At the start of Sunday nightâs Insecure Season 1 finale, Issa has lost both her boyfriend and her best friend. By the end of an especially blue episode, the sense of normalcy sheâs grasping for only returns in parts, and weâre all left crushed.
Itâs been three days since Lawrence found out Issa screwed up and cheated on him with her ex Danny. While Issa is at home actively missing Lawrence and leaving him messages, sheâs also in the aftermath of a temporary breakup with Molly. Theyâve barely been in touch, after a potentially friendship-ending fight about the destructive ways they tend to handle their romantic issuesâMolly is âimpossible to please,â according to Issa, and Molly thinks Issa doesnât deserve Lawrence. In a first season that turned surprisingly tense in tone toward the end, Insecure showed the limitations of love in a friendship and with a partner as Issa struggled to balance her needs with those of the people close to her.
Like much of Season 1, the finale, âBroken As F**k,â countered its sadness with welcome moments of inappropriate comedy. But itâs evident from the opening scene that this is far realer and even more uncomfortable (and thus, mercilessly relatable) than previous episodes. Whereas we normally see Issa freestyling in the mirror, this time sheâs tellingly silent.
Whatâs made Insecure such a visceral watch are the charactersâ self-medication moments and, largely, its subtle nods to real-life interactions. In conversations with his boys, a newly betrayed Lawrence barely tries to sort through his feelings and instead bottles his emotions at the strip club (while his friends harshly stereotype black women), just as Issa bottles hers in the bar. âFuck all this sad shit, man,â he says. Itâs clear that theyâre both avoiding reality. During the girls trip to Malibu for Kelliâs birthday, Molly seems close yet distant, which she knows is worse than giving the silent treatment. At the bar, she picks up a dude under the pretense that she wants to be free, but we know sheâs also hiding from herself.
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Given the circumstances, last nightâs dialogues had to be the most awkward of the season. When Issa finally talks to Lawrence over the phone from Malibu, it feels tense and unfamiliar. As she reunites with Molly, itâs like theyâre sputtering back into their friendship, not with a sweeping gesture but rather a small makeup moment in the pool, when Issa capes for Molly to protect her from Kelli and Tiffanyâs insensitive clowning. âSo New Molly sabotages her life on purpose,â Tiffany jokes. As outspoken as Issa and Molly are, they still have that unspoken type of friendship where things just happen to work themselves out. âYou were right about me,â Molly tells Issa. âI donât want to be who yâall think I am.â
In the pool, Issa gets the phone call sheâs been waiting on from Lawrence and weâre supposed to hope things will work out, but this is a finale and life never ties up so nicely. They say they miss each other and Issa is relieved that Lawrence at least wants to talk later, but the feeling isnât actually mutual. Molly, back on active friend duty, offers to drive Issa home. By the time she arrives, though, Lawrence is gone and Issaâs left feeling the repercussions of her fuck-up, a much more interesting a plot than a reunion wouldâve been. As expected, Issaâs infidelity has brought an end to her five-year relationship.
Like many of the song choices on this show, the finaleâs closing credits song, BJ the Chicago Kidâs âHeart Crush,â captures the episodeâs emotions: âSometimes we want to work so bad we stay too long/ Then too long turns to too much/ âCause too much is how two hearts crush.â The series has been increasingly awkward and tough as its characters stumble toward stunted growth, one way or another.
