Finding "Fleabag"

I got overhyped by all the press and awards chatter around "Fleabag," and I'm sorry to say that raised expectations dampened some of my reaction to it, especially the second season. However, I am suitably impressed with everyone involved, especially writer and star Phoebe Waller-Bridge, who plays the unnamed title character.

Our heroine, listed in the credits as Fleabag, is a Londoner in her early thirties, whose life is a mess. She's running a failing business, in a failing relationship, her family situation is depressing, and most of it is her own fault. She's obsessed with sex, loves being inappropriate, is chronically irresponsible, and can't seem to get her life together on any level. Her sister Claire (Sian Clifford) is a type A overachiever, inexplicably married to a drunken lout, Martin (Brett Gelman). Her widowed father (Bill Paterson), has remarried to his daughters' Godmother (Olivia Colman), an insufferable painter and sculptor. And, we learn at the end of the first episode, Fleabag's best friend and business partner Boo (Jenny Rainsford), is recently deceased.

A lot of the fun of "Fleabag" is its fourth wall breaking format. Fleabag will regularly deliver little asides to the audience, Ferris Bueller style, or just glance over at the camera whenever something cringey or juicy happens, to share a conspiratorial moment with the viewer. Most of her love interests are never given names, just listed as Arsehole Guy (Ben Aldridge) or Bus Rodent (Jamie Demetriou) in the credits. This immediately gets the viewer intimately situated into Fleabag's skewed worldview. She candidly shares her views on sex, often pretty graphically. She mercilessly tears down everyone she encounters, and often predicts what people will say before they say it. Despite her long list of faults, it's pretty enjoyable sharing Fleabag's headspace because she's so open and honest in it - well, up to a point.

Phoebe Waller-Bridge's work as a performer goes a long way towards making the material palatable. Fleabag msturbating to a Barack Obama speech may sound overly crass on paper, but watching her do it, and then try to hide the fact from her annoyed boyfriend Harry (Hugh Skinner) is hysterical. It helps that though the dialogue is no-holds-barred, the visuals are pretty tame. A lot of humor comes from the juxtaposition of Fleabag looking perfectly ordinary, in ordinary situations, and the filthiness of her internal monologue. She's charming and assured in her delivery too, which makes it all the more delightful. I don't think there's any actual nudity in the show aside from a few of Godmother's plaster genitalia displays.

Of course, "Fleabag" isn't all vulgarity and perversity. Underlying all of her antics is a deeply sad situation where Fleabag is dealing with grief, guilt, and family dysfunction in some very unhealthy ways. In the second season, the show shifts gears noticeably when Fleabag starts falling for a Hot Priest (Andrew Scott). She's still obsessed with sex, but since the physical act is out of bounds, her attention starts turning to other areas of the relationship, and the show's little structural conceits start to change with them. The most obvious is the fourth wall breaking. As Fleabag and the Hot Priest grow closer, he starts to notice when she makes her asides to the audience, and eventually starts calling her out on it. Watching their relationship develop is such an intimate, bittersweet joy.

The show is so well written, and I love how it doesn't let you forget or dismiss anyone, even though Fleabag frequently does. Godmother is a presumptuous ass, but genuinely loves Fleabag's father. Martin eventually becomes a major antagonist, but it's hard not to sympathize with his impotent frustration. The Hot Priest may be dreamy, but clearly there are a lot of demons in his closet, including a worrying drinking problem. There's even a heartbreaking moment when the seemingly oblivious Bus Rodent reveals that he's perfectly aware that everyone, including Fleabag, is making fun of his teeth. Everyone in the show is sympathetic to some degree, and also very capable of being awful.

The cast is great all around, and the second season features a lot of little one-episode or one-scene roles for big names like Fiona Shaw and Kristen Scott Thomas. Sian Clifford, however, is the MVP as the increasingly lovable Claire. She's so uptight and so miserable, it takes a while to realize that she's actually as much of a mess as Fleabag, except in a totally different way. Olivia Colman is, of course, a treasure, even playing a part where her whole modus operandi is to infuriate you. And the Hot Priest may be the best, and certainly the most likeable role that Andrew Scott has ever had.

We've been informed that there will be no third series of "Fleabag." And in this case, I'm perfectly okay with that. I imagine it would all be downhill from here.
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