Fleabag is a quirky British comedy series where our heroine may not be perfect (thankfully), but we still root for her. Equal parts heart-warming and heart-wrenching, we watch as Fleabag navigates dealing with two important deaths, family drama, her business venture, multiple love interests, and one great romantic love.
Throughout her journey, Fleabag includes the viewer as she breaks the fourth wall by addressing the camera. This allows us to form an even stronger connection to her. While the series has many poignant moments, the following 10 we relate to the most.
Not Feeling Like You’re Grieving Properly
In Season 2, we get a flashback as Fleabag remembers her mother’s funeral. At the funeral, Fleabag looks good. She tries to mess up her hair and face, but she still looks gorgeous. Everyone she encounters talks about how nice she looks. By looking good, she feels judged, like she isn’t grieving correctly.
At the same event, her boyfriend asked her if she cried. She’s also criticized by her sister for eating. However, Boo, her best friend, is compassionate and realizes that one’s grief can’t be qualified by how “properly” they seem to grieve.
Patterns with Old Partners
In Season 1, we meet Fleabag’s boyfriend. While he’s a perfectly nice guy, he doesn’t seem to be able to keep up with her. When he breaks up with her, Fleabag knows it is just a matter of time before they are back together again. He leaves behind a dinosaur toy and other items, a sign that he will look for a reason to come back.
In the meantime, Fleabag dates other men who make her boyfriend seem like a prince. However, once they are back together, things are perfectly amicable, but not exciting. Fleabag is with him because he’s comfortable, safe, and it’s better than being alone. Patterns are hard to break, which we understand, yet it’s healthier for both when the pattern finally does break.
Hair Cut Emergency
Fleabag’s older sister Claire reaches out to her about an emergency. Although they have been somewhat estranged, Fleabag drops everything to help Claire out. When she sees Claire crying in the park about her hair cut, Fleabag doesn’t downplay the seriousness; rather, she walks Claire to the salon to confront the hairdresser.
When the hairdresser downplays the cut, Fleabag insists that hair is everything. Then he produces the magazine picture with the haircut that Claire requested. It looks exactly the same as what she received. Their argument bested, the sister apologize and leave. Still, both looked at hair as part of one’s identity. When it feels botched, it affects how you feel about yourself.
Fierce Attraction to Someone Unattainable
In Season 2, Fleabag becomes very attracted to a priest. The feelings are mutual, but forbidden. The priest tells her that if he had sex with her, he’d fall in love, and he needs to only have love for God. Part of her attraction does stem from his profession, and she even acknowledges that she likes a challenge.
However, they actually develop a true connection through humor and understanding. We get moments where a friendship brews between them, like when Fleabag helps the priest shop for formal attire. He shines well above her other love interests, not because he’s a priest, but because he’s a genuine, well-rounded person. While we may not fall for priests like Fleabag does, nearly everyone has an experience of falling for someone unattainable.
Holding Onto Departed Loved One’s Belongings
Fleabag finds out that the statue of the headless naked bust that she keeps on stealing from her stepmom/godmother is of her mother. Godmother is an artist, and her mom had modeled for this piece. Fleabag meant to return it as a wedding present to her father and Godmother.
However, when Godmother tells her that it’s her mother, Fleabag steal the piece again. It means more to her knowing this, and we doubt that she’d return it. Fleabag also keeps Boo’s guinea pig and guinea pig art. Many of us hold onto belongings in a similar way, so that we can be close to those that we miss. It’s almost as if we want them to haunt us. Similarly, through the belongings, Boo haunts Fleabag.
Awkward Family Encounters
The family blames Fleabag for any dysfunction, but she is just one participant in the drama and awkward encounters. While Fleabag and Claire clearly love each other, they don’t seem to know how to show it. Once when Claire tries to hug her, Fleabag reacts by hitting Claire because she was taken off guard. However, the two seasons show Fleabag and Claire learning how to be sisters and show their love.
The more awkward encounters happen with their father, someone we wish would stand up for Fleabag. He witnesses Godmother’s numerous passive aggressive attacks and she even slaps Fleabag. Despite witnessing this, the father does nothing. After the slap, we thought something big would have happened, but life continued as before.
Unsatisfying Sexual Encounters
With most of the men that Fleabag dates, the idea of sex seems better than the actuality. During these moments of “intimacy”, Fleabag looks at the camera, giving us her real thoughts on her date. Aside from a couple of encounters, she comes across as more amused or frustrated than turned on. However, she placates the men by making it seem like she was really into it. Who hasn’t had an unsatisfying encounter where the fantasy didn’t live up to the reality?
The sex that is the most intimate and gratifying for Fleabag is the one time she doesn’t look to the camera, and instead shuts the viewer out. This shows how the other sexual encounters truly paled in comparison.
Putting Up With Someone’s Partner
Fleabag’s brother-in-law is a truly terrible person. He causes the big rift between the sisters, telling Claire that Fleabag came on to him when it was the other way around. Prior to this, Fleabag never really liked the brother-in-law, but acknowledged that she put up with him because he made Claire laugh. While she didn’t want Claire to stay with him, she swallowed her opinion and let nature take its course.
The Hot Date Committing to Someone Else
In the first season, one of the men that Fleabag dates is an incredibly hot guy who she let have anal sex with her. It wasn’t something that particularly excited her, but it excited him. He became more sentimental about her because of it, and they continue dating for a while. The guy even comes to one of the awkward family dinners where Godmother is also mesmerized by his attractiveness.
He seems to be falling for Fleabag and wants to talk to her. She assumes that he wants to commit, but finds out that after dating her, he decided to remain faithful to his original girl friend. While Fleabag is disappointed, we doubt that he would have been a great match for her, but we can connect to that feeling of rejection.
Feeling Lost
Fleabag opens up to the priest about how lost she feels. In truth, she has experienced two great losses, which would steam-roll anyone, but she feels directionless in general. She’s uncertain what she wants and wishes someone would just tell her what to do. We sympathize with Fleabag. It’s common to feel lost and sometimes things would be easier if we were following someone else’s directions. But also like Fleabag, we really wouldn’t want that either.
