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cjlasky7Fleabag (the series) is a tricky beast to review, because the first season (s2 in 2019!) hinges on a small but crucial piece of information withheld from the audience until the last episode. Revealing it here wouldn't necessarily ruin the experience, but it might lessen your appreciation of how masterfully Phoebe Waller-Bridge constructed the season.
So I won't do it.
Anyway....
Fleabag (our protagonist) is a charmer. She seduces you with her razor wit, her intelligence, and her blunt humor as much as her body and her set-in-cement brunette bob. She winks at the audience through the camera, spinning out sarcastic commentary for the viewer at the bank, during an awkward family dinner, even (or especially) during sex.
We're on her side from the beginning, because the world is piling a lot of problems on her back: her tiny London cafe is going down the tubes and she can't get a loan; she's in a strained relationship with her sister (mostly due to her douchebag of a brother-in-law); and any attempts to reconcile with her emotionally distant father are hamstrung by her stepmother (played with terrifying insincerity by the great Olivia Coleman). Worst of all, she's struggling with the death of her best friend and business partner, Boo (who appears in appropriately spectral flashbacks), leaving her without a dependable emotional security blanket in an increasingly hostile world.
But, as much as we like her, maybe we have to admit that Fleabag isn't making the best choices right now, especially around men. Taking her top off during the loan interview. Patronizing the beaver-toothed filmmaker. Jerking around her on-again/ off-again boyfriend, Harry, until he finally (albeit reluctantly) leaves for good.
(When he showed up at the exhibition with a new girlfriend, my first thought was: good for him. Maybe Harry was too sensitive and naive to really "get" Fleabag, but he certainly deserved better than Fleabag's blatant manipulation.)
When it finally sinks in that Fleabag uses sex to assert power, not express love and affection, we're ready for that final revelation--and we say to ourselves:
"Oh. Of COURSE."
Once that revelation hits both us and our antiheroine at full power, she can deal with the full scope of the tragedy; and maybe--in that final scene with the loan officer--she can pull herself together and start to move forward.
Waller-Bridge is phenomenal--magnetic and scabrously funny, while totally selling the drama. But the unsung MVP of series 1 is Sian Clifford as Fleabag's sister Claire. The best scenes of season 1 are the two sisters together, negotiating their shared past, their different personalities, their (unfulfilled) dreams, and their unresolved conflicts. As someone with his own sister Claire (yes, that's her name!)... I can relate.
***************
You can't get away from Waller-Bridge these days: the voice of L7 in Solo; the Times reporter in Goodbye, Christopher Robin; live! Off Broadway! New York, March 2019; and writer/producer on Killing Eve (s2 in 2019--also!).
For Killing Eve, it's easy to see what drew Waller-Bridge to Luke Jennings' source novels: Villanelle (Jodie Comer) is another transgressive young woman, indulging her childhood fantasies of living the Parisian high life, playing dress up and flaunting her well-honed skills in role-playing to slip through the tightest security to assassinate her target. The first few episodes are the most fun, as we bounce across Europe with Villanelle, admiring her skill and attention to detail, and enjoying her verbal sparring with her handler/daddy figure Konstantin.
Meanwhile, in the dull, grey offices of England's MI5, Eve Polestri (Sandra Oh), tracks Villanelle's path of bloody carnage, always one step ahead of her skeptical male colleagues, always one crucial step behind her quarry. Villanelle becomes an obsession, and even when the pursuit puts her directly into Villanelle's sights, Eve keeps plugging away, despite the danger to herself, her colleagues and maybe even her husband.
(And yeah, he isn't happy about that.)
Oh and Comer attack their parts like crazed wolverines, and they are just beautiful to watch.
But I have to admit, s1 lost me a couple of times. When Bill tracked Villanelle through Berlin, and she "made" him--and he KNEW he'd been made--he should've called for backup from the Berlin police right there. He didn't--and I shook my head and grumbled, "Oh, he's so dead." A stupid mistake that a veteran agent wouldn't make.
I also wasn't that interested in the sad, empty past of poor Oksana/Villanelle, the Caged Heat antics in the Russian prison, and the weirdly Damon Runyon-esque escapades of Villanelle and Konstantin's precocious daughter. The whole Moscow section seemed out of balance, taking attention away from the mano-a-mano conflict between Eve and Villanelle and focusing on the love life of Carolyn Martens (Fiona Shaw). It wasn't until the final (for now) confrontation in Paris that the whole thing clicked again.
(Is it weird that I was rooting against a lesbian love scene with Sandra Oh and happy that Eve gutted Villanelle like a trout? What does that say about me?)
For S2, I'd like more of an explanation as to why Eve is so turned on by female killers. But generally--more ingenious assassinations, more oddball characters, and more fabulous clothes. Go with what works.
So I won't do it.
Anyway....
Fleabag (our protagonist) is a charmer. She seduces you with her razor wit, her intelligence, and her blunt humor as much as her body and her set-in-cement brunette bob. She winks at the audience through the camera, spinning out sarcastic commentary for the viewer at the bank, during an awkward family dinner, even (or especially) during sex.
We're on her side from the beginning, because the world is piling a lot of problems on her back: her tiny London cafe is going down the tubes and she can't get a loan; she's in a strained relationship with her sister (mostly due to her douchebag of a brother-in-law); and any attempts to reconcile with her emotionally distant father are hamstrung by her stepmother (played with terrifying insincerity by the great Olivia Coleman). Worst of all, she's struggling with the death of her best friend and business partner, Boo (who appears in appropriately spectral flashbacks), leaving her without a dependable emotional security blanket in an increasingly hostile world.
