Of all the men Issa has been with on Insecure, Daniel, her erstwhile landlord, is by far the hottest. He is also the one she seems to be the most reluctant to have sex with, but when faced with the evidence in his favor, it is difficult to understand her reluctance. Reasoning dictates that he’s her mistake, but out of the three men in question, he’s a sure bet.
Issa cheated on Lawrence (hot) with Daniel (hottest), and recently had very hot sex with Nathan (hotter) in the ferris wheel at Coachella in Episode 5 last week, while the rest of her friends were waiting for Beyoncé whilst rolling on MDMA. Issa also had a vivid sex dream about Daniel while sleeping in bed next to him, platonically. Issa won’t have sex with Daniel, but could possibly do something with Lawrence, seeing as how he surprised her at a 7-11 in Indio when she was hungover at the end of Episode 5.
Based on Sunday night’s Episode 6, it seems unlikely that she’ll see or have sex with Nathan ever again, but even if she doesn’t, the physical memory of their time shared in the ferris wheel is probably enough to sustain her for a few weeks. Last night, she referred to Nathan as a man she likes “in a real way, not a Daniel way.”
But Daniel—sweater bae, beard bae, man of creative convictions—is a nice man. He and Issa get along well; they have shared history. Also, he’s very hot. He’s the man I want Issa to sleep with, and he’s the man whom I think she Should—but she won’t fuck him because he is the catalyst that ended her relationship with Lawrence, a man whose delayed adulthood is part of the reason Issa went to have sex with Daniel in the first place.
Daniel is familiar. Daniel is hot. Daniel wears sweaters to the club with the sheepish confidence of a man who fears that he’s washed but wants to act like he’s not. He’s your best pair of indoor pants—forgiving, comfortable, no longer appropriate for outside wear. He scratches an itch. The itch of sex. Wanting to have it with a man who is attractive, familiar, comfortable, and into it. Issa, fuck your mistake. Sleep with your fuck-up. Own it.