Insecure

[Issa Rae's] show is even more assured in the second season. ... As an actress, Rae is a marvel. [21/28 Jul 2017, p.106]

Smart, engaging second season (so far). The ensemble cast gets better and better.

More is gleaned from creative story construction and careful scene setting than exposition. Her rapping doesn’t feel as disconnected from the rest of the show because of how thoroughly Rae’s personality is integrated into the series. She still occasionally steps into a bathroom to cut loose, but her personality shines through brighter and wider than before.

The second season, which kicks off Sunday at 10:30 p.m., flows with more confidence and pluck than the first right off the bat--a good show that has only improved. Often a second season pick-up is the endorsement a creator needs to relax into her vision. Rae certainly has.

Insecure season two is more self-assured than ever.

In season two, Insecure picks up its ongoing story of life and seems almost immediately stronger in its ability to tell those stories--no doubt because the ensemble has more resonance.

Without ever being too on-the-nose, Insecure has something to tell its audience about the lived experience of seeking life and career successes while black.

The risk in this kind of show is that viewers will complain that “nothing happens,” but that never feels like the case here because Rae and her co-stars shape every scene into a perfectly formed bit of social interaction, built around a core of conflict, but with fascinating bits of business happening in the margins.

The experiences of Issa and her best friend Molly (Yvonne Orji) are given such specificity, depth and nuance that each episode of Insecure is like a well-made cocktail--sweet, powerful and gone too soon.

Season 2 finds Rae and company just as wonderfully messy and entertaining as they were when we first met them back in 2016.

That energy swells with tricky, topical realities of racism and sexism, but Insecure never feels like an exclusionary experience. The fundamental themes of bonds and sisterhood and friendship are too strong for the show to so blatantly wall off a segment of its audience. Issa and Molly are both in this together, and the simple beauty of Insecure is that it feels like you are too.