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Issa Rae: "Insecure"

 I know I'm not alone in feeling moved and wistful about the final season of Issa Rae's "Insecure." Tributes are popping up.


Walking with my co-fan, Marc, last night, I was floored to consider the changes our leads have gone through. Issa began the show in a bad relationship with a guy who was clinically depressed, and Issa was working for a white-savior group called "We Got Y'all." Meanwhile, Issa's friend Molly was working with lawyers who didn't value her, offering unsolicited advice, dropping a boyfriend because he said he had once hooked up with a guy.

Now, in Season Five, both Issa and Molly seem to enjoy their work, neither is entangled in an intense secretive extracurricular affair (though, yes, Molly is withholding info from colleagues) ..... neither seems to be on the verge of administering a best-friend "stab in the back" ......

I love a story that shows emotional change over time--and this is what "Insecure" has been. It's a story of two people getting their act together. That said, the writing is smart enough to allow for new crises (because life is a progression of crises). Issa seems unsure that she wants to continue with her guy, Nathan, and Molly is a bit wobbly after her mother's health scare. When talking to the NY Times, the writers hinted that the show may avoid certain standard "resolution" moves. The writers said, Life goes on. They may choose to land certain narrative airplanes--while letting others stay up in the sky. I think I'm OK with that.

The thing I admire most about "Insecure" is that the writing still has "teeth," even if the stories have become richer and sadder. A Black family is taken to see the matriarch in the recovery wing; the white doctor says, "She looks different, because a stroke can really age you." Molly says: "White doctor, you don't understand. This person is *literally* different. This person is not my mother." In another scene, a troubled guest visits Issa to thank her for a "Wellness Los Angeles" event sponsored by the BLOCC. Glassy-eyed, the guest stares at Issa. Then the stare becomes intense. In a monotone, the guest says, "You have changed me....I'm so glad I came here in the middle of driving toward that bridge....I can't tell you what might have happened on that bridge...."

Then there's also the goofiness. Classy, grown-up Issa paused to sing the praises of mac-and-cheese balls--last week. In the middle of a fancy party, she pounced on a mac ball--then spat it at the waiter, because it was too hot. Later, Molly, in a pot stupor, gave a little speech: "It's the cheese, yes....But it's also the macaroni.....And the shape! It's shaped like a ball!"

I'll miss these friends. I'm eager to follow Natasha Rothwell and Yvonne Orji, especially--wherever they might choose to go.
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