‘INSECURE’ Season 5 Episode 2 ‘Growth, Okay?!’
After several iconic seasons, Issa Rae’s hit series ‘Insecure’ is in its final few episodes. Follow Culture Editor Bianca Gregg each week and she laughs, cries, and recaps all the things you need to know before the next episode airs.
It’s been one year since the alumni panel and the break up between Issa and Lawrence. Issa has been hard at work with her company “The Blocc.” We see that Molly is in transition also, at least that’s what people say when a Black woman cuts her hair. Molly appears to be getting along so much better with her coworkers which is a plus but she is still taking her time to enter the dating/relationship world again.
“The Blocc” has crossed the 10K followers line which is great. Issa and her assistant, Quioa, have grown closer also. Issa appears to be her escape when her roommate and her roommate's man are having sex. Her roommate is her mom and well her man is her dad. Issa and Molly are back to the Issa and Molly we saw in earlier seasons. The two have dinners together again and Molly stays over at Issa’s often. It’s sweet and reminiscent of the friendship we were introduced to in season one.
Nathan has asked Issa to assist in the celebration of the one year anniversary of the barbershop opening. The two go to a local restaurant and Issa talks to Nathan about a fashion show she has been hard at work trying to put on, finally happening. The lights get dim in the restaurant and even though it represents romance for a neighboring couple, Issa and Nathan play it cool and keep it cute.
Molly goes to her nephew’s birthday party. Molly has been getting on her parents about estate planning. At the party her mom tries to play matchmaker with Molly and Herbert, a guy that used to go to the church she went to. He now writes trap songs for the Lord and yea, NO! Molly’s mom seems to be concerned about when her daughter will finally be married. She jokes that Molly’s father will likely have to roll her down the aisle because of how old he will be. Don’t you just love when the elders push marriage and children on you at every family event.
Issa presents the vision of the upcoming fashion show as well as the designer, Crenshawn, to her partnering company NBW. Although the executives seem impressed by the display, they are nervous about some of the things in the show as well as Crenshawn being a relatively non-commercial act. Later Molly and Issa have dinner and Issa vents about how her presentation went. Molly encourages Issa to talk to Patty the boss’s “boss” to discuss the situation.
Molly logs back into one of her dating apps. She reads her old bio on what she is looking for and realizes she was a bit too much at one point with her personal standards. She erases the bio and asks herself what she is looking for? Molly begins to have some rough flashbacks as she ponders what to fill in to these spaces. Molly seems to second guess her readiness to date.
Issa has breakfast with Patty and to Issa’s surprise, she invites Seth, the executive that had issue with Crenshawn. Issa makes it clear she understands the risk but also the reward for the company if they move forward with Crenshawn. They agree to the show but with notations that do not go over well with Crenshawn. Issa attempts to explain that she respects his vision and believes in it but sometimes you have to play the game to get out there. Crenshawn second guesses if he should move forward with the fashion show but Issa convinces him that all of their hard work is paying off. Crenshawn agrees to move forward with the project.
Molly has a conversation with her mother. She apologizes for how pushy she has been about the estate planning. Her mother says an apology is not needed considering she has been letting her personal fears get in the way of calling the lawyer but agrees to do so in the morning.
The day of the fashion show arrives. Quioa hilariously checks Molly for any weapons considering what happened at the block party. While Issa is doing her interview with the fake press lady from the bloack party, Quioa alerts her to what Crenshawn is planning. He decides to put all the elements that NBW wanted out back in. Issa and Crenshawn have an explosive argument where Crenshawn excuses her of being a sellout. Those words seem to hit Issa hard. The show seems pretty chill at first but the switch up is swift. From “Invisible Niggas” to low riders on up the red bandanna clad looks, hilarious. Thankfully Seth appeared to be impressed by the show and plans to offer Issa more funding for upcoming projects. Issa and Crenshawn spot one another briefly, mission accomplished in a way.
Molly has a date with a handsome man. She chants “embrace the change” to herself as he walks up. I like seeing all of this from Molly.
Issa and Nathan have a drink together at her place. Nathan tells Issa she will not be able to please everyone and that is okay. When Nathan offers to catch a Lyft home, Issa offers for him to stay over. The two lay in bed and begin to kiss. Issa suddenly breaks into tears. She apologizes to Nathan and tells him she thought she was ready. Instead Nathan holds her for a bit but eventually leaves. Issa lays in bed and stares off to the ceiling.
Takeaways:
Molly, keep going sweetie! You are doing great!
Issa it’s been a year! Get over that Lawrence! I know it isn’t easy because she really loved that man he ripped her heart into pieces with that baby.
Nathan is such a great supportive friend to Issa. I wish he had never accepted the invitation to spend the night because I like the platonic bond.
