The explicit allusion to Rae ’ s name suggested a stronger link between alter ego and artist . Issa ’ s social world was more realized , sprawled out , bougier . ( And hotter : “ Insecure ” will be partly remembered as a shrine to graphic hetero sex .) Some of “ A . B . G .” ’ s acid humor came from J ’ s disdain of her snide , “ light-skinned bitch ” colleague , Nina . “ Insecure ” has explored the vicissitudes of friendship — in particular , the prickly and passionate bond between Issa and her best friend , Molly ( Yvonne Orji ), an edgy corporate lawyer who can ’ t submit to love . Across its five seasons , “ Insecure ,” an ever-changing and imperfect exploration of modern Black adulthood , has always been at its most acute when it focusses on their relationship .
I love “ Insecure .” But I have also found it exasperating . Maybe it ’ s my stubborn “ A . B . G .” allegiance . I wanted “ Insecure ” to lock into a tone as quickly as its progenitor did . The early episodes felt tyrannized by their tight , half-hour structure . Although the music supervision was inspired , I tended to find the needle drops excessive .
Sometimes the characters spoke not like people but like sentient trending topics . Conversely , the hammy whatdo-Black-people-do conversations are part of the show ’ s charm . An enduring problem has been the depiction of Issa ’ s failing romance with her long-term boyfriend , Lawrence ( Jay Ellis ), a depressed , out-of-work software developer . Issa supports them both with a job she hates at We Got Y ’ All , a white-savior nonprofit . Their apartment doesn ’ t get good light , submerging the couple in darkness . Early on , Issa cheats on Lawrence with an ex , Daniel ( Y ’ lan Noel ), in what should be a shattering affair , an original sin that sets in motion Issa ’ s spiral of transformations . But because there ’ s no chemistry between Issa and Lawrence — even the chemistry of detachment , the glimmer of love lost — it ’ s hard to stay invested in their on-again , off-again dynamic .
Program Success 13 December 2021
Doreen St . Félix
Doreen St . Félix has been a staff writer at The New Yorker since 2017 and was named the magazine ’ s television critic in 2019 . Previously , she was a culture writer at MTV News . Her writing has appeared in the Times Magazine , New York , Vogue , The
Fader , and Pitchfork . In 2017 , she was a finalist for a National Magazine Award for Columns and Commentary , and , in 2019 , she won in the same category .