Issa Rae still asked to ‘reshoot’ ‘Insecure’ finale

The Controversial Ending of Insecure and Issa Rae’s Response

The ending of Insecure left some fans feeling, well, insecure.

Issa Rae’s Revelations

Issa Rae, the writer-slash-star of the HBO comedy series, which aired its final episode in 2021, has revealed that “people are really mad” about the way the show ended.

“People have told me to reshoot, which is crazy, because they didn’t like the decision that Issa makes in the end,” Rae said in a new interview with PEOPLE. 

Fan Discontent with the Finale

The series’ fifth and final season concluded with Rae’s character (also named Issa) getting engaged to Lawrence (Jay Ellis), her on-and-off boyfriend, who inadvertently fathered a child with Condola (Christina Elmore) at the end of season 4. Although Issa patches up her friendship with her bestie Molly (Yvonne Orji) and winds up in a great spot professionally, many fans were dissatisfied with the finale because of the protagonist’s reunion with Lawrence.

Some fans detest the ending so strongly, in fact, that they demand more episodes to undo season 5’s finality. “I get asked for season 6 a lot — even this morning,” Rae said, noting that her social media accounts got hacked by phishers. “If you see crazy tweets for me, just know it’s not me [and I said], ‘Somebody, please help’ on my Insta Story. ‘I got hacked on Twitter.’ And somebody was like, ‘I’ll help you if you give me three more seasons of Insecure.'”

Rae’s Reflection on the Finale

Rae reflected on the series finale in a conversation with Entertainment Weekly when the ep aired in Dec. 2021 — and revealed that even she didn’t want Issa and Lawrence to get together initially. “I did not think that they were going to end up together, and I was in the camp of feeling like I didn’t want Issa to end up with a man who had his first baby with someone else, because it was so tied to just my own views and as a writer too,” she said. 

Continuation of the Insecure Storyline

In the same interview, Rae acknowledged that she and her co-writers left space to continue the Insecure characters’ stories. “In some ways, their lives are just getting started. Issa has this business that is thriving, and she’s in this relationship with Lawrence, and who knows whether or not she is helping him raise [his son] Elijah, that he’s a part of her life? That’s not the ending that she imagined, so navigating that is work,” she said. “These are stories that we can continue to tell in a sixth season, and that we’d be excited to tell.”

She then corrected herself, noting that imagining a sixth season allowed the writers to avoid the pressure of tying up every loose narrative end. “Actually, not necessarily excited to tell because the story is over,” Rae said. “But the point is that those are stories that could be told, and I think that that freed us in that way.”

Conclusion

Issa Rae’s reflections on the controversial ending of Insecure shed light on the challenges of concluding a beloved series. While fans may have mixed feelings about the finale, Rae’s openness to the possibility of a continuation offers hope for those seeking more closure.

FAQs

Q: Are there plans for a follow-up season to Insecure?

A: While nothing has been confirmed, Issa Rae and her co-writers have left the door open for a potential continuation of the Insecure storyline in a sixth season.

Q: How did Issa Rae feel about the ending of Insecure?

A: Initially, Issa Rae did not envision Issa and Lawrence ending up together, but her portrayal of the character led her to a different perspective, ultimately accepting their reunion in the finale.

Credit: ew.com