Insecure Season 3 Ep. 7 Recap: 'Obsessed-Like'

Photo: Merie W. Wallace/HBO

Insecure has taken quiet the creative flights of fancy in its third season. From the skinny dipping, quirky rom-com beats of "Fresh-Like" to the sex and drugs hedonism of "High-Like," the series has been flexing its narrative muscles. That trend continues in this week's "Obsessed-Like," which invites us into Issa's frantic mind.

Labeling Issa's mental state as frantic is being kind. Issa is a woman well, obsessed, her thoughts consumed with Nathan's whereabouts, while her fingers cannot stop scrolling through his Instagram profile. All the while she berates herself for being open and honest with him, for being down for the aforementioned skinny dipping as well as the ferris wheel sex, and for telling him about her rap journal. Issa tries to focus on planning her block party, but to no avail. Next thing you know, mama is going down a selfie spiral, posing in the mirror in hopes it'll entice a response from Nanceford. When that doesn't work, she goes covert by logging onto the group's Instagram "stalker account" to try and slide into Nathan's DM.

Oh, it gets worse. Working a mean bedhead with nary a headwrap in sight, clad in pajamas and slippers--basically serving dickmatized realness--she convinces Molly to bring food to Andrew so she she can see if Nathan's hiding out at his place. Girl, how'd it come down to this horror, going through this nigga's drawers? The rock bottom comes when she types 'Issa' as a potential password into his laptop, thinking she'll find who knows what.

Molly, thankfully, saves her from further embarrassment (though she couldn't really sink any lower) by getting her out of Andrew's house and asking what's really going on. She explains Nathan made her feel like more than a fuck up, and she doesn't know if she'll meet someone like that again. Damn, no wonder Issa's been dreaming about her teeth falling out. According to teethfallingoutdream.org (yes that's an actual site) dreams of teeth falling out can often mean one is wrestling with life changes or growing pains, as well as insecurity, particulary about a personal loss. Ding ding! We have a winner! On the flipside however, it could also be a sign of personal expansion, a call to look at your support system or, if you want to go the Jungian route, "a time of renewal and rebirth."

Issa's dealing with a mix of all these meanings. Daniel seemed supportive, but revealed himself as someone who only saw her as a perpetual mess in need of cleaning up. Nathan was encouraging but, either due to his own emotional issues or fear of assault charges, also proved to be unstable. Professionally she's in limbo, quitting what had become a suffocating job but struggling to map out a new career path. Throw in Tiffany's impending motherhood (and what may simultaneously be the end of their friendship) and it has been a trying time, to say the least. However, as painful they are, all of these changes are opening up space for her to pursue her own dreams, to learn to how to stand on her own and believe in herself. Or, as Molly puts it in reference to Nathan, "If he gets scared off because you were too real, then why you want him girl?"

Ugh, Molly if only you could use that same insight on yourself. Molly must have loved matches as a kid, because she burns bridges left and right in "Obsessed-Like." She has a nice lunch with Andrew, during which she admits she initially wouldn't go out with him because she was embarrassed by Molly Squared's behavior at Coachella.  Andrew, like his ghostly friend Nathan, is an optimist, musing that seeing each other at less than their best means they don't have to pretend. Unfortunately, a dinner date goes south when he unknowingly pours salt in a would by bringing up her past with Dro. True to form, instead of cutting him some slack--or gasp!--opening up a little, Molly decides to head for the exit. Then, when Issa's Nathan mania leads her back to his doorstep, she has to the nerve to say she forgives him for what was basically a bad joke. Molly whaa? "I don't know who the real Molly is, but are they all this fucked up?" Andrew asks her.

Sadly, the answer is yes. On the work front, Taurean is holding up an upcoming presentation for the partners because he has expedited hearing. Molly decides to go ahead without him, wowing the partners but alienating yet another coworker. What exactly is Molly's end game here? She may be winning small battles, but she's going to lose the war with all this short-term thinking. In fact, that's Molly whole problem: she views work as a war, a zero sum game where in order for her to win, someone else has to lose. It's never occurred to her she could pull up or be pulled up by others as she climbs the corporate ladder. Who knows, maybe it'll work out for her and she'll get that partner position and the biggest corner office. Since work is clearly a substitute for her less than stellar personal life however, what will she do to fill that emptiness once she reaches the summit? Maybe I'm being hard on Molly, but it's frustrating to watch her make the same mistakes over and over again, when she could have what she wants so badly if she'd get out of her own goddamn way and relax.

While Molly continues to throw herself upon the altar of work, Lawrence opts for a more traditional place of worship. Searching a bigger sense of purpose, he and Chad go to church. The pastor's cheesy references to Twitter and the 'Gram fall flat with Lawrence, but have Chad of all people rushing to the altar to get saved. He does hit it off with Denise, who acknowledges the service's cornier elements but  says she still gets something out of it. Lawrence looks intrigued, until Denise reveals it took at least a year for her to feel spiritually connected to what she was doing. Bible Study Bae or not, it's all little too much for him.

Later, over coffee, Issa suggests he keep trying until he finds a church that's right for him. Lawrence returns the favor by encouraging her to get out of her own head and go through with her block party. Their dynamic is so different from when we first met them, with Lawrence on steadier ground professionally and Issa now filled with a new resolve to achieve her own goals. "You can't keep letting other people prop you up," she tells Lawrence. "Sometimes you gotta do shit for yourself."

Other Thoughts:

• Issa Rae was the MVP of "Obsessed-Like," hands dow, nailing both the comic tragedy of Issa's downward spiral and the genuine hurt of being abandoned by someone you thought you could lean on.

• Curiously, Tiffany is absent in the teaser for next week's finale. Could it be because she and Kelli are still estranged and Issa and Molly have picked sides? Or has Tiffany replaced them completely as friends with her Crazy Crew? 

• So how do long do you think Chad's stint as a Christian will last? A week, two weeks? Maybe a month?

• Andrew auditioning for B2K makes absolute sense. Who wanna bet he was gunning for Lil' Fizz's spot?

• So what strange facts does Issa know about camels?

Those One Liners Tho'

• "My yoke had hella bondage."

• "You got baby hair. "Ain't nothing thug about you."

• "What you a T.D. Jakes nigga now?"

• "I already told you about that shirt. Burn it!" 

• "Nobody told me I was eatin' beginner nigga sushi."

• "We gon' murder him in the dick."