Why Condola And Lawrence Have Insecure Fans So Divided

"Insecure," the comedy-drama created by Issa Rae and Larry Wilmore and starring Rae, is now in the midst of airing its 5th and final season. The series follows Issa Dee (Rae) and Molly Carter (Yvonne Orji), two Black women and best friends living in Los Angeles as they navigate their personal and professional lives.

The end of Season 4, which aired in June of 2020, left fans with a bombshell: Just as Issa got back together with Lawrence Walker (Jay Ellis) following their split in Season 1, Lawrence's ex, Condola Hayes (Christina Elmore), reveals she's pregnant. Not only that, but she plans to keep the baby. The news threw a wrench in Issa and Lawrence's plans for a long-distance relationship, with Lawrence having just got a job in San Francisco. Issa is clearly overwhelmed and saddened by the news that Lawrence is having a baby with another woman, and in the Season 5 premiere, Issa breaks it off with Lawrence.

Of course, Condola's news affects Lawrence much more than it does Issa, and in Season 5, Episode 3, we get to see the weeks following the birth of their baby, Elijah Mustafa, and the struggles of co-parenting while not in a relationship. Lawrence and Condola consistently butt heads throughout the episode, with Lawrence thinking Condola is controlling everything involving Elijah, and Condola thinking Lawrence is only half-involved (with him only being around on the weekends due to his new job in the Bay Area).

The episode definitely got "Insecure" fans talking, and they have a whole lot of divided opinions on the co-parents.

On Reddit, user wodahs1 argued that Condola "trapped" Lawrence with the pregnancy. They wrote that Condola put Lawrence in "an impossible situation" where "if he's active, then he has to be active under Condola's terms," and "if he's inactive, then he is a deadbeat." Thus, the only way Lawrence can win is by revolving his life around Condola and the baby, they argued, "aka he's been trapped."

Another fan, user NsideDaNsideda, responded with an argument that the situation is a bit more complicated than what the initial post laid out. They wrote, "'Trap' feels like the wrong word. Usually trapping implies that there's a desire to keep the man, and I don't think that's what she was trying for. I do think she created the perfect lose-lose scenario for him."

The fan who wrote the original post wrote back, arguing that Condola could have either gone to a sperm bank or not told Lawrence about the baby at all. They continued, "The fact that she didn't do either of these and instead decided to go the route that we all know would make Lawrence guilty really feels like a trap. I think she didn't want to go at it alone, or else she would have just gone to a sperm bank."

All in all, fans were unable to come to a consensus on whether or not Lawrence is "trapped" in the baby situation. And this wasn't the only thing fans disagreed on.

The episode definitely shows both Lawrence's and Condola's side of things, with the two getting more or less equal screen and dialogue time. Additionally, when the two argue, both of their sides are pretty evenly rational — Lawrence hasn't been around, but he's trying to work around his job's schedule; Condola is being controlling, but she's also doing almost all of the childcare. As a result, fans don't know who to side with.

One fan, user hahastopjk, thinks Condola misled Lawrence when she initially told him he could be as involved as he wanted, causing them to side with Lawrence. They wrote, "It's obvious he was trying, and she halted him at every situation ... it's VERY obvious that she definitely cared about how Lawrence decided to be present for the baby's life. So everything she told him when letting him know she was pregnant was a lie."

Meanwhile, user Guesswhos_coming laid out a case for siding with Condola, writing, "Lawrence and Condola both had protected/unprotected sex, and a baby was created. Even though Condola told Lawrence she could do this on her own ... at the moment, she can't, and that's fine. I don't understand what's so wrong about expecting a man to step up to the plate and be an adult."

Other fans found themselves more in the middle, not siding with either. User roastplantain wrote, "[Condola] lied when she said he could be as involved as he wanted, both to Lawrence and herself. ... [but] Lawrence doesn't deserve praise for doing the bare minimum for his kid."