Chillin’, Okay?! – Insecure Season 5, Episode 7 Recap

Photo Credit: Merie Wallace

This post is in partnership with HBO. As always, thoughts and opinions are my own.

In for the night – It’s girls’ night, and Issa welcomes Molly, Tiffany and Kelli into her apartment for a full evening of activities, which includes a group massage and dinner at one of their fave restaurants. They are de-stressing to help Molly take her mind off her mom’s health woes. A natural zen-inducer? Weed. Which one puff makes Kelli almost cough up her lungs. 

Issa’s phone rings and it’s the spa saying they’re canceling all services cuz their pipes burst. Now they have 3 hours to kill before dinner. Drinking and a questions game is how they’ll pass the time. 

Lawrence shows up to Condola’s with Elijah, who spent the night with him. He helps her bring in packages, and one of them contains parts to a shelf she was going to get help building. Lawrence volunteers to just do it for her, and she hesitantly accepts. 

Photo Credit: Merie Wallace

Questions – The Questions start. “If you could only spend the rest of your life with the last person you slept with, how would you feel?” Issa says she’s not sure, and talks about her last interaction with Nathan, where he called her “inconsistent.” None of her friends are shocked. Which tells her a little something.

Molly’s phone vibrates and she says it’s a work call and takes it in the other room. She’s giggling, though. That ain’t normal. So, the girls sneak over to eavesdrop. It’s Taurean. Although they ain’t doing anything salacious, he’s been in her texts, checking up on her and making random convo. She feels the chemistry but doesn’t know how to move this further. Right then, John Legend’s “Green Light” starts playing and she takes it as a sign. She’s gon make a move. 

At Condola’s, Lawrence finishes the shelf. Condola is trying to feed Elijah carrots, which he doesn’t like, and when the baby refuses to open up, Lawrence says he does the “Choo Choo train” to get Elijah to eat. AND IT WORKS when he does it. The baby is eating the food, and Condola is impressed. She admits to him that he’s a good dad. 

Photo Credit: Merie Wallace

Meanwhile, at Issa’s, the girls are hungry and dinner is still a bit away so Issa made them cookies. “Which one of your friends’ ex would you fuck?” Daniel comes up (cuz WHEW hey chocolate!) Issa admits to the girls that she ran into Lawrence and Condola at the hospital. She thinks they’re together but Kelli tells her that she saw them at Simone’s birthday and they did not look like they were getting along. 

Right Choice – Issa says she felt a little guilty about how things ended between them, but Tiffany drops a good word with, “It doesn’t have to be the smart choice to be the right choice.” 

The girls change and get super cute for dinner. They realize it’s been 3 months since they all hung out. GROUP HUG. Tiffany interrupts it when she says her and Derek might be moving to Denver. Hold up. WHAT?!? Derek got a great job offer and Tiffany admits that she hadn’t even mentioned it to her bestie Kelli because then it would be real. What is she gon do without her good girlfriends? She’s afraid that she might get depressed again. Molly reassures her that they got her back!

Photo Credit: Merie Wallace

Dinner is at 8. It’s 7:40. Maybe they should just stay in. This calls for a serious girl love session.

Real Talk – Condola and Lawrence are cleaning up her kitchen and talking. They’re chatting with ease they haven’t had in a long time as they fold Elijah’s clothes. Lawrence says that the last year has been tough, but Elijah is the best thing that has happened to him. Condola gets emotional and admits (without words) that at one point, she considered abortion. He apologizes for being an asshole, and she tells him she wants him to be happy. They part on that high and mature note. 

The girls are at Issa’s getting high and listening to music when Issa says they should text Taurean. Molly grabs the phone to do it and her caller ID shows that Dro is calling. Thankfully, she doesn’t pick up, cuz: NOPE. Kelli says the game must be calling their exes in. Her and Tiffany go grab a tit pic for her to send to Daniel Kaluuya for no reason, as Issa calls Lawrence. The phone is ringing and Molly grabs it and hangs up. WYD, ISSA? She says she just wants to talk. “If sober you wants to call him tomorrow, go ahead.” 

The next morning, the girls leave Issa’s. She’s about to start cleaning up after them when she sees a text from Nathan. He wants to talk. She calls him. He admits that things have been awkward. He says “Issa I do love you. I always have.” He’s never said it to a partner. She apologies for pressuring him. He says he was being childish and avoidant. He ain’t leaving. “I love you.” “I love you too.” 

She starts cleaning and Lawrence calls. She doesn’t pick up. Thank God.

Photo Credit: Merie Wallace

There was such deep vulnerability in this episode, and some overdue conversations that needed to happen. 

First, Condola and Lawrence have come light years from where they were in episode 3, when they couldn’t get on the same footing regarding the baby. Lawrence moving back has made all the difference, and he can truly be there for their son. It’s created relief for Condola, and without the edge, they’re communicating better than they have in a long while. That conversation they had, where they both owned up to their parts in their conflict was so good to see. Accountability, introspection, and maturity can do wonders. What I especially love is that although they had some moments of tenderness, it didn’t lead to the bad decision of them jumping in bed together. They let the moment be just that, and moved forward, with the good vibes. Everybody’s growing up!

And then the girls. There’s nothing like a girlfriend sleepover to unlock some deep things you might have been holding onto. Tiffany’s confession about moving to Denver, and how she is afraid of what it will do to their friendship was a rare moment of vulnerability from the girl who’s good for saying “It’s fine” even as she’s drowning. Aawwww, the DuBois are moving on up. 

Molly admitted to feeling some vibes from Taurean, who she had previously thought to be another annoying coworker. There’s definitely something there, and she should pursue it. Send that text, sis!

Issa gets real about how telling Nathan she loved him made her feel, and the girls also give her the real that she can be inconsistent AF so his feedback isn’t wrong. She was moved to almost tears when talking about how seeing Condola and Lawrence together with the baby made her feel. After all this time, she’s still so affected by her past with Lawrence, and it is stopping her from moving forward. BUT there’s hope. 

Nathan reaching out to her to have the real conversation about why he acted weird when she said “I love you” was some real growth to. The man who is a commitment phobe, who runs when things get hard, finally says “I love you” back. Knowing that Issa’s the first person he’s ever said it to is significant (and frankly scary because, sir how deep are these issues?). There are all types of rabbit holes we can go into there.

But I’m proud of both Issa and Nathan for having a truly mature conversation and committing to each other in a way they haven’t before. Of course, the devil had to do some work by having that immediate aftermath be when Lawrence returns Issa’s hasty call from earlier. But she didn’t pick up, which is a feat. Maybe our little self-saboteur is moving past old habits to create new healthy ones. 

This whole season has been the countdown to the end but episode 7 feels like the real beginning of the end. 3 more episodes to go. I’m ready (but I’m not ready).