Category: Blog

“Fleabag” is the only romcom I’ve seen about the protagonist’s sister. Make no mistake, the show bills itself as a love story, and the unnamed protagonist (Phoebe Waller-Bridge) does fall in love with a Priest (of all people), but her sister, Claire (Sian Clifford), has to learn that love is worth chasing after. Being that “Fleabag” is soon to turn ten years old and that 2016-focused nostalgia is becoming a bit of a trend right now, the series is worth examining as a time capsule of mid-2010s feminism and optimism. Adapted from a 2012 stage play of the same name, Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s television debut takes many forms. Tragedy, comedy, romance, slice-of-life, sure, but at its core is the story of a struggling café owner’s inability to grieve and connect with others following the deaths of her best friend, Boo, and her mother. The depiction of Fleabag’s (the character’s) mourning is painful and realistic. Her desperation to be seen, let alone loved, becomes strikingly apparent in one of the best television monologues of the century located at the end of season one’s finale. Above this aspect of the show, however, lies her relationship with Claire.