Nathan

Nathan turns up as a stranger on Issa's evening commute, easy with a joke and easier with eye contact, the kind of good-looking that makes a stalled train feel like a setup. He's charming, a little guarded about specifics of his life, and clearly interested in more than small talk before the doors open.

Kendrick Sampson plays the meet-cute so warmly that you root for it before you have any reason to, which is the point: Insecure uses that easy charm to complicate Issa's sense of what she wants next. The performance keeps a flicker of something unresolved just under the flirtation, without tipping into a hint.