NATHAN

This is a post about Issa Rae. I swear this is a post about Issa Rae. I feel slightly guilty for naming a post about Issa Rae after a male character on her show instead of her but you know what, she is responsible for giving us Nathan and for that we are forever indebted, so I am not sorry. Our collective thirst for Nathan is really a reflection of the solid writing and casting on Insecure, which is a direct compliment to Issa Rae. I think I have sufficiently justified this post’s headline. Moving on… 

NATHAN. I got three separate texts (one from Lainey) of that one name on Sunday night and Monday morning. I didn’t get to watch the latest episode of Insecure until last night so my response to all of them was, “Shhhh… NO SPOILERS.” After watching the episode, I’m ready to risk it all for Nathan. No other man has existed on this show before Nathan and no other man will exist after. Sorry, Daniel. I don’t even remember that other dude’s name. The one everyone was so upset about when he left the show. Lawry? Larry? Lance? Lanceford? (That’s an episode 4 call back for all you ride-or-dies.) Anyway, Lanceford is not needed when we have NATHAN. 

Some of you will recognize Kendrick Sampson from How To Get Away With Murder. That show did not do him justice. Issa and Nathan’s Before Sunset-esque episode was so good (one of my favourites of the whole series) because Nathan is hot and perfect, yes, but also because of Issa Rae and Kendrick Sampson’s electric chemistry. That pool scene? GOOD LORD. I know we thirst hard on this site. When we crush, we’re like Lara Jean: intense and all-encompassing. Except we don’t hide our love letters away, we put them on the Internet. 

I’m still crushing hard on Peter Kavinsky and my future ex-husband Michael Bae Jordan but Kendrick Sampson has gone from zero to 100 real quick. His voice. His eyes. His EVERYTHING. Whew. On top of all of that, Nathan is GREAT for Issa. She went on one date and finally found the courage to *SPOILER* quit her sh-tty job. I don’t love that it took a dude to convince Issa to make this life-changing move but it makes sense that she needed an outside opinion to push her to do what she already knew she needed to do. Issa is about to hop off her bullsh-t and on to Nathan. Yes, PLEASE. Don’t get me wrong, this is still a show about female friendship and figuring sh-t out in your thirties but it’s OK if there are some hot men along the way. Insecure Season 3 just got exponentially better.  

This is a post about Issa Rae. I SWEAR. Issa is the October cover star of Glamour, with a feature written by Angelica Nwandu, the founder of The Shade Room. It’s a standard Issa Rae profile and if you, like me, have been following Issa’s career, there are no new revelations. She’s as driven as she’s always been with slightly more confidence and assurance in her work. She’s as committed to making sure Insecure never loses its authenticity. Issa is inspiring a new generation of creators as someone who didn’t have a “blueprint” when she was coming up. The example she is setting is the most powerful in the story she’s telling with Insecure and the ones she’s yet to tell. 

Issa’s next project is an HBO show called Him and Her. She’s producing the show which is based on the life of Travon Free, a bisexual black comedian (and great tweeter). When the news of the show was announced, the backlash came. A lot of it was from her own community, which Issa calls “unfortunate.” 

“[Being queer] is the experience of lots of black men, and it’s like, ‘Why would you try to prevent that story from being told? Who are you to tell him that his story isn’t valid?’”

The thing is, for a long time, the people in positions to make a show like this happen have said that this story isn’t valid. They have been the ones to listen to ignorant backlash instead of telling a story that needs to be told. Issa Rae is now one of those people who makes decisions. She is creating a blueprint. AND she gave us Nathan. We owe her so much. 

You can read more of Issa’s interview with Glamour here.