Insecure Season 3 Ep. 6 Recap: 'Ready-Like'

Photos: Merie W. Wallace/HBO

Ah, baby showers. A place for tolerable to inane games, okay to great prizes, an array of finger foods and emotional mini dramas. After the drug-induced, girls' trip hijinks of last week, "Ready-Like" sharpens its focus on the tenuous state of Issa, Molly, Kelli and Tiffany's friendship, along with checking in on you know who.

The who in question being Lawrence. "Ready-Like" picks up right where "High-Like" left off, with Issa and Lawrence exchanging awkward "hellos" in a convenience store as the always petty Chad slurped on a Big Gulp. She asks what he's been up to, which, as a montage shows us, amounts to succeeding at work and banging anything that moves when he's off the clock. All of this horizontal activity leaves Lawrence with a case of that drip drip--a.k.a. chlamydia--and he has to do the embarrassing but responsible task of calling up his sexual partners and suggesting they get tested.

"It's gotta be more to my life than going to work and fuckin'," he says to Chad. After Derek joins them, Issa's infidelity comes up, and while Lawrence is no longer angry, he says couldn't take her back, even though he, unlike Chad, doesn't see her as a ho, but someone who did ho shit. Though the question missing in all this boys' night out banter is whether Issa would even want him back.

Meanwhile, Issa's super gung ho about on planning a block party for her neighborhood, despite the cynicism of a city worker who deems all black and latino community events as janky. As the worker runs down all the things she'll need--food and alcohol permits, security, insurance--for something that could take at least a year to plan, it's clear Issa's level of knowledge doesn't match her enthusiasm. But, as always, Nathan is optimistic, encouraging her to take things one step at time. "How do you know it's real?" he later asks Issa as they lay in bed and she goes over her plans, referring to their romance. "I like you...I don't always like people," he says before they start making out. I don't why--maybe it was the zoned out look in his eyes or the distant tone of his voice--but I knew right then and there Nanceford was gonna pull some shit. As supportive as he is, Nathan's still largely a mystery. That mysteriousness turns positively Casper when Issa gets a call from Lyft, explaining there's an open investigation into the fight Nathan go into in the night they met. She texts but he doesn't respond, setting off a day and half disappearing act.

With Nathan in the wind, Issa and Molly attend Tiffany's baby shower, which is about as epically bougie as you'd expect. Pristine, white baby shoes? Check. Desserts that include "dirty" diapers filled with chocolate? Check. Paintings of the mother to be as Serena, Cardi B, Beyonce and what one guest describes as an attempt to cement her own icon status? Yep, check. What fun! Of course Lawrence is there, but he and Issa have a cordial, genuinely good conversation about where they are in their lives. Even better, Issa admits to Molly that while she'll always love Lawrence, it's "time to move on." Thank the shea butter goddesses Insecure decided not to blow up Issa's life in favor of a"will they or won't they?" twist. Her journey this season has been so interesting and satisfying to watch, the last it needs is another go around with Lawrence.

Issa and Lawrence's interaction is one of the few good ones that take place at the shower. The Crazy Crew, a fleet of bougie queen bees Tiffany recruited in record time to both plan her shower and be her new best friends, get on everyone's nerves. It's bad enough these future real housewives only talk in upspeak. But then one of these heifers had the nerve to poo poo Kelli's version of Gladys Knight's cupcakes?

"You betta 'Midnight Train' these motherfuckas to the table," she snaps, before Issa and Molly wisely take her outside. Tiffany finds them, and rightfully points out Issa and Molly never offered to plan anything for her when they question where the Crazy Crew came from. However, Kelli counters she did offer to put together a shower, but was told it was already handled. Tiffany confesses she thought Crazy Crew member Blair would do a better job because she's mother. Ouch. "So because I don't have a baby, I couldn't do that for you," Kelli, clearly hurt, asks. Tiffany can't muster a real answer, and before you can say concubinin', Kelli's outta there. We've haven't gotten nearly as much insight into the dynamics of Kelli and Tiffany's friendship, but thanks to great performances by Natasha Rothwell and Amanda Seales, we get a good idea of how much each woman valued the other, and now that the truth is out, how their relationship could be broken for good. Tiffany essentially went out and got a whole new life, leaving Kelli to fend for herself.

Like Issa, Molly's forced to confront her own tall negro drama. 'Dro also returns in "Ready-Like," but unlike Lawrence, is in no mood to let the past be the past, coldly throwing her insistence on boundaries back in her face. It's enough to Molly think twice about turning down Nathan's friend Andrew--who also managed to find her jacket from Coachella--because he's not black and text him about going out. Throughout the series' run, Molly has consistently found ways to block her own potential happiness, either by falling too hard and too fast, having unrealistic expectations or, in the case of Dro, lingering too long in a toxic situation. Perhaps now, after having come face to face with the wreckage of what was once a close friendship, she'll take a chance and be open to something that could work out for her.

All that tea aside, the lingering question is, where in the hell is Nathan? Issa gets another call from Lyft explaining they've spoken with Nathan and the case is now closed. Yet he still hasn't reached out to Issa. Shoot, he didn't even fall for the tried and true trick of calling from a friend's phone.

This doesn't look good.

Other Thoughts:

• To surprise of no one, Chad cheated on his fiance with two strippers and she wisely left him at the altar.  Despite his protests, he's clearly bothered by being dumped, but is too invested in a being a five-star fuckboy to admit it.

• Speaking of Lawrence's crew, Derek seems mighty anxious about the countdown to fatherhood. Granted, being nervous about what is a legitimately life-changing event is totally understandable.  But Derek's body language and tone wasn't saying "I'm hope I'm good at this" as much as it was screaming "I don't wanna do this shit."

• Was I the only one who thought Molly was kinda rude to her assistant? I mean damn girl, the woman just bought your shower gift and casually brought up something about she and her husband having a child. No need to get all Miranda Priestly and shit.

• I love that Issa's found her passion. However, mama has got to brainstorm and come up with a better name for her organization. Musical with a Q? Because you get them done quickly? Do better.

• Whitney Houston is clearly Candice's style icon.

Those One Liners Tho'

• "I don't know what you just said, but you know who does? God."

• "You can't even keep track of who you been fuckin'? The worst."

• "You are so single, a tumbleweed just rolled out your pussy."

• "Where the Henny fountain at?" Ahmal is party goals.

• "So...you working on a business plan?" 

• "You betta 'Midnight Train' these motherfuckas to the table." I know I mentioned it in the recap, but that was epic Kelli. A top ten one-liner, maybe even top five, because Kelli stay droppin' gems.