So I watched the new Indiana Jones movie recently, it was a solid time, but I especially liked Phoebe Waller Bridge's performance and it inspired me to finally give her show Fleabag a go. Like with the other British comedies I've seen, I'll be clumping both seasons together in a single review since they're so short.
Fleabag is about the titular character struggling to deal with, well, everything. Her best friend committed suicide (eventually revealed to be her fault) straining her relationship with her sister, her mother died and her new godmother is the absolute worst, and she's a sex freak with very bad luck with relationships. It's not as unrelentingly bleak as it sounds though, Fleabag is after all a black comedy and the titular character's snarky and quirky personality helps her stay likable throughout her very bumpy journey to becoming a better person. Let's start with the positives. Phoebe Waller Bridge is great, all of her performances are super charismatic and energetic, her fourth wall breaks make for some of the strongest comedy in the show, and her shit-eating grin is always absolutely hysterical. Drama wise, I found Fleabag to be super compelling especially when it comes to Fleabag's relationship with her sister Claire. They feel realistic as siblings, constantly butting heads but with a hidden respect for each other that slowly becomes more visible as the season progresses. Olivia Coleman and Brett Gelman were also both great as the Godmother and Martin, both hamming it up as some really despicable antagonists.
However, I did also have quite a few gripes with Fleabag. For starters, it gets off to a pretty slow start. The first three episodes feel more like a disconnected series of sketches rather than full stories, and it's not until the silent resort episode (Episode 4) where it feels like the series really settles into its groove. Despite that, though, I actually still think I liked Season 1 more than Season 2? Season 1 had more of a grit to it, its humor was more unhinged and the drama was more family-centric. The majority of the episodes were about Fleabag and Claire's strained relationship and the two essentially being forced together. The Hot Priest is nice and all, and he has good chemistry with PWB, but he and his romance with Fleabag was still kinda boring to me, and felt like it stole screentime from the other vastly more interesting characters. I also thought this season was vastly less funny and biting compared to the first season. I don't know, maybe it was just more engaging to see Fleabag unleashed on the world like in Season 1.
Highlights:
Episode 1.04: As I said above, this is where the show really got good for me. Fleabag and Claire being sent to a silent resort together is comedic gold since it forces them to at least try to get along and it forces Fleabag to stop running her mouth for a bit. The ending was also fantastic between Fleabag's heart to heart with the Bank Manager and her surprisingly sweet scene with Claire immediately cutting to Claire having left early.
Episode 2.06: Despite my gripes with Season 2, this was a good ending. Everything got wrapped up pretty much perfectly. Claire reveals her miscarriage and finally breaks up with Martin in one of the best scenes in the series, the sculpture subplot is finally resolved, and Fleabag gets the point where she can straight-up leave the audience behind.
Overall, I have pretty mixed feelings on Fleabag, the show. Fleabag the character is fantastic and played to perfection by PWB, and her dynamics with her family members is both fun to watch and dramatically compelling. However, Season 2's heavy focus on romance really started to lose me, and the comedy didn't always land for me.
3/5 Stars
No comments:
Post a Comment