Getting over heartbreak can sometimes feel damn-near impossible. All your thoughts focus on your former flame —what they’re doing, if they’re OK, and most importantly, if they miss you.
In the first season finale of HBO’s hit comedy Insecure, Lawrence (Jay Ellis) dealt with finding out about Issa’s (Issa Rae) infidelity by getting his freak all the way on with Tasha (Dominique Perry), the cute bank teller he met while cashing his unemployment checks. Dubbed “the backshot heard around the world” by Complex, the scene had many clutching their pearls and hitting rewind on the DVR to get another look. To say the season ended with a bang was an understatement, but it left fans squaring up and taking sides for #TeamIssa or #TeamLawrence and wondering if the couple would be able to put their relationship back together.
When the premiere episode of season two, titled “Hella Great,” opens, Issa sees a glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel. Issa and Lawrence are out to dinner at a lovely restaurant looking all Black and fine and it’s going well—really, really well. Lawrence even appears down to patching things up, telling Issa, “I’m glad we’re finally getting a chance to talk. I get why you did what you did now, and it hurts, but hopefully we can move past it.” Issa is surprised and grateful Lawrence wants to fix their relationship, but the good vibes don’t last long as the whole thing —the dinner, the conversation, and the reconciliation— is all a dream.
Instead of being out with Lawrence, Issa’s on yet a series of first dates with guys she has less than zero interest in. The scene is hilarious but also painfully familiar to many women who try to get over their ex by quickly moving on the next.
After months of being apart from Lawrence, Issa is tired of meeting random dudes and instead hatches a plan to get her man back. When Lawrence receives a jury duty summons in the mail, Issa decides to throw a “wine down” and asks him to drop by during the party to pick it up. Of course, he doesn’t show and the event quickly transforms from a few friends sharing Carlo Rossi jug wine to a full-on hood kickback, complete with weed, B-walking gang members, and a trashcan fire, which is pretty much sums up the state of her life. In short: issa mess.
While Issa’s party (and plan) is a failure, Lawrence decides to take Tasha out to dinner after being called out by his boy for only seeing her for weekend sex sessions. At the restaurant, Lawrence complains about moving and admits he has some things he need to get from his old spot, that he used to share with Issa. Of course, he’s talking about way more than mail and a few pair of shoes. Like Issa, he realizes the couple has some unfinished business to attend to and it’s time he stops putting it off.
Issa and Lawrence aren’t the only ones dealing with drama in this episode. Molly —who finally decided to see a therapist— finds out she’s making way less than her white male counterpart. Like many women, she’s faced with the decision of whether she should speak up and demand more money (and possibly risk her job) or stay silent and maintain the status quo. Though Molly has no problem speaking her mind, especially when it comes to Issa’s relationship woes, she’s not sure how to handle her workplace dilemma, and Issa can’t offer much advice because her mind is firmly on Lawrence.
Recovering from a breakup can be a painfully awkward process that affects every part of your life. For Issa, she’s so obsessed with getting her guy back, that she isn’t able to be fully present in her professional life or with her friends. For the rest of us, breakups can also take a toll on our health (hello, emotional eating), our financials (ahem, retail therapy), and our ability to think about anything else other than what went wrong and what we could have done differently. But like Issa says, “Sometimes you just have to know when to give up.”
The moment Issa gives up her obsession with luring Lawrence back to their old apartment, he shows up unannounced to get the aforementioned mail. After a few awkward moments of small talk Issa and Lawrence go from zero to tearing off their underwear and having sex on the couch real quick. When they’re done, Lawrence kisses Issa on the cheek and leaves —without an explanation about WTF just went down. Issa is confused, but in that moment, she’s also back to being hopeful that she and her man may actually have a chance.
So… what’s really going on with Issa and Lawrence? Just like in our real-life relationships, it’s hella complicated.
Stay tuned.
