What I’m Watching: Insecure

Insecure: Season 3, Episode 2 “Familiar-like” (B+)

It’s nice to see Issa score a win for once. In fact, this episode gave her a few things to be happy about and ready to bounce back from some recent lows. Though I, and I’m sure everyone else watching, would have been thrilled to see Issa give everyone a piece of her mind for finally bothering to ask for her opinion after sidelining her for so long, it’s good to see her playing it smart. She also made a good point that she doesn’t want to have to be the go-to representative for all black people, and it was great to see her give that suggestion to a very defensive, if kinder than usual, Joanne. Issa isn’t close to financial stability in any way, but she’s making some small strides, like bringing lunch and snacks from home and cleaning the apartment she can’t afford to move out of right now. It’s wonderful to see that, in the absence of a romantic relationship, she’s building a sincere, authentic friendship with Daniel borne out of an empathy towards him that doesn’t relate to anything sexual. Offering to go with him to be there when he needed someone was sweet, and trying to get him a free drink from the guy flirting with her was nice too. Going over to sit next to him at the end of the episode and be with him in his music space was a great way to end, far better than them having sex would have been. And she even managed to get a call back about the new job she wanted – things really are looking up!