Insecure is the rare show that understood a broken female friendship

The Muse

"There’s a very specific primacy and intimacy to female friendships, and nowhere is that more clear than on television," says Cate Young in delving into Issa and Molly's friendship. "Whether it’s Abby and Ilana on Broad City, Meredith and Cristina on Grey’s Anatomy, or Kat, Sutton and Jane on The Bold Type, television shows are full to the brim with female friendships that shape and mold their participants, helping the women within them become their best selves and never be afraid to rely on the strength of their bonds. What television does much less of, however, is show you what happens when those bonds fall apart. The only example that comes to mind is LC’s lone black tear as her friendship with Audrina fell apart on The Hills. Insecure used its fantastic fourth season to tackle that question head-on, and as a result, produced its best run of episodes in years. The season’s central thesis was that sometimes you outgrow your friends. But the magic of the story was that the show managed to bring just enough specificity to the deterioration of Molly and Issa’s friendship to fully examine how central these relationships are in our lives, and why they deserve the same reverence as any romantic partner." ALSO: Watch "Issa Vandross," a mashup of Issa Rae and Luther Vandross.