‘Insecure’ episode 9 recap: It’s over between Issa and Molly as it’s beginning again with Issa and Lawrence

While Issa and Lawrence rekindle what they used to have with a mature twist, Issa’s friendship with Molly falls off the thread it was hanging on by. Molly proves that she doesn’t like trying after someone crosses a line with her.

Danielle Young

Jun 8, 2020

Lawrence and Issa are falling back into their old habits of being a couple. They’re hanging out constantly, talking, having sex (on that couch), ordering take out, they’re basically together again. When Issa asked Lawrence what they were doing, he answered with a question, “What do you want it to be?” There goes Lawrence being Lawrence. And we have no answers.

But Issa’s not sure what she wants with Lawrence anyway. She just knows she wants him to be done with Condola and she believes him when he says that they talked and are done. Something makes me not believe him. These two seem to be carrying on their new tradition of complete honesty with each other, so in the spirit of that, Issa told Lawrence about Nathan, but not really. She only explained that she was helping him move. Things go unsaid so easily, don’t they?

It’s great to see Molly back in Dr. Rhonda’s office because good Lordt, Molly has needed some sessions. Sis was out here snapping on any and everyone, even in paradise. And with all that’s been going on with Molly, it was still her flailing relationship with Issa that gave her the most anxiety and the most talking points in her therapy session. You can’t help but be dragged when Dr. Rhonda hit Molly with, “Do you want to be right or do you want to be in a relationship?” That is the major question that for some reason, when it comes to Issa, Molly does not want to confront. Then Dr. Rhonda asked, “Does the relationship still serve you?” Molly feels like it doesn’t. That’s probably why she can’t be real with that. Maybe she doesn’t want to cut it off with Issa for fear of missing their friendship, especially since they share a circle of friends.

But perhaps Dr. Rhonda’s most stick-to-your-rib question was, “Do you want to do the work to repair it?” If only she could also ask Issa that same question. Issa realizes that she does miss Molly, but maybe just for the selfish reasons of having someone she’s able to share her issues with. So when she reaches out to Molly, we all hope it’s to make that move back towards a friendship with Molly. Plus, Kelli’s unavailable, Issa’s brother is dismissive and completely unhelpful, Issa doesn’t even try and call Tiffany. And so she calls Molly, leaves a voicemail and asks her to meet up. Enter: brunch. Aww, remember brunch? We all hope Issa and Molly would use this brunch to confront their issues, but they end up laughing over light skin mimosas (light on the orange juice) at Molly’s new stranger nephew and old times.

But the thing is, Molly tries her best to keep things light and doesn’t give Issa much reception. Molly’s chill demeanor makes Issa think that she doesn’t want to address their real issues, so they don’t. The wall that Dr. Rhonda told Molly about is being built up and it’s sturdy.

Molly refuses to take any peace offerings offered up to her. Between Issa and Andrew’s brother Victor, both of whom tried to offer Molly an olive branch, both were rejected as Molly took those branches, cracked them in half and threw them out. “Maybe meet her half way?” Andrew suggests when Molly comes home claiming that she allowed herself to be open to what Issa had to say, even though IRL, she was not really giving Issa much energy. And the same could be said with how she rejected Victor’s Clippers tickets. It was a nice gesture from him to squash what went down in Mexico and Molly mollied all over it and thought just because Andrew didn’t fight her on it, that there was no issue with her declining the tickets.

Molly is committed to being right. Dr. Rhonda would be disappointed. It’s almost like Molly needs someone to come out and be like: I AM SORRY PLEASE FORGIVE ME AND I WAS THE ONLY ONE WHO DID WRONG. YOU ARE RIGHT in order for her to forgive them.

Not for nothing, Lawrence is acting a little bit too right and I’m wondering if he’s got some bones in his closet? Where is Condola? And wherever she is, she better not be pregnant! He’s probably going to get this job in San Francisco and slowly stop messing with Issa. I don’t know, something is afoot!

And now that Issa’s all back in lovey dovey land with Lawrence, here comes Nathan ready to be light-eyed and consistent. Helping a man move or unpack is girlfriend energy, so Issa should be careful. Issa did a great job at fighting off Nathan’s bae vibes, but he was serving them hard, sharing with Issa that he’s going in on buying out the shop he cuts hair in and that she inspired him. Bae all day.

But when she finally and awkwardly told Nathan about her dealing with Lawrence again, he ended up opening up about the reason he “ghosted” and shared with Issa his bipolar disorder diagnosis. “When I went back to Houston, I found out fo’ sho’,” Nathan said to Issa sounding like he swallowed molasses.

That country thang he got going on gets me every time. Issa’s putting all her eggs into Lawrence’s basket and to Nathan’s point, Lawrence is “sometimey.” He is not a consistent person and right now, he’s all Issa, but does he have what it takes to be consistent with Issa? One thing’s for sure, Nathan has made it clear that he’s not going anywhere. We’ll put a bookmark here just in case.

Back in the land of Molly and Andrew, Molly comes home with food that she and Andrew didn’t agree on because she wanted something else. That may seem minor, but Andrew seems to be making mental notes of all the times Molly chooses the selfish route. Andrew tries to be gentle with Molly, but she doesn’t latch on to the hints, but if he was straight up with her about how she needs to give Issa and his brother a chance or at least try, she would flip.

When Issa, Nathan, Andrew and Molly ended up in an awkward hangout, Molly did that horrific thing that we’ve all done before; she text the person she was talking about. Cringe Molly was trying to let Andew know, “See? I’m trying with her!”

To know that your best friend feels like she has to try to be your friend, all of a sudden, it makes the friendship feel over. Molly really messed this one up and instead of working towards rebuilding her friendship with Issa, she says, “Maybe who you are now and who I am now just don’t fit anymore.” And when Issa says ok, she’s offended. That ok was like an “ok” that you get after you text someone a paragraph about your feelings. That is hurtful. They are both hurt and can’t get over the hurt enough to rebuild what they’ve torn down. You hate to see it.

Issa and Molly’s relationship is not giving the same energy that Lawrence and Issa’s is giving with the honesty. But it is however giving the same energy Molly and Andrew’s relationships is giving. He’s trying and Molly is trying to be right. Word to Dr. Rhonda.

Last week’s episode gave us the gift of Lawrence and Issa finally saying things to each other that went unsaid in their relationship (Shout out to Natasah Rothwell!) But in this episode, we’re seeing how easily things can go unsaid in relationships between Issa and Molly; Andrew and Molly and honestly, Issa and Lawrence.

Nothing hurts quite like breaking up with a friend, especially when at least one of you felt like the friendship was worth having and the other felt like it was forced. Damn Issa. Damn Molly. I guess there’s no such thing as trying. Do or do not.

https://open.spotify.com/episode/51fhvJHAl0eAcgkg4wBbYf