Fleabag

Wow yeah I forgot about that detail. I forget about so many aspects of this show when I think about it! I had forgotten about "fucked me up the arse" dude

Also I adored the "people are shit" "yes.. but they're also all we've got" moment, directed a little too on-the-nose but the sentiment was nice

works better in the play thru waller-bridge's interp of the guy, imo.

incredible show -- the number of great elements to it is difficult to narrow down, w/obvious accolades going to PWB, but everyone is great. Colman's warmth barely covering her controlling nature and skillful manner of cutting nimbly where it hurts the most is a tricky performance to pull off, the trick being that the only people who see it are the ones she wants to show it to, while everyone else remains charmed and understandably so (if you view it from the perspective of those who don't know her well). A perfect depiction of charisma and false warmth towards others used to keep oneself at the center of attention. Sian Clifford, whom I'm not familiar w/, is this character we're maybe invited to expect to dislike but she's really so likable despite her flaws and short-temperedness w/Fleabag, since we see her through the latter's eyes and despite their falling-out at the end of S1 they just love each other so much and the empathy for the character is so deep. a lesser show would have (and lesser shows have, habitually) created characters exactly like this who are set up to be villains of sorts. not remotely the case here.

also i don't buy the whole premise that PWB's character is presented as this beautiful and funny and hip person, i think the key point there is she's full of so much self-loathing and depression that she can't get past it to see what others do see in her, those moments exist to highlight glimpses into the frailty of everyone else and their own self-image issues coupled w/her own perception of herself being wrong. i mean of course certainly FB spends more time in the series making errors in judgement and being insulted by the people she loves (or being fucked w/by the cruel significant others of those she loves) than she spends it getting compliments.

a lot of the show reminded me of some of the Arnaud Desplechin films i've seen. Kings and Queen, in particularly. just w/regards to certain elements of emotional brutality coming to the fore. it's been a long time since i've seen that one, so i'm not sure how much that comp holds water tbh.

i didn't think the priest was too creepy, i think it was a fairly even-keeled depiction of a flawed man of the cloth caught between two places. he seems like maybe he used to be a male version of FB and has found some solace in this new life and thru no fault of her own she tempts him back into it, and he can't go all the way with leaving it in the end. i thought the depiction was sympathetic enough. i'm saying this w/my perception clouded as the son of a guy who left a seminary to pursue a nun who left the convent and it didn't work in the end so idk.

Fleabag claiming her sister's miscarriage as her own in the first ep of season two is her Jesus moment imo

nice post omar, agree with nearly all of it - esp the description of what Colman / PWB pull off with her character

still bothers me that a catholic priest in full regalia was officiating at a civil wedding in their back garden

Haha, yes.

Agreed, especially regarding her sister and their relationship (also lol the whole haircut issue !).

Finished season two yesterday. It's really amazing, but also quite complex and bittersweet. I loved Martin's big speech as an example of everything you shouldn't say, all 'it's not my fault! I can't help it! you just have to deal with me!' I still haven't really figured out what I thought of the very end, but it seemed to me that both fleabag and hot alcoholic priest decided to keep on working on themselves.

there is exactly one completely horrible person in the series and it's Martin

He was too awful to my taste, at times it really made Claire seem bad as well. He was being so awful to her sister!

Godmother is giving him some serious competition there IMO

most definitely

she's at least consciously and sometimes maliciously bad, and Martin is just a flailing douchebag

Also, the way Gelman delivered that speech was so unexpectedly great; this blubbering pile of terrified vulnerability that still manages to be completely unbearable while being self-aware about how unbearable he is. When I was watching it, I had a very strong "I identify with and wholly reject this" reaction.

Otm. I completely get the feeling. Why does my girlfriend keep getting annoyed that I never do anything I promise her that I'll do, I'm bad at remembering stuff, it's not my fault, she should write it down to me, including specific instructions, it's not my fault!

It's kinda male privilege in the extreme. Or in another way, he's at step one of the twelve step program, and has just decided it's easier to stop there.

I think I'd feel horrible rewatching just for that monologue, but now that you mention it, it's really is *chef kiss* bad

I kept wondering if the part was written with Gelman in mind. I can't imagine anyone else in the role.

Yeah, he really goes for that energy. I kinda hated him in Lemon, though.

His greatest work remains 1,000 Cats.

as per colbert interview, apparently gelman's agent was directly contacted by Amazon's casting people for the part and flew out to the UK the next day for filming.

anyways, my gelman love is always based around his work in Eagleheart which should've gotten him an honorary Tony and/or Pulitzer

Gelman is so good at being an asshole I kind of just assume he is one.

i totally just misremembered The Walking Dead and thought Gelman also played Gregory. Totally different actor.

I’m rarely shocked by anything on a show but when Fleabag shoved her godmother back against the wall in s1 ep5 it was really something. Not even a satisfying moment and just this really raw and believable thing. It also set up the moment of her punching Martin at dinner, since by now it was very much in character, and much later in terms of general show tone made the moment where Martin grabs her by the (cashmere) sweater in an aggressive threatening moment genuinely frightening.

Forgive the thread spam, but I wanted to note that this show's 2019 season is nominated in the 2019 ILX TV poll:

ILX's Best Television of 2019 Poll / VOTING AND CAMPAIGNING THREAD / Voting Ends January 31

If you like this show and you'd like to see it have a good showing in the poll (running in February) all you need to do is submit a ballot including it and your other favorites (4 minimum, 25 maximum, organized by your favorite to least favorite) to forksclovetofu at gmail by end of day today. It'll take five minutes; get to it!