Series Review: Why Issa from ‘Insecure’ shouldn’t take ex back

I’ve just finished watching the last episode of the latest season of Insecure. If you’re reading this, I am already assuming that you know who Lawrence is in the first place, which is why you wanted to read this piece.

If not, let me educate you: Insecure is the child of Senegalese American film genius Joissa Rae Diop, better known to you as Issa Rae, and it is the gritty and beautiful depiction of a black girl and her friends, living in Los Angeles, being complicated and almost 30. It’s truthful, it’s hearty, it’s funny, it’s smart, it’s real and awkward – a throwback to one of her first shows, The Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl, on YouTube.

Here is where the spoilers begin.

Issa, in this last episode, is meeting up with her fine ex boyfriend Lawrence to have a conversation, even though she isn’t sure about what. When they meet up, because they were together for five years, the inside jokes are easy, the innuendo is tangible, and the audience continues to ask what we’ve been asking for the last three seasons: are they really going to get back together?

Both are single

The answer, by the end, is still unclear. Both of them are single, thanks to the hearts they’ve shrivelled along the way. Both of them are more willing to talk about their past relationship in a more mature manner than when they left it. And both are different people from who they were all those years ago.

This is precisely why Issa shouldn’t revisit this! Listen, we all have that ex who we wonder ‘what if’ for. But there is a reason they are your ex, and a good dicking down won’t change that…no matter how much they still look handsome in candlelight, or how lonely you are. When Lawrence and Issa were hanging out at the art fair, the sparks were so hot they were catching me in my sitting room. But the spark of sudden romance is an obvious reaction to seeing and being around someone you thought you were going to marry. Of course you are going to feel things.

Which is why you should do the right thing and call all your friends to remind you why you left in the first place. Issa and Lawrence are not the same Issa and Lawrence from, even, a season ago. I don’t even know if they completely know themselves at this point. Yes, they both made mistakes. But now, they fit together easily because of familiarity, not because it’s right. They’re both coming off the highs of failed relationships – and Lawrence isn’t even completely done with his last one!

Issa should not take Lawrence back. And neither should you. If anything, TSA Bae was the one who really had her back – understood consent, brought her free stolen stuff form the airport with each visit and was open and honest about his preferences both inside and outside the bed. What’s not to like?

But more importantly – is Daniel ever coming back?