It’s a hella fact that HBO’s Insecure is concluding one of its best seasons to date, so there’s nothing but hope and manifestation in my heart that Insecure will be a serious player at the Emmys this year.
With the conclusions of Veep and Silicon Valley, HBO can finally focus on pushing Insecure to the forefront of the Emmys campaigns, solely on the fact that season four has been a masterpiece in writing, directing and acting. Season four has been even more focused on its central characters and their relationships with varying dynamics between all the character’s we’ve grown to love over the past four seasons. As an avid viewer, I’ve been on the edge of my seat every Sunday night this spring wondering the status of Issa (Issa Rae) and Molly’s (Yvonne Orji) friendship, debating who’s in the wrong for why the relationship is crumbling the way it is (I say it’s Molly’s fault!). What’s going to happen with Issa and Lawrence (Jay Ellis)? With the revelation of Condola’s (Christina Elmore) pregnancy in the season finale, it looks like its finally the end for Issa and Lawrence! Molly has been a slow work in progress since the beginning of the series, but her lack of effective communication skills has lost her boyfriends in the past, and may be the reason of her diminished relationship with Issa, and seemed to be the reason for the demise of her relationship with Andrew (Alexander Hodge). I love Molly, but she just tires me out.
Insecure is no stranger to the Emmys, which could help the show as it hopes to secure its first Best Comedy Series nomination. Issa Rae has been nominated for Best Actress in a Comedy Series for Insecure back in 2018, and I fully expect her to earn her second nomination this year. For Insecure to fully break out at the Emmys, it’s going to need to earn more than just nominations for Rae and Outstanding Cinematography.
First and foremost, I hope Yvonne Orji earns her first Emmy nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series! If there’s any nomination Insecure earns this year, I hope its for Orji. If there’s any name I’m going to be anxiously awaiting to hear on nominations morning, it’s going to be Yvonee Orji. There’s aspects of Molly’s personality that’s in every one of us, but we just don’t want to admit it. Molly can be messy at times, stubborn and insecure, but Orji’s performance continuously keeps us yearning for Molly rather we’re on her side or not. Molly may be seen as the villain of the show (the villain is always the best dressed person on the show and Molly’s wardrobe hits in every episode!), Molly is still a joy to watch and has always delivers throughout the run of the show. Orji should also have some extra attention on her this Emmy season as her HBO comedy special Momma, I Made It! is in contention for Outstanding Variety Special (Pre-Recorded), and a nomination for her comedy special would be extremely welcomed addition to her work on Insecure.
Insecure also has the opportunity to earn its first ever Writing and Directing nominations as well, and it’s about damn time! I would love to see nominations for Jay Ellis for Outstanding Director in a Comedy Series and Natasha Rothwell for Outstanding Writing in a Comedy Series.
Ellis made is directorial debut in episode 7 “Lowkey Trippin,” one of Molly’s most pivotal episodes of the season. Molly encounters lowkey racism vibes from Andrew’s brother Victor (Stephen Oyoung) while vacationing in Mexico and tensions rightfully arise between her and Andrew due to the situation. Things for the couple finally seemed to come to an end in the season finale, as Andrew grew tired of always being on Molly’s time. Even though Molly tries to plead and salvage the relationship, Andrew asks a crucial question, “what are you fighting for right now?” Ellis prepared hard for his directorial debut, shadowing some of TV’s top directors such as Insecure‘s own Melina Matsoukas, Alec Berg and Mike Judge of Silicon Valley, and received pointers from Oscar-winning Director Jordan Peele. Ellis did his homework and it shows in “Lowkey Trippin.”
Rothwell directed episode 9 “Lowkey Happy” and gave viewers the long-awaited Issa/Lawrence episode that gave me what I didn’t know I needed, Lawrence finally learning why Issa cheated on him with Daniel (Y’lan Noel) – and that’s just the first ten minutes of the episode. The unexpected love that both Issa and Lawrence have for each other was put all on the table in this episode. The coy but erotica flirtation between the two from their walk in the art mall, to the scene where their standing in Lawrence’s apartment and Issa confesses she doesn’t want the night to end, we can credit Rae and Ellis’ acting and chemistry between one another for the magic in this episode, but these were Rothwell’s words on the page that the duo brought to life, and that’s deserving of an Emmy nomination!
If I had my way, Insecure would earn a series best of no less than 6 nominations this year:
- Outstanding Comedy Series
- Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series (Issa Rae)
- Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series (Yvonee Orji)
- Outstanding Writing in a Comedy Series (Natasha Rothwell) “Lowkey Happy”
- Outstanding Directing in a Comedy Series (Jay Ellis) “Lowkey Trippin”
- Outstanding Cinematography For A Single-Camera Series (Half-Hour)
Will it happy? I’ll be lowkey thrilled to hear these nominations announced of Emmy’s morning!
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TV Talk With JWalk 