'Insecure' star Christina Elmore says the latest episode is 'vindication' for Condola, and 'validation' for new mothers

• Warning: Spoilers ahead for the latest episode of HBO's "Insecure."
• On Sunday's episode, the show focused solely on Condola and Lawrence as they navigate parenthood.

Over the course of the last season of "Insecure," Condola Hayes (played by Christina Elmore) became an unexpected antagonist in the eyes of many fans. But the newest episode of the fifth and final season of the Emmy Award-winning show changes that narrative. At least that's what the team behind HBO's Emmy-winning comedy series hopes.

"I think I heard Prentice Penny, our showrunner, say this episode is sort of vindication for Condola," Elmore said, speaking with Insider ahead of the episode's premiere on HBO. "But honestly I hope it's just validation for moms who are out there doing it."

We were first introduced to Condola in the third season, and she quickly stole fans hearts while becoming Issa's friend and mentor. At the same time, she became Lawrence's love interest. In season four, Condola's relationship with both Issa and Lawrence fell apart, leaving room for the former exes to finally get back together.

Then things got really spicy when Condola reentered the story and told Lawrence they had conceived a baby when they were together - and she intended to keep it.

Many fans have spent the year between seasons hating this plot twist. But Sunday's episode of "Insecure" exclusively focused on Lawrence and Condola's co-parenting journey, bringing more nuance and depth to Condola's perspective.

Elmore says the 'Insecure' team's experiences as new parents helped make the episode 'authentic'

During this episode, we get a contrasting look at the way Condola and Lawrence's lives changed after becoming parents to their newborn baby Elijah.

While Lawrence is living in San Francisco (dating, partying, working a new exciting job), Condola is at home in Los Angeles with the newborn (doing dishes, laundry, and tending to the crying baby). Lawrence flies to LA to spend time with Elijah, but starts cancelling these visits last-minute when he's too drained from work.

Elmore says the portrayal of parenthood was conjured up by a room full of writers and actors who have real-life experience to bring to the table. She said there were many conversations between herself, costar Jay Ellis (who is a dad in real life) and director Ava Berkofsky about how each scene should look, helping them tell the story in a way that felt "authentic" to them.

"I feel like they really did a good job getting a handle on what it feels like in those first few months of new parenting, and that it's a whirlwind in the best case scenario," Elmore said. "And it can be totally overwhelming in a scenario like Condola and Lawrence find themselves in."

Elmore had just given birth to her second child a few weeks before she returned to the set of "Insecure" to shoot her season five scenes.

"On the days when I was able to show up on set, I was in a very fragile state," Elmore said. "So Condola felt very close to my heart."

In the season four finale, when Condola told Lawrence about her decision to keep their baby, she said he could be as involved as he wanted and she'd be "good" either way. But the reality of single parenting was shown in this latest episode. Elmore says it's "so much harder" than Condola could have imagined.

"I think that if she could go back and say those words again, she might say something else," Elmore said. "I don't think she realized how difficult it would be doing it alone."

Elmore hopes the episode will be a real example of the 'shock' new motherhood can bring

This episode makes clear the lonliness, anxiety, and postpartum depression that mothers can experience the beginning stages of parenting. In Condola's situation, we see how that escalates with a partner that isn't fully present, or when there's a communication breakdown.

"It's such a change - physically, mentally, emotionally - and to be doing that not in the way you saw it happening is so difficult," Elmore said. "And yet it's the reality for so many mothers and so many Black mothers, in particular."

She continued: "I was so happy that this show didn't shy away from showing how one-sided it can be, and that even in a happy partnership, there is usually a person who is the primary parent - and that's often the mother who's just given birth and is nursing often or trying to feed this baby through the night and whose boobs are leaking. It's a shock."

Elmore says shes "grateful" for the way the team behind "Insecure" decided to showcase the first stages of parenthood, because a lot of TV series she's watched show a character have a baby and then bounce right back to acting like the person they were before the pregnancy.

"That's just not how it works," Elmore said. "And so to see a real authentic portrayal of that on TV, and on our show that so many Black mothers watch, I hope for our audience it's really validating."

Elmore added that it's not just new moms who need the validations, but the dads, too.

"Fathers who are out there doing it every day, day in and day out and not getting any recognition," she said. "I hope they know that we see you and we know it's hard and we salute you."

What's next for Condola and Lawrence? Elmore says to expect a 'new plan' to unfold

An intense fight at the end of the episode leads the two to come to terms with the fact that their approach isn't working. Lawrence's "one foot in, one foot out" status causes Condola to not trust him with their baby.

"It can be so difficult navigating coparenting," Elmore said. "And I know parents who, up until the kid's 18th birthday, it's acrimonious, it's hard. They don't talk, they meet in the parking lot, passing kids back and forth."

She continues: "I just don't want that for Condola and Lawrence but I really don't want it for Elijah."

As for what fans can expect for the rest of the season: "I think what we'll see is we'll jump off from there and they're going to try to figure out how they can or cannot make it work. I will say that we get to see them sort of make a new plan."

"Insecure" season five will continue with new episodes each Sunday on HBO at 10 p.m. ET.