Goodbye ‘Insecure’: Why HBO is ending the show after season 5

After four acclaimed and awkward seasons on HBO, the cable service announced that Insecure will be ending with the upcoming fifth season. Based on Issa Rae’s online series Awkward Black Girl, this HBO comedy followed Issa (Rae) as she negotiated life, love, and friendship in LA. The series launched Rae as a serious star power in Hollywood and one seriously funny woman.

Over the course of four released seasons, Insecure has racked up quite an impressive list of accolades, including nominations at the Golden Globes and Emmy Awards. Season 5 of Insecure, according to Deadline, already has all its scripts completed. It will, hopefully, go into production later this month (January 2021). Again, this all if everything is okay in this COVID world we live in. 

Rae, naturally, will return in her role as Issa. Also returning for the final season of Insecure are Yvonne Orji (Molly), Jay Ellis (Martin), Natasha Rothwell (Kelli), and Amanda Seales (Tiffany). In addition to her starring role, Rae also serves as a writer and EP on the series, sharing duties with fellow EP Prentice Penny. 

So why is HBO’s Insecure ending?

Simple enough, it was just time. Rae and Penny told the story that they went to tell. Sometimes, shows actually get to live out their natural lifespan. Pushing it any longer than that? You end with something so bloated and overdone that fans are just begging for it to end. They are begging for its death. Look at series like Supernatural for example. 

A good run for a television series is usually about five to six seasons. It’s respectable, tells a complete story, and gives fans plenty of episodes to enjoy on a rewatch. Insecure ending with its fifth and final season isn’t some big conspiracy, it’s just because it was time.

As Rae said, “Prentice and I are so grateful that HBO believed in our show from the beginning and kept faith in us to see our vision through the end. We always planned to tell this story through five seasons, but we couldn’t have made it this far without the tremendous support of our audience. I feel blessed beyond measure to bring our characters’ stories to an end, on-screen at least.”

When will HBO release the final season of Insecure?

If all goes well and production starts in a timely manner, then the plan is to release the final season of Insecure later in 2021. No one has given a definitive timeline on when it will be released, but our best guess is Fall 2021 as a “later in the year”. Though if the editing goes well and there are no delays? It could be Summer 2021. 

Honestly, trying to figure out a release date for a series in these times of COVID-19 is basically like trying to read tea leaves. The guess may be on the mark, or you may just see a soggy wet lump of stuff that you’re unable to fully figure out. Hopefully, HBO is able to get Insecure out on schedule, but don’t be surprised if a delay happens. 

Any other news?

On the heels of the announcement of Insecure’s final season, Orji announced that she has an upcoming project in the works over at Disney+. This autobiographical comedy, First Gen, is about her life as a Nigerian-born, first-generation American. Orji is doing the series in collaboration with David Oyelowo and Oprah Winfrey, so that’s some A-list names to the series. 20th Television will be the studio behind it.

Orji wrote the pilot of the series, which explores “Orji’s personal experiences growing up as a Nigerian immigrant in America. As a child, she’s caught between trying to honor her parents and culture while simultaneously trying to assimilate to American life.”