Let’s get one thing out of the way right off top. Lawrence —and his hive— took a serious L Sunday night. After being dubbed a “f–k n—a” by Tasha (Dominique Perry), Lawrence (Jay Ellis) seemed to be on a mission to lean all the way in to his not-so-nice guy tendencies…and he ended up getting smacked in the face. As a matter of fact, each of the characters were presented with some interesting choices during the latest episode of Insecure, and let’s just say things turned out a lot different than any of them bargained for.
First up, Issa.
After finally scratching her one-night stand itch with her neighbor, Issa (Issa Rae) is officially in her “hoe phase” and on the prowl. She decides to head to Kiss-n-Grind, one of L.A.’s premiere Black and bougie parties, to add a few more men to her roster. Though she has plans to meet up with a Tinder cutie, Issa is committed to flirting, and perhaps bedding, even more brothas.
Of course, things don’t come easy for Issa. After grabbing a drink, she immediately spots Daniel and decides to make sure there’s no residual hard feelings left between them, especially after she dismissed him last season as just “an itch she needed to scratch.” Because karma ain’t never fair, Daniel (Y’lan Noel) is not only looking GREAT, he doesn’t even seem to feel anything at all for Issa. He’s not upset, happy or even moved by seeing her. Daniel dismisses Issa with a brief conversation, and instead of mitigating any drama, Issa leaves the encounter feeling worse. Meeting her Tinder date doesn’t help, either. As soon as he sees her he begins to criticize her hair and voice before quickly ditching her to hang out with his friends.
Though she came to Kiss-n-Grind to find more cuties, Issa’s foray into sexual promiscuity is off to a very rough start.
Molly, on the other hand doesn’t have a problem finding a man… but the right man? He remains illusive. Instead of searching for Mr. Right Now at the party, Molly (Yvonne Orji) ditches her girls (and their faraway table) to hang out with her childhood pal, Dro (Sarunas J. Jackson). To be clear, Dro is fine…but married. Because he and Molly go way back they spend the evening reminiscing about old times while she complains that all of the men she meets turn out to let her down. After finding fault in every man Dro points out at the club, he and Molly decide to hit the dancefloor to see if they still got moves. Spoiler alert: they do, and it doesn’t take long before the pair’s platonic dancing turns into full on bumping and grinding.
At first, it seems like Molly is considering risking her friendship with Dro and his wife Candace for a night of passion, but cooler heads prevail and she pulls back, joking that her fighting days are behind her and Candace will kick her butt. But when Dro drops a bomb —revealing that he and his wife are in an open marriage— things get murky. It’s clear she and Dro are feeling each other sexually, but will they really cross the line? Molly leaves the party with her girls, heading to a diner to grab some grub, but not before telling Dro to text her later.
To borrow a line from Whoopi Goldberg in the film Ghost: With a man that fine? “Molly, you in danger girl.”
Which brings us to Lawrence. He started out ready to have a great day, but things quickly went downhill. On his way to the store to grab a few beers before meeting up with his boys, he gets pulled over by a police officer who seems a little too eager to flex his power. After aggressively asking for his license and demanding he keep his hands visible, the officer lets Lawrence off with a joke, telling him, “I should give you a ticket for being a [Georgetown University] Hoya…I’m a Vilanova guy. We beat the s–t out of you guys last year.” Given the fact many Black folks have ended up dead or injured after encounters with law enforcement, the quip feels more threatening than comical.
Still, Lawrence shakes off the encounter and heads to the store to grab booze for his friends. Just when he’s ready to check out, he realizes he doesn’t have his bank card and can’t pay for the drinks. As he’s about to run out and look for his debit card, a white and Asian woman offer to pay his tab. After a little back and forth, Lawrence accepts their offer and heads out, but when the women catch up to him in the parking lot and ask if he wants to hang out, Lawrence ditches his plans with his boys to kick it with the women —a move he will come to regret.
At first, things seem all good. Lawrence and the women are drinking, flirting and having a grand ol’ time. When they all begin making out, it looks like Lawrence, and his hive, are winning. While Issa struggles through awkward dates and one-night stands, Lawrence seems to have women falling all over themselves to spend time with him. Soon, he and the women are engaging in some skin-a-max-level sexing, but when Lawrence’s “big black c–k” (as one of the Beckys calls it) doesn’t work like they want it to, they dismiss him and begin making other plans like he isn’t still naked and in the room. If being kicked to the curb wasn’t painful enough, when Chad calls to check on his boy, Lawrence lies and said he left the women satisfied and drained…all while sitting outside of the apartment he once shared with Issa.
Getting over your ex and finding love —or in Lawrence and Issa’s case, a distraction— can be harder than it looks. Oftentimes sexing away hurt feelings doesn’t work either, especially when they’re still raw and you want your partner back. Still, it’s possible to move on, but we’ll have to wait to see if Issa, Lawrence or Molly get their happy ending.
Sunday’s night real winner: Kelli. Though she’s known for punctuating her sentences with hand claps and throwing out crazy one-liners, Kelli (Natasha Rothwell), has the time of her life at Kiss-n-Grind. Unlike Issa, she meets man who is so into her he invites her out to eat afterward and serves her up an under-the-table orgasm for desert. It’s a bold move, but we would expect nothing less from this show.