‘Insecure’ Recap, Season 2 Episode 5: “Hella Shook”

“We’re friends who fuck”–Is that ever as simple as it sounds?

The fifth episode of the second season of Insecure, “Hella Shook,” opens with Issa visiting her ex-boyfriend Daniel, but they’re dynamic isn’t the same or what you’d expect–not for Issa, at least. (Technically, the episode opened with Issa flirt-texting while driving but more on that later.)

Daniel is only one guy Issa has locked in in her “ho-tation.” (Other guys include the neighbor Issa messed with in episode three and also a new guy she met off Tinder.) His ethnicity (Latino) is joked about sarcastically, borderline ignorantly, by Issa, which I wonder will be explored seeing that at the same time she’s facing conflict with her co-worker Frieda about their Latino students facing racism at their school by their own principle.

“So y’all can be cool without catching feelings?” Molly asks Issa. Issa shrugs off the question by claiming that they’re just “friends who fuck.” It’s foolish to think that no one is bound to get hurt when you’re playing friends with benefits with someone who was once considered the one that could’ve been. But, it seems as if the one here that may be ahead of themselves isn’t Issa.

Daniel has become Issa’s safety net. Someone who used to solely live in daydream is now open to being present in the reality, except Issa has switched up his role. She reaches out to make sure he’s free in case a date goes wrong, and by wrong, in this phase of Issa’s life it means if she isn’t getting any by the end of the night. (I’m not even mad at it, either.)

We aren’t really aware of Daniel’s feelings until Issa gets in a minor car accident (because she looked down at her phone and was surprised by an unsolicited dick pic.) He stops what he’s doing to pick her up, and as he’s consoling her in his arms he says, “You know I got you.” Right then, Issa pumps the brakes.

“We’re cool, right? I’m out there and you’re out there and we’re both seeing other people, right?” Issa says, and Daniel agrees as if he wasn’t ready to have to agree. “Last time, I wasn’t upfront about everything. I don’t wanna do that this time. I just want to be on the same page from the beginning,” she continues.

Are they on the same page though? Have they ever been, or better yet, will they ever be if they both never seem to align on what they want from the other, let alone communicate it.

Daniel agrees with Issa that he’s also out here, but we don’t see him being so. Honestly, we never have. The role of Daniel seems to lean towards the player type, especially in season one, and perhaps it’s because of his lack to commit, or simply because we only see Issa’s side to their relationship. In season one, he’s in and out but he doesn’t seem to be aware of Issa’s feelings until she reveals them before they have sex. He seems to have feelings too, and even want to pursue them, but as soon as Issa cheats her attention goes back to Lawrence. It’s apparent that Daniel’s feelings are still present by the way he runs to Issa or is excited to see her, but ironically Issa’s aren’t. And instead of lying by omission as Lawrence did with Tasha, Issa lets Daniel know what’s up.

While Issa taps guys in and out, Lawrence catches drift of Daniel’s presence in Issa’s life, assumes they’re dating, and starts lurking on Issa’s social media account. He only goes harder on the stalking and low-key reminiscing, when he’s told about himself by Derek.

Derek: “Honestly, this ain’t all on Issa. I mean, you spent two years unemployed, not doing shit, letting a woman take care of you. You kind of left the door open.”

Lawrence: “So what, that gives her the right to fuck some other dude?”

Derek: “No, but I can see why she’d be attracted to a guy who’s out there, making things happen.”

Some of the best moments in Insecure are when a character is made to realize something about themself that they don’t appear to already be aware of. That’s what friends are for, especially those who know us better than we know ourselves. But, what still applies and we’re seeing as these characters grow is that there “ain’t no rulebooks to this shit,” as Molly’s brother says.

Erika Ramirez–born in San Jose, CA and based in Los Angeles, CA–is a writer, editor, and producer. She’s the founder of digital magazine, ILY, which is about love. She’s also currently the Artist Marketing Manager (Content) at Red Bull. She’s held editorial positions and written for various outlets as Billboard, ROOKIE, NPR, VOGUE, ELLE, Pitchfork, and more. Follow her on Twitter: @3rika

Watch the "Hella Shook" episode of Insecure on HBO Go