There's A Lot To Love About Issa & Daniel's Relationship On 'Insecure' These Days

There's good news for #TeamDaniel, seeing as Insecure Season 3 might be edging closer to endgame for this pair after all. Well, maybe. During the second of Insecure, Season 3, Issa and Daniel bonded more than viewers have ever really seen before. They seemed to be getting closer, just not romantically, which might actually be a good sign for now.

Episode 2 begins with Issa feeling further benched at her job and receiving inadequate support from all of her coworkers, who seem to have discovered that being woke is worthwhile now, despite the fact that they're basically parroting all of the things that Issa's been saying for years, as she rightfully notes in one of her trademark daydreams. It's becoming more and more clear that she needs to leave this job — but for what? Lyft driving won't get her off Daniel's couch and into her own apartment. In the premiere, she asked Daniel if she could stay longer, which leads to an awkward scene in which she cleans the whole place just so he can't ask her to leave. It's a whole thing, but it gets them talking again, much to the delight of Daniel stans everywhere.

Issa encourages Daniel to reach out to artists he wants to work with and even helps him get an in with some old friends. Then, just to up the sexual tension, they head out to a club so Daniel can try to talk to Spider, an artist he wants to work with. Their outing is interrupted when a fight erupts into a shooting . They're both safe, just shaken.

There's nothing like financial troubles to bring two people closer together — except, perhaps, a near death experience. Daniel's not happy with his career either and when the two of them go to get food after the shooting and talk about life, he bemoans the fact that had he been shot, his obituary would just read "Unknown Soundcloud Producer Dead." He's too old, he says, to be remembered by so little after working so hard. Issa's would be worse, she jokes: "Lights Out On A Debt-Ridden Lyft Driver With 3.6 Rating." It's funny, if dark, and the two of them exchange glances like they just might hook up again. The tension is very, very real.

At the end of the episode, Issa gets a call back from a property manager position she applied for, which means she can move out sooner than she thought. She breathes a sigh of relief and becomes even more relaxed around Daniel, which is a great and super realistic detail. Her and Daniel never got a chance to really see if they could be together the last time. Now that they're getting some space to themselves, they can give it a chance.

Plot-wise, it could totally happen. If Issa and Daniel are going to be in a relationship, she can't be crashing on his couch anymore, and that problem seems to be solved as of next week. It's also refreshing to see Issa really open up around him — she's not trying to impress him, play hard to get, or any of the things the socially awkward tend to do when they thing they're flirting. Their conversations are real and honest and well, about things. It's a far cry from their former interactions, in which it always seemed like someone was holding their cards too close to their chest. Maybe "glowing up" for Issa means really relating to this guy, who also likes and respects her back, as far as we know.

Insecure is doing a great job at telling stories about a female character balancing work, finances, friends, and romantic relationships without asking the cliché question as to whether Issa "can have it all." In reality, and on the show, all of those things weave in and out of your life, sometimes totally separate and sometimes awkwardly dependent on one another.

But do all these longing glances and late night convos mean that Daniel is the one? It could be? Clearly Daniel is at least a little interested — he did a double take when Issa was chatting the Green Braces guy at the club and he did offer her his bed, which is basically asking for trouble. Or a good time, in their case. This could really be something this time around. But only if fans and the characters are willing to wait.