Insecure Season 3 Ep. 3 Recap: 'Backwards-Like'

Photo: HBO/Merie W. Wallace

"What else does the heart want?" Daniel poses this question to Issa in the opening minutes of "Backwards-Like." A question our awkward heroine proceeds to wrestle with for the rest of the half hour. The moment then segues into a fantasy sequence involving the glorious combination of cunnilingus and hot Cheetos, before Issa snaps back to reality.

In fact, dealing with reality is what Issa ends up doing for much of the episode, at least in her personal life. Work on the other hand is less fulfilling than ever, as she and Frieda set up a booth at a job fair to attract more black and brown employees to We Got Y'all. Issa's halfway paying attention and politely smiling at Frieda's clumsy usage of "slaying" when a performance by another after school program, The Beat Crew, captures her attention. The organization, with its emphasis on culturally aware outreach and the presence of more than one person of color, is everything We Got Y'all isn't. Despite flashing her best plastic smile to potential new co-worker Antoinette, it's obvious she hates her job, even if she can't admit it to herself just yet. Her search for another part-time gig shakes out better, as she lands the property manager job and a nice-sized apartment for $750 a month. Yea. $750. In L.A. That is slaying Frieda. Take note.

While Issa is understandably excited about the turn of events, it unwittingly leads to the unraveling of she and Daniel's...whatever you wanna call it. Unrequited concubinin'? Ehh, why not. But that's probably for the best, because the Daniel we see in "Backwards-Like" is not a person she needs in her life right now. He follows through on her advice to collaborate with Khalil, but low-key fights his constructive critiques of a beat he's making for Spyder every step of the way. I understand Daniel's need to be original and push himself musically, but bruh. Bruh. Nordic string samples and cellos don't mean shit if the shit don't bop. Or, to paraphrase the great three stacks: if people don't move they feet then you don't eat.

And judging from what he does later, Daniel is intent on starving. Grumbling to Issa about having to compromise his sound is one thing. But going over Khalil's head in the studio and playing his version of the track for Spyder is some first-class self-sabotage. Luckily, Spyder likes both versions but Khalil's side-eye tells me they won't be working together much longer, if at all. Why, as Issa later points out, go against Khalil when he's already produced Spyder and knows what he likes? She suggests he apologize, which causes Daniel to unleash his inner fuckboy, mocking her not having her life together when he's had a front row seat to her attempts to get said life together.

"I always save you from some shit," he says. That one sentence snaps into focus what would be terrible about she and Daniel hooking up. Earlier, when he initially scoffed at her becoming a property manager, it came off as friendly teasing. However, the negativity he displays during their night out reveals that teasing was rooted in fear; fear of Issa moving out, of her not needing him, of her not being there to pump up his ego, or, when he's in his feelings, being his emotional punching bag. As long as Issa is not truly independent, he'll always view her as someone who needs saving. Entering into a relationship would have only made their dynamic more dysfunctional. While Daniel asked what her heart wants, Issa opts to use her head, interrupting Daniel's trip downtown (minus the Cheetos) to say they shouldn't cross the line. You know what that is? Growth. Hard, uncomfortable, damn-I-feel-really-shitty-but-I-know-I'm-doing-the-right-thing growth.

Molly's story didn't interest me as much as Issa's this week. Though it could be because her story is just beginning. With Dro seemingly out of the picture for good, her main focus is on starting her job at her new, all-black firm. It's obvious she feels more comfortable here, dropping "girl" and jokes about McDonald's commercials within the first minutes of her first day. However, doubts start to creep in as she learns the firm doesn't use Docu-sign and she has to fill out her billable hours by hand, among other complaints. I was worried this would be a head shaking, "see, black folks just can't do right," plot line, but thankfully Issa, Tiffany and Kelli take her to task for being too judgmental.

"We are harder on ourselves than white people sometimes, because we've been conditioned not to trust each other," Kelli says. Facts. Later, when Molly throws in a crack about another employee operating on CP time, another co-worker confidently snatches her condescending edges. "Maybe at her old firm they started on time," he replies. Oop! You need a flashlight to see through that shade girl? Though not necessarily as toxic as her ideas on romance, Molly seems to have picked up some problematic views on her skinfolk she's gonna have to get over if she wants to succeed.

Other Thoughts:

• Tiffany is back, and she's totally ok with not being included in Issa, Kelli and Molly's group chat. Like it's fine. It's fine. IT'S.....FINE.

• Kitty abosrbing her twin in the womb makes absolute sense.

• Even though Molly said in a backhanded-compliment kinda way, am I the only one who's here for shea butter dispensers in the bathroom at work? 

• Oh, and eating in the bed? Issa got real comfortable real fast.

Those One Liners Tho'

• "We given white people enough time." That was a word Frieda. A word.

• "You're seein' 'cause you don't have nut in your eye." Shit Kelli. That was harsh, even by your standards.

• "I'm sorry, 750-what?"

• "Nigga are you watching This Is Us?