If you ever wanted to know what Girls would be like with a likeable star, an interesting through line and a genuinely engaging cast and you’d have HBO’s latest female led ensemble comedy Insecure. From the creator of “Awkward Black Girl,” Issa Rae, Insecure is the sort of show that has zero problem serving up a tale of two friends who are the cause of all of their own problems.
Molly (Yvonne Orji) is a corporate attorney who has found success in everything in her life … but love. Trying to find someone is her main priority but no one seems to be up to her standards. Issa (Rae) is in a long-term relationship with Lawrence (Jay Ellis) but they’re at a weird point. They have a “seven-year itch” sort of atmosphere when we meet them … but they have been together for a long enough time that marriage should be on the horizon. Issa is the breadwinner, working for a non-profit in the inner city. Lawrence is working on an app, and has been for some time, but the two clash at Issa not being completely happy with where they are.
The show kicks off with Issa having a quasi-reconnection with her ex-boyfriend Daniel (Y’lan Noel), unknown to Lawrence. The consequences of her reconnection, and the fraying of her relationship, drives the show in a really interesting direction. We can sympathize with both Daniel and Issa, and where they are, and Insecure delves into their relationship in a way that gives us sympathies for both.
The other thing the show does well is portray the modern African-American experience in different ways. Issa is the only woman of color among her co-workers and the way they react to her, which is with the best of intentions, gives us a lot of insight into that experience.
Insecure takes this and injects it into a nuanced eight-episode series that gives us both sides of this failing relationship. We don’t get one side, or have one side painted in the worst of terms; Issa and Daniel are both flawed and we get a nuanced look at why. The show’s final scenes are among its best; we’re expecting a happy ending and what is given isn’t quite that.
A pair of EPK pieces are included.
HBO presents Insecure (Season 1). Starring Issa Rae, Y’lan Noel, Jay Ellis, Yvonne Orji. Run Time: 240 minutes. Not rated. Released on: 3/21/17
