Insecure Season 3, Episode 6 Recap: "Ready-Like"

Issa Rae and the rest of her team at HBO’s Insecure really let me down last week when they abruptly threw Lawrence (Jay Ellis) back into the mix of things. The residual animosity I feel about him after seasons one and two is real. However, they extended an olive branch in “Ready-Like,” telling us more about Lawrence’s post-Issa (Rae) life than any of us thought we would know. Quite the opposite, actually. But updates from Lawrence are just the sprinkles on top of a really messy sundae for the rest of the Insecure crew. Episode six should have been called “Triggering-Like,” because this was the night Insecure’s writers not only took advantage of the emotional investment viewers have made in the characters, but also the shared experiences that so many Black millennials experience in love and relationships. So take a couple of deep breaths and prepare yourself.

Issa’s ex, Lawrence, is still working at a tech company, finally paying bills on his own, and having a lot of casual sex. It would be great if not for two things: Unfortunately, some of this sex was unprotected because he also contracts chlamydia. He has to track down all of his flings and tell them to go get tested. It’s one of the best scenes of the episode in my humble opinion. On the one hand, I appreciate any opportunity for Lawrence be humiliated and humbled. But I’m also grateful that after Insecure was called out for not depicting condom usage in sex scenes, they can at least be real about the consequences. But anyway back to Lawrence… Despite all of his orgasms and health insurance, he’s not happy with his life. Something is missing. “There has to be more to life than fucking and going to work.” As a single New Yorker, I can confirm that there isn’t. So he won’t be getting any sympathy from me.

However, I am pleased to know that whatever it is that Lawrence is missing, it doesn’t seem to be Issa. He would never get back with her after she cheated on him. At least that’s what he tells his friends. Speaking of his friends, Chad’s (Neil Brown Jr.) fiance — the one we never got to see because the Chad we know was the one always endeavoring to sleep with other women — finally left his ass and he’s butt hurt about it. Anyway, we’ll see more of Lawrence later in the episode, but for now let’s move right along.

Nathan (Kendrick Sampson) is still in the running for a spot in Issa’s heart. He tags along with Issa to collect all of the permit forms she’ll need for the Coachella-inspired block party she wants to throw. He’s encouraging and supportive of her project, and Issa loves it. Back at her place, the pair make a serious declaration: they “really like” each other. The feelings have officially been caught, ya’ll.

Molly (Yvonne Orji) is still caught up in her own feelings… mainly embarrassment. She still hasn’t lived down the way she behaved last week when she got too high at Coachella. So it takes her a while to finally meet up with Nathan’s friend Andrew (Alexander Hodge) to retrieve the jacket she presumed to be lost. But while she was worried about making a fool of herself, Andrew just wanted to be down. He asks her out on a date and Molly curves him because unfortunately Molly is going to Molly. Her excuse this time is that Andrew isn’t Black. She knows that she wants to settle down with someone of her own race so she doesn’t want to “waste time” with Andrew. She’s blocking yet another blessing.

Luckily she has friends who care enough about her to tell her so. Issa and Kelli (Natasha Rothwell) — who is not shy about the fact that she’s been sleeping with Nathan’s other friend — tell her she’s being closed-minded as they prepare for Tiffany’s (Amanda Seales) baby shower. But their conversation quickly turns to Nathan and Issa. Her friends are happy about her blossoming relationship. They are not happy about the corny ass name she created for her block party: Musiqal, spelled with a ‘q’ because she puts on the events “quickly.” I don’t blame them.

Tiffany’s baby shower is just as over-the-top as you thought it would be. In some ways it paid off: She recreated maternity photos from Beyoncé, Cardi B, and Serena Williams and hung them on the walls for guests to admire alongside an original maternity shot. In other ways, Tiffany’s baby shower only managed to dredge up how much her friendships are going to change with her impending motherhood. The distance between herself, Molly, Issa, and her best friend Kelli is growing already. Tiffany has enlisted other friends who already have children to throw the meticulous event. And while she makes a good point of calling out Issa and Molly for not offering to throw her one; it’s a slap in the case for Kelli, who did. My best friend had a baby last week so Tiffany’s entire existence on this season has tapped into my own personal fears about the fate of my 18-year friendship. The confrontation between these four women is heartbreaking, especially when Kelli quietly leaves the shower early, is some of the most relatable television I’ve ever watched.

Re-enter Lawrence. He’s at the co-ed baby shower as well. It’s the first time he’s seeing Issa again since their happenstance run in at 7-Eleven. Issa says hi. They catch up. Lawrence even jokes that Issa is making a business plan for her block party plans. It’s still too soon for me, but if this is what closure looks like for the two of them, fine. Although, it should be noted that even though both parties insist that they are over the other: Lawrence swerved would could have been a love connection with another naturalista when he spotted Issa across the room, and her conversation with Lawrence is one of the few things that distracts Issa from worrying why she hasn’t heard from Nathan in two days. But I’ll mind my business for now.

Anyway, Dro is also at the baby shower and I can’t understand why. He’s not really friends with Tiffany or her husband so I’m trying to figure out how he got invited. Anyway, he is still clearly upset with Molly for establishing boundaries in their affair and their curt exchange ends with Molly storming off. It also doesn’t help that at the end of the episode, Tiffany lets it slip that Dro and his wife are having a baby. Please keep Molly lifted in prayer.

What I would have done if I was Tiffany: I don’t have a kid growing inside of me, so I can’t even begin to understand what that transition is like. However, I would like to think that I would have made room for ride or die friends in my baby shower planning. It takes a village to raise a child, and although Molly, Issa, and Kelli are still enjoying their single ass lives — as they should —it doesn’t mean that they shouldn’t be included in the tribe. I also would have posted those maternity shots and tagged @beyonce, @iamcardib, and @serenawilliams as soon as possible.

What I would have done if I were Kelli: Not caused a scene at my homegirl’s baby shower. I would have at least waited until after the baby shower to have a heart-to-heart with my friend about our relationship.

What I would have done if I were Molly: Make friends with a witch. Listen, I know I’m always advocating for Molly to have more face time with her therapist. But I think she might need to also add some sort of priestess or other spiritual component to her self-care regimen. I would be trying to get my entire energy re-aligned so that I can face the baggage I’m carrying around. Also, I would have power blocked Dro and his wife before I even left Tiffany’s house. I’d be nothing more than a memory to Dro.

What I would have done if I was Issa: More research on Nathan. Some of my friends think that googling your date takes the fun out of it. I say it stops you from falling for a guy who may or may not be a drug dealer, because that’s what I think Nathan’s shady ass is up to.