Phoebe Waller-Bridge in a still from Fleabag. It has been more than three years since Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s Fleabag ended on a bittersweet note. The untitled protagonist, referred to as Fleabag by the audience, showed us what it was like being a modern young woman out of her sorts in her 20s. Fleabag’s one foot was stuck in the present where she lived with complete abandonment and tackled daily life struggles with what seemed like a lot of easy charm and good humour, even as she privately dealt with that one heartbreaking moment in her past that had her riddled with guilt. Believing that she was the cause of her friend’s death, she tried to fill the void with sex, thinking she can distract herself by striking up random flings or relationships, or by being nonchalant about her responsibilities, like earning a living and running her cafe. But the past has a way of catching up.
Through the show, creator-writer and actor Phoebe Waller-Bridge held up a mirror to most of us millennials, of what it was like being confused about your personal and professional life as you navigate desires, dreams and death. Fleabag is interesting because she contains so many people within her self. When she is on her own she’s different, when she’s trying to flirt with someone, she appears different and when she is interacting with her sister Claire, she puts on another version of herself. This is us most of the time. Through this mirror of humanity, Phoebe represents a young woman who is in love with herself and still hates her choices. She brings up that dichotomy time and again via the character’s actions and conversations with people around her. This is why she might be a bit difficult to like at first.
You, however, learn to love her with every passing episode. You love her for her clear declaration of how much she wants sex, you love her for all these honest and multi-layered feelings she holds for her godmother (an excellent Olivia Colman). You cannot help but love her for the amount of love and pain she holds for boo, her deceased pal. And finally, Phoebe, with utmost conviction and honesty, gives a glimpse of what it is like to have a sister (an instantly likeable Sian Clifford). A sister/sibling you admire, but also envy.
Speaking about the inspiration behind the show, Phoebe had earlier told BBC4 that inspiration came to her when she was feeling her most cynical. “When I was in my twenties and I was feeling quite cynical, when I was standing on the precipice of being too cynical or becoming a little bit depressed about the pressures of society, and starting to wake up to the reality of the pressures that women are under — men as well, but particularly women — I felt that if I looked down over the precipice, into the chasm below, at the bottom was Fleabag wearing lipstick and looking up at me. It was the worst case scenario of a kind of spiral of self-loathing and judgement,” said the writer-actor.
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It also helps that Fleabag is peppered with the most beautiful lines all over. Funny, lovely and unassuming, like its protagonist. Remember when she gave that little speech about the importance of hair, after Claire’s disastrously hilarious haircut? Or the time when that banker she wanted a loan from, opens up about starting over with his wife. Or when Andrew Scott’s good-looking priest says those meaningful lines about life and love?
Within a span of 12 episodes, with a duration of 30 minutes each, Phoebe Waller-Bridge took us through a gamut of emotions we are capable of feeling. And did it with honesty and hilarity. A combination difficult to come by in life, let alone in a TV show. If that’s not near-perfect television, what is?
You can stream the two seasons of Fleabag on Amazon Prime Video.
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