After an emotionally tumultuous and eye-opening season 2 of Insecure, the critically acclaimed series is set to drop its third season on August 12. This time it looks like Issa (Issa Rae) and Molly (Yvonne Orji) are entering their dirty thirties with the same ol’ shenanigans. Season 2 was the final nail in the coffin in Issa and Lawrence’s (Jay Ellis) relationship, and from what Ellis has told Angie Martinez, it doesn’t look like the former Best Buy employee will be penetrating Issa’s world anytime soon.
In fact, after some much-needed closure, it looks like the man who forgot Issa’s birthday is officially Black History. Even though we love Ellis as an actor, we aren’t mad that Lawrence and Issa are no longer circling one another. After all, we want to see Issa grow and prosper, and that’s just not going to be possible if she and her ex are still holding on to one another (symbolically or otherwise). But let’s get back to the ladies on the show because that’s what’s so enchanting about the series. Rae and showrunner Prentice Penny are putting black women at the center and giving them the opportunity to tell their stories. Still, that’s not to say that even without the drama of Lawrence that Issa’s life is flawless.
The last time we saw the Stanford grad, she was moving out of the apartment she and Lawrence once shared and in with Daniel (Y’lan Noel), her college bae and the man with whom she cheated on Lawrence. Originally, Issa was supposed to move in with her brother, Ahmal (Jean Elie), but that quickly changed. Now, Issa is supposed to be sleeping on Daniel’s s couch. But we’ve all seen Daniel, and we’ve indeed all witnessed the chemistry between the pair, so we’ll give the new “roommates” until episode three before they fall back into bed together.
If Issa’s personal life is a wreck, we don’t think her professional life is faring much better. Since we met her, she’s been reluctantly working for the “no-profit” organization We Got Y’all, which helps minority youth in Los Angeles. Though she seemed to be in the running for a promotion, a massive mishap on her part cost her the position which went to her curly-headed and overly enthusiastic co-worker Frieda (Lisa Joyce). It’s quite clear that things are currently a bit rocky for Issa at We Got Y’all, and she doesn’t seem all that passionate about the work she’s doing. This season, we predict that Issa is finally going to tap into her passion. Though she struggles in her current role, it’s clear that Issa is very passionate about her community, and she even excels at event planning. We don’t know how this might come together as a career for her, but we’re confident she could find a way to press forward forcefully into her destiny.
If Issa was a hot mess last season, Molly’s world was in shambles. Extremely intelligent and ambitious, Molly puts her best foot forward at her law firm only to be significantly undervalued and underpaid. The frustration and the lack of transparency prompted her to look for jobs elsewhere, but after building a rapport in her current position, Molly seems hesitant to start over elsewhere. However, after receiving that pathetic certificate of appreciation from her firm’s partners without a word about a raise, Molly grabbed her pocketbook and hit the door for an all-black firm. We’re sure she will face some very different challenges in her new position.
Though Molly is a boss when it comes to her career, her personal life is lacking. Last season (and the season before), we watched her stumble through dates, clinging to men who weren’t interested and ignore others (Sterling K. Brown) without giving them a proper chance. In season 2, Molly stumbled into an absurd situationship with her childhood friend, Dro (Sarunas J. Jackson). Dro is very much married, and even though he claims he and his wife, Candice (Gabrielle Dennis), are in an open relationship (which Molly never confirmed), Molly was often left wanting, waiting and looking very desperate. Though she attempted to leave Dro on read last season, the finale showed Molly pulling him back into her bedroom. It’s only a matter of time before the two of them implode.
We think Issa and Molly’s frenemy Tiffany (Amanda Seales) is also about to step into some mess this season. Since Season 1, Tiffany and her husband, Derek (Wade Allain-Marcus), have portrayed the picture-perfect couple. The duo is borderline obnoxious, always letting Issa and the crew know how perfect their lives are together and how happy they are with one another. However, in season 2, before Tiffany revealed her pregnancy, some obvious cracks appeared in the couple’s idyllic relationship. We learned that at some point Derek was living in a hotel without his wife. Derek also inadvertently revealed to Lawrence that he had to have a “talk” with one of Tiffany’s male co-workers, Fred. In the season 2 finale, “Hella Perspective,” when the fellas were chilling at Lawrence’s new apartment, Derek revealed that Tiffany was with Kelli (Natasha Rothwell), Issa and Molly watching the satirical slavery-era drama Due North. However, the audience soon learned that Tiffany was MIA from girls night. We don’t think Derek and Tiffany have handled the whole Fred situation. In fact, we have a sneaking suspicion that this Fred person might be Tiffany’s real baby daddy.
While everyone else on Insecure is scrambling to figure things out, there is one person who is living her very best #BlackGirlMagic life: Kelli. She’s honestly an icon. Witty and carefree, Kelli has it handled at her job, she’s been pushing toward a healthier lifestyle (let’s ignore that marathon snafu) and she’s getting hers while the getting is good, even if it is in the middle of a diner. Out of every character on Insecure, we expect to see Kelli soaring inseason 3. Hopefully, Issa, Molly and Tiffany will also figure out their ish so we can see them thriving, as well.
Insecure returns for its third season August 12, 2018, on HBO.
Aramide A. Tinubu is a film critic and entertainment writer. As a journalist, her work has been published in EBONY, JET, ESSENCE, Bustle, The Daily Mail, IndieWire and Blavity. She wrote her master’s thesis on Black Girlhood and Parental Loss in Contemporary Black American Cinema. She’s a cinephile, bookworm, blogger and NYU + Columbia University alum. You can find her reviews on Rotten Tomatoes, read her blog at www.chocolategirlinthecity.com or tweet her @midnightrami.
