It is said that all stories have been told at some point. What makes Fleabag impressive is that it tells a story of a disturbed young woman in a fresh, engrossing way. The pacing and the slow revelations are masterfully well-timed.
I was prejudiced towards this show. I have only seen Phoebe Waller Bridge in ‘Broadchurch’ as a despicable lawyer, so I was turned off by her from the very beginning. It is a testament to Phoebe’s acting chops that I believed Phoebe or her subsequent roles are going to be despicable. At the end of this show, I have become a huge fan and admirer of Phoebe Waller Bridge and her work. Now I have the utmost respect for this young woman’s talent and acting ability. She and Fleabag are the answer to Rami Malek in ‘Mr Robot’.
I found breaking the fourth wall annoying, and initially I found it off-putting. After all, I just think it’s lazy storytelling and filmmaking for a character to voice his or her thoughts instead of being shown what they’re thinking or feeling. They did reduce the use of the fourth wall thankfully towards the end of the show.
At first I thought this is a tired tale of privileged, self-indulgent Millennial who cannot cope with basic challenges that most of humanity had to master. I was so wrong and prejudiced, and I will appropriately punish myself for that.
There have been many shows with a female lead with questionable talent in the past decade that give women a bad name – narcissistic, spoiled, self-important divas with tired, clichéd, insipid story lines. Fleabag is not that.
Fleabag is a deeply layered portrayal of the human condition, especially of the plight of young women in a post-industrial, post-feminist, and post-modern society. It conveys the hollow sense of existence. It is an existential tale which is exquisitely crafted. Just when I thought the show was descending into self- indulgent angst masked as depth, I was corrected. I found myself rooting for a very flawed character who was struggling with her demons. It was never an apology for Fleabag’s character – we are merely shown why she behaves the way she does and we feel her pain, sorrow, and guilt. There is an undercurrent of grief and the desire to uphold the stiff British upper lip. Many of the characters are struggling to keep a poker face. We can feel that they would just like to cry, scream, kick around, and lose control. This isn’t so much a comedy but a tragicomedy.
This series is absolutely not for the sane, it’s for the sad, miserable and insane, desperately looking to feel good about themselves (and in need of a good laugh). It’s got me hooked. It is genuinely funny but above that I have found myself caring about these characters in a way that is very unusual for this type of show. Fleabag is a constant reminder the crazier you are, the crazier things you’ll do for sanity.
Tags: Fleabag Fleabag series Phoebe Waller Bridge
