Insecure Season 2, Episode 4 Recap: "Hella LA"

Our LA lovers are back and they have a busy day ahead of them. Episode 4 of Insecure takes place over the course of one day, but it’s packed with action. Let’s jump right in.

The moral of last week’s episode was that Issa (Issa Rae) sucks at dating. This week, that’s still true, for both her and Lawrence. But I can still commend the former for taking her moving on duties seriously. She’s going to a day party with Molly (Yvonne Orji) and Kelli (Natasha Rothwell) and she plans on killing several birds with one stone. She’s getting some quality time with her girls, meeting up with a potential new boo from a dating app, and plans on possibly meeting a few more eligible bachelors to build a “roster” of new boos. It’s the standard plan for hoe phases everywhere. Lawrence (Jay Ellis) and Chad (Neil Brown Jr.) are also planning a night on the town, complete with weed drops.

Issa walks into the “Kiss & Grind” party, high on confidence that she doesn’t actually have, and judging a girl that’s showing more skin than she is. (Because whenever I think I could learn to love her, I’m reminded that she’s basic.) After fending off some overeager female partygoers trying to claim rights to the club table they undoubtedly overpaid for, Dro (Sarunas J. Jackson) unexpectedly shows up. You might remember Dro from the cupcake shop in last week’s episode. He’s Molly’s very attractive, and very married friend from back home. This will be important later. For now, we need to worry about another unexpected face at the party.

Issa glances across the dance floor and sees Daniel (Y'lan Noel). Yes, the same Daniel that she slept with and then called an “itch” that she needed to scratch after the guilt from their tryst was too much to bear. But tonight, he is well-oiled in a tank top and looking so delicious that I’m filled with rage that Issa hasn’t been sleeping with him during this entire breakup with Lawrence. Issa may be having a hoe phase, but she’s an amateur and clearly not cut out for the hoe life.

Meanwhile, Lawrence has finally perfected his curls enough to leave the house but gets stuck in a traffic jam. He follows a couple of other cars that make an illegal u-turn to find a detour. Presumably because he’s driving while Black, Lawrence is the only one of them to get pulled over by a police officer. It’s tense — interactions between Black people and the police usually are — and he drops his credit cards on the floor of his car. He gets off with a warning and proceeds with his day.

It turns out Syd, from the Internet, is the DJ at “Kiss & Grind.” That isn’t relevant to the story, I was just really excited to see her on the show. Anyway, Issa has to figure out a game plan for dealing with Daniel. She debriefs with Molly about it and decides to handle her problem head on, which is never a good idea for Issa. To make a long story short, Daniel and Issa’s conversation results in a half-assed apology from her and a poor cover of the Living Single title song. He half-ass accepts her apology and goes back to hanging out with his friends, which include Denzel Washington’s fine ass son (also not important, but exciting nonetheless).

Molly is about to have her own uncomfortable conversation. She’s hanging out with Dro, eating his chicken tenders and casually talking about her failed relationships. Even as he helps her shift through potential dates in the crowd, it feels like there might be some vibes, and there are. They head to the dance floor and what starts as competitive dancing ends with heavy grinding, the revelation that Dro is an open marriage, and his desire to sleep with Molly. I’ll let that sink in.

Even though the dark “Kiss & Grind” venue gives nighttime vibes, it’s very much still daylight. Remember when Lawrence dropped his credit cards on the floor of his car? He never picks them up, so when it’s time to pay for his pre-game alcohol at the grocery store, he’s empty handed. Luckily for him, two white, blonde samaritans behind him in line volunteer to take care of it. Trying his luck, Lawrence cancels his plans with Chad to hang out with the flirtatious duo instead.

Now if you’ll recall, Issa has several goals for “Kiss & Grind.” Now that she’s settled the score with Daniel, she meets up with Felix in the courtyard. He’s one of her matches from the dating app and pretty much the worst. He squints, even though he’s wearing glasses. And he still has the audacity to not hide the fact that he hates Issa’s voice, hair, and look. The only thing more upsetting than Felix himself is that Issa actually tries to impress him and feels bad when he curves her. I need this girl to get a grip on her worth, like yesterday.

Now we have to talk about Molly. She’s appalled that Dro is in an open marriage and talks through it with Issa and Kelli. Despite the fact that it’s 2017 and plenty of people choose non-monogamy, the three of them act as if this makes Dro an alien. Issa says, “I thought that was white people shit.” The conversation doesn’t feel relatable to me because the idea that someone else’s relationship model might make me uncomfortable is just weird. But the underlying issue is whether or not Molly should sleep with him. Clearly there were sparks between them, but he’s married.

The sun has set and whatever you think happens between Lawrence and two eager lady friends happens. But things quickly go south (no pun intended) with a dangerous cocktail of fragile masculinity and racial fetishization. One of Lawrence’s new friends literally says, “your big black cock feels so good in my white pussy” during sex. And he likes it, because he’s clueless. But when he can’t immediately get it back up to pleasure the other girl, they talk openly about the other Black guys that don’t need a grace period in between rounds. With Lawrence’s “services” no longer available they pretty much ignore him; and he feels icky that he’s not special after all.

After the party, Kelli convinces her girls to go to a local diner. A guy she met at “Kiss & Grind” is waiting for her there. And because it’s apparently that kind of night, Daniel is there, too. Molly is wrapped up in her text conversation with Dro. She declines his invitation for a nightcap. And I get it. Dro and Molly have great natural chemistry and some history between them. And I think he’s being honest about the status of his relationship. But if you’ll recall, Molly is on a journey of emotional growth, especially in the relationship area. It might feel nice to be around Dro, but she knows he can’t give her what she wants in the long run. I commend her for making the tough call.

Here’s how the night ends: Still reeling from the horrible chain of events that included sex with one and a half white women and the revelation that he doesn’t have the best Black cock in LA, Lawrence ends up parked outside of Issa’s apartment complex. Issa ends up in Daniel's booth at the diner, happy and prospering.

Oh, and Kelli gets fingered under the table, because she is me at 22.