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Managing editor & film and television critic with a Bachelor's of Arts in English Literature with a Writing Minor from the University of Guam. Currently in graduate school completing a Master's in English Literature.
A trip down south can result in someone tripping out that goes south.
The seventh episode of Insecure’s fourth season is titled “Lowkey Trippin’;” and it is directed by Jay Ellis and written by Jason Lew.
Some spoilers ahead for those who have not yet watched this episode or seen the series. If you haven’t done either, you should get to that now, then return to this article!
Also directed my momma this episode!! She was TERRIFIED.!! Not bc she had to act but bc I was directing her. Hahahahaha. #InsecureHBO @pbryantellis pic.twitter.com/6dXq4YUJ3E
— Jay Ellis (@JayREllis) May 25, 2020
Lawrence Walker actor Jay Ellis takes the director’s chair in this week’s episode of Insecure, which takes a brief leave of absence from workplace drama and friendship drama. “Lowkey Trippin'” follows Molly Carter (Yvonne Orji) and her boyfriend Andrew (Alexander Hodge) as they take a short vacation to Mexico with the latter’s brother and sister-in-law. Molly uses this time as catharsis everything else going on in her life, but like Issa Dee (Issa Rae)’s side of the story in last week’s episode, these attempts fail for Molly.
Orji’s character nearly misses her flight with Hodge’s character. She has an encounter with a racist white Mexican hotel worker, or at least she believes this to be the case because of an assumption with how she was treated as opposed to white hotel patrons. Andrew’s brother argues the hotel worker was perhaps just doing her job to prevent having her position terminated. The biggest challenge she faces is her relationship with Issa, which never seems to leave her mind. After a video call with his roommate Nathan Campbell (Kendrick Sampson), Andrew reveals to Molly that Nathan has been going through mental health issues and may have sought help.
The episode title is a double meaning for Molly’s vacationing and reacting to matters outside of her home in California. After realizing the bigger story behind what is going on in her life, she calls her therapist to say she is “having a hard time letting go of things.”
The cinematography and the musical score add to the feel of the episode, and Ellis’s direction is palatable as he focuses on this episode’s characters with brief appearances from Issa, Nathan, and Lawrence. The episode develops Molly further as she tries to search for more ways to grow as a human being. It also keeps the comedy on the side from a woman who once boarded the wrong plane and the wrong marriage to Molly’s failure at making a Full House joke when she and Andrew meet Lawrence at the airport, who arrived from San Francisco.
“Lowkey Trippin'” provides a lesson from which we mustn’t try to run: our stories or narratives are all tied together. How we choose to react to what occurs around us can be the very thing that divides us. Like Molly’s sexual relationship with her boyfriend, we must try to take charge of our lives.
10/10
What do you think? Have you seen this series? If not, do you plan to binge it sometime in the near future? Let us know! For more Insecure and HBO-related news and reviews follow The Cinema Spot on Twitter (@TheCinemaSpot) and Instagram (@thecinemaspot_).
Managing editor & film and television critic with a Bachelor's of Arts in English Literature with a Writing Minor from the University of Guam. Currently in graduate school completing a Master's in English Literature.
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