Say Hello to Season "Byeve" of Insecure! Here's Everything We Know About the Fifth And Final Season, Which Premieres Tonight
Insecure, the Issa Rae-led HBO show known for leaving its fans with intentionally ambiguous season endings, might just have to give us the whole truth this time. After the series’ fifth season was confirmed in May 2020, HBO dropped an Insecure bombshell in January 2021: Season 5 will also be the show’s last. And Insecure fans deserve answers!
"Prentice [Penny] 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,” Rae told Deadline about herself and the show’s producer.
HBO later confirmed that Insecure's fifth and final season—which is being called Season "Byeve" online, will debut on Sun., Oct. 24.
There’s still so much that Season 5 needs to wrap up if this is truly going to be the final season, so here’s everything we know so far about Insecure Season 5, including the release date, spoilers, and more.
When is the Insecure Season 5 release date?
Fans will be able to start catching up again with Issa and her fantastic gal pals starting Sun., Oct. 24, 2021, when Insecure Season 5 premieres on HBO.
Initially, filming for Season 5 was supposed to start in November 2020, but that got pushed back with the COVID-19 pandemic. "Obviously we have a schedule where we’re supposed to shoot, but who knows if we’re going to meet that,” Rae told Variety in May 2020. “Who knows if we’re even going to be able to come out next year, so there’s just so many ‘if’ factors.”
Related: Emmy Nominee Issa Rae Sheds Light on Insecure Season 4 and Her Los Angeles Legacy
Will there be an Insecure Season 6?
Sadly, there will not be a Season 6 of Insecure. Season 5 will be the final installment in the Insecure series. In fact, Rae—who not only stars in the show but co-created it, too—has confirmed in interviews that stopping at five seasons was the idea all along.
“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,” Rae told Deadline. “I feel blessed beyond measure to bring our characters’ stories to an end, onscreen at least.”
Related: Is Kim Cattrall Returning for Sex and the City‘s And Just Like That?
Are there new Insecure characters for Season 5?
As far as we can tell right now, there is nothing to suggest that new characters have been added to Season 5. Rae, Yvonne Orji, Jay Ellis, Natasha Rothwell, Amanda Seales, and Alexander Hodge are all expected to return in the final season.
Meanwhile, Keke Palmer revealed Sept. 29 that she's got a guest-starring spot in the fifth and final season! On Instagram, the actress shared a screenshot of when she'd tweeted at Rae a year ago to "put me in" Season 5—and it worked! "Careful what you wish for," Palmer wrote alongside the image, adding, "Genuinely so thankful to @issarae!"
How did Insecure Season 4 end?
(Spoilers for Season 4 ahead!)The finale episode of Season 4, entitled “Lowkey Lost,” ended with a pretty massive bombshell. After Lawrence (Ellis) and Issa finally (!) got back together, Lawrence admitted to Issa that his ex, Condola (ChristinaElmore), was pregnant with his child. The way the episode ended, fans are unsure what this means for Lawrence and Issa’s relationship. Is it meant to be a breakup? Or will they stick it out together as Lawrence becomes a parent to an ex’s child?
In less dramatic news, Molly (Orji) and Andrew (Hodge) seemed to end their relationship, which to be honest is not much of a surprise.
And then there’s Molly and Issa. Their friendship has been fractured for a while now and though they sat down to discuss everything, there’s no telling if it will fully be repaired.
What will happen in Insecure Season 5 and are there any spoilers?
We can assume that most of Insecure Season 5 will revolve around three main storylines: Lawrence having a baby with another woman, Issa and Molly trying to repair their friendship, and Molly’s relationship status. Oh, and also, there’s a strong chance that Nathan might come back into the picture.
“I think we're trying one of the questions that’s still sort of hanging from this: The Issa-Lawrence Issa-Nathan [relationships]," Penny told Entertainment Weekly.
While there aren’t many spoilers, Penny added that fans shouldn’t expect Issa and Molly’s friendship to get back to where it used to be.
"They’re going to be forever changed by this, forever humbled by this, and hopefully, forever close by this,” Penny explained. “I don’t think it’s about getting them back to where they were. I think we’re always going to have a version of them having fun together because they’re friends, but I think we want to explore what is that road back like and how is that road different.”
Penny added, “Really, the thing we’re playing with is, again: If life doesn’t look like how you imagined it, does that mean it’s a success or a failure?"
There's one more "spoiler" of sorts and it has to do with the pandemic. All of Season 5 was written during 2020's global health crisis and when asked if Issa and Molly's world would reflect the times, Issa told Variety it's not going to be the full plot, but it may be acknowledged subtly.
"I think there might be a world where we acknowledge it in the background, because I think it obviously will have long-lasting impacts," she said. "But one of the saddest things is seeing how it's affecting my favorite restaurants in South L.A., my favorite black businesses are being impacted and having to close shop, and so we don’t want to feel tone-deaf in ignoring it. We've always taken pride in representing the city as is."
Is there an Insecure Season 5 trailer?
With about a month to go before the Insecure Season 5 premiere, a full-length trailer for the season finally arrived on Sept. 29. The two-minute promo opens with Rae having an extended one-on-one confab with herself in the bathroom mirror and reveals that, among other misadventures this time around, her alter ego Issa Dee will return to Stanford to speak at some sort of reunion panel, but the experience only leaves her wondering when she'll be able to "fast-forward to the part of my life where everything's ok."
How to watch and stream full episodes of Insecure
The first episode of Season 5 of Insecure will debut on Sunday, Oct. 24, 2021 on HBO and HBO Max. While you wait, you can stream previous seasons of Insecure via Hulu, HBO Go, YouTube TV, and Amazon Prime Video.
Episodes are also available online at or on the HBO Go app.
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