acknowledges, later, feeling newly "over" Lawrence. It's sweet, and it's not something we see often on TV. By contrast, the run-in between Molly and Dro also feels very real. A friendly overture very quickly becomes poisonous, and soon the two can't wait to get away from each other. I'm reminded of those exhilarating, toxic run-ins Maura has with her sister in "Transparent."
-Sometimes, like "Girls," "Insecure" resembles a "Peanuts" cartoon. And so I love it. I'm a big fan of the Lawrence montage. It seems that Lawrence has been in many bars, having brief, shallow conversations with young women, then cheerfully fucking them back home. This is all well and good, but then he gets chlamydia, and he must call all of his sexual partners. The inevitable punch line: One of the women he calls reveals he never had sex with her. "You can't even keep straight the women you have been fucking? You. Are. The. Worst." Who wouldn't feel for Lawrence here--and, also, earlier, when he tries to make a joke about his friend's impending fatherhood, and it comes out as strangely sexual? "Hi, Daddy! ...Ummm....I'm just going to stop."
-The fascism of a baby shower. A woman bakes cupcakes, and she's told there is simply no room for "back-up dessert." Ah, to be alive! As Issa says, in bed: "People are just trash."
Eager to see how we wrap up Season Three! And, just so "the universe" knows: My dream is to get invited to one of those little "Wine Down" sessions Issa hosts, post-episode--invited for no reason. We all must think big.
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