But, as much as we like her, maybe we have to admit that Fleabag isn't making the best choices right now, especially around men. Taking her top off during the loan interview. Patronizing the beaver-toothed filmmaker. Jerking around her on-again/ off-again boyfriend, Harry, until he finally (albeit reluctantly) leaves for good.
(When he showed up at the exhibition with a new girlfriend, my first thought was: good for him. Maybe Harry was too sensitive and naive to really "get" Fleabag, but he certainly deserved better than Fleabag's blatant manipulation.)
When it finally sinks in that Fleabag uses sex to assert power, not express love and affection, we're ready for that final revelation--and we say to ourselves:
"Oh. Of COURSE."
Once that revelation hits both us and our antiheroine at full power, she can deal with the full scope of the tragedy; and maybe--in that final scene with the loan officer--she can pull herself together and start to move forward.
Waller-Bridge is phenomenal--magnetic and scabrously funny, while totally selling the drama. But the unsung MVP of series 1 is Sian Clifford as Fleabag's sister Claire. The best scenes of season 1 are the two sisters together, negotiating their shared past, their different personalities, their (unfulfilled) dreams, and their unresolved conflicts. As someone with his own sister Claire (yes, that's her name!)... I can relate.
***************
You can't get away from Waller-Bridge these days: the voice of L7 in Solo; the Times reporter in Goodbye, Christopher Robin; live! Off Broadway! New York, March 2019; and writer/producer on Killing Eve (s2 in 2019--also!).
For Killing Eve, it's easy to see what drew Waller-Bridge to Luke Jennings' source novels: Villanelle (Jodie Comer) is another transgressive young woman, indulging her childhood fantasies of living the Parisian high life, playing dress up and flaunting her well-honed skills in role-playing to slip through the tightest security to assassinate her target. The first few episodes are the most fun, as we bounce across Europe with Villanelle, admiring her skill and attention to detail, and enjoying her verbal sparring with her handler/daddy figure Konstantin.
Meanwhile, in the dull, grey offices of England's MI5, Eve Polestri (Sandra Oh), tracks Villanelle's path of bloody carnage, always one step ahead of her skeptical male colleagues, always one crucial step behind her quarry. Villanelle becomes an obsession, and even when the pursuit puts her directly into Villanelle's sights, Eve keeps plugging away, despite the danger to herself, her colleagues and maybe even her husband.
(And yeah, he isn't happy about that.)
Oh and Comer attack their parts like crazed wolverines, and they are just beautiful to watch.
But I have to admit, s1 lost me a couple of times. When Bill tracked Villanelle through Berlin, and she "made" him--and he KNEW he'd been made--he should've called for backup from the Berlin police right there. He didn't--and I shook my head and grumbled, "Oh, he's so dead." A stupid mistake that a veteran agent wouldn't make.
I also wasn't that interested in the sad, empty past of poor Oksana/Villanelle, the Caged Heat antics in the Russian prison, and the weirdly Damon Runyon-esque escapades of Villanelle and Konstantin's precocious daughter. The whole Moscow section seemed out of balance, taking attention away from the mano-a-mano conflict between Eve and Villanelle and focusing on the love life of Carolyn Martens (Fiona Shaw). It wasn't until the final (for now) confrontation in Paris that the whole thing clicked again.
(Is it weird that I was rooting against a lesbian love scene with Sandra Oh and happy that Eve gutted Villanelle like a trout? What does that say about me?)
For S2, I'd like more of an explanation as to why Eve is so turned on by female killers. But generally--more ingenious assassinations, more oddball characters, and more fabulous clothes. Go with what works.
no subject
Date: 2019-01-01 03:16 am (UTC)Agree on "Killing Eve". The cat and mouse game between Eve and Villenalle works. Everything else doesn't really. And I got a bit lost in places. Also the death of Oh's friend and boss in the Paris nightclub was beyond stupid. He was a seasoned operative, why would he pursue an assassin in a nightclub by himself, with no backup? The writers made it almost too easy for V to take people out. So plotwise? Not so good. I got lost during the Russia bit as well. And the pacing needs work. Characterwise? Great.
Currently watching Chuck Lorre's The Kominsky Method starring Michael Douglas and Alan Arkin on Netflix.
Three Notes for a "Fleabag" Re-watch
Date: 2019-01-01 09:30 pm (UTC)2. A main through line for s1 is the gold statuette Fleabag steals from her stepmother's art studio. As the statue changes hands, disappears and reappears along the way, the circumstances of the exchange comment on the relationships and power structure within Fleabag's family.
3. What do we owe each other? is a question that comes up almost as much as it does on the Good Place. What does Fleabag owe to the memory of her friend? Her mother? Claire wrestles with caring for her damaged family or chucking everything to achieve personal happiness. What's the right balance? PW-B doesn't give easy answers, which is one reason this show is great.
Re: Three Notes for a "Fleabag" Re-watch
Date: 2019-01-01 10:05 pm (UTC)This could have been a mood thing of course. It was two or three years back, when another person, a Brit, on my flist was highly rec'ing it.
I don't know why I took an instant dislike to the protagonist, but I did. I think she reminded me a bit too much of some former female friends...I had a similar reaction to Lena Durham's Girls.
no subject
Date: 2019-01-01 11:36 pm (UTC)