Fleabag is coming back! series 2

[HoraceCope]

And with Andrew Scott,
he is great
as is Olivia Colman

Pengrin

is anyone hating on the priest?

when I say "it's a power exercise" I'm not hating him for it, just making an observation.

I'm glad I'm not the only one who found it hot! It was so intense and I was petrified when he said "kneel" that it was going to turn nasty and so relieved when it didn't.

I think its an abuse of power in the same way it is with a teacher/pupil. Whatever the pupil did to "manipulate" the teacher (male or female is irrelevant) its inappropiate for the teacher to abuse that position of trust.

100 x so for a priest (male or female) in a confessional situation. Perhaps a better analogy would be a therapist- when those lines blur, however screwed up the client is, ths therapists role is not to abuse that trust.

But one of the wonderful things about the way she writes the drama is that we can see the different angles - and yes he maybe a priest but fallable and human with it.

It was still hot.

Would you be hating on the woman for ‘manipulating’ him?

I think Fleabag is genuinely vulnerable and I don't think the sex of the priest is relevant. You don't have to change the sex of Fleabag - take this out of the Catholic Church and the religious person/counsellor could be female and they could kiss.

It's not a question of 'hating on' the character of the priest - I like the character and want him to redeem himself by recognising what has happened.

And Im not hating on him either as I planely fancy him ;)

But its the situation which also makes it so inappropiate - like in an actual counselling session. Wpuld be v different if it had been after a drink in the pub/coffee shop etc.

FB is an intelligent woman. There is nothing to suggest that beyond three years ago there was anything particularly dysfunctional about her life. She had an intact family and a mother to whom she close. She has clearly derailed since then but I don't think I would call her a particularly vulnerable woman.

We don't know Priest/Neil's background. So he could be equally or more vulnerable.

I still maintain that they were both clear on the fact that he was not her priest. I think the scene in the cafe when he says the thing about "helping" and she chucks him out , she is telling him in no uncertain terms that he is not her counsellor/priest/confessor.

I think it was kneel and it was meant to be a bit S&M (and also very hot!).. I also think that Fleabag talking about wanting someone to tell her what to do resonated with him as he has most likely chosen the Priesthood because it provides that exact same sense of certainty and order that she talked about. The darker side of that wish to be told what to do/how to dress etc is subjugation and Fleabag has played with those ideas loads of times in both series so far. With Harry she was very much the dominant one so I think she and the Priest are pretty evenly matched.

Rabbit I’m not sure about her not being dysfunctional before 3 years ago. Season 1 at the end seems to suggest that she’s always always used sex as validation so I think she’s been messed up / confused etc for a long time

Shiver It think thats it exactly.

But I think there is sometimes a difference between being insecure and being vulnerable.

Shiva I think it's both actually so you've got layers. So the priest is saying Neil as his name and struggling against his faith so that makes it very intense and then you've got the submissive role of fleabag who has just said she want somebody to tell her what to do, hears it as kneel and so that makes it incredibly erotic for her. Layers. Layers.

Think I'm in the minority here - I don't think FB is a mega fuck up. Or mega messed up. Or anymore lost or vulnerable than anyone else. She's smart, so perhaps more self aware than others. She talks inside her head a lot so we know her inner voice. I think she seems like a normal woman who has experienced significant loss and is aware of her poor choices and bad decisions. She expresses anxiety and thoughts I think a lot of people perhaps don't recognise in themselves and certainly can't articulate. She seems normal.

And I don't the the priest is abusive . He's normal and fallible too
Be a bit boring if he wasnt. It is after all a telly show

Interview for P-WB, for those finding it hard to wait for Monday for a Fleabag fix!

It's from a couple of years back, but a great interview:

In the interview says she enjoyed the the Hugh Dennis character seemed like a bit part but actually he's integral to the story. Something about nothing being wasted.

I wonder which characters we've met this season will prove to be significant in the next couple of shows.

I think it's got to be Pam, hasn't it? There's a story there.

And possibly Clare's step son also?

Good interview howmanybiscuits although that interviewer was quite irritating.

I have the feeling that the odd step-son knows his dad is a cock and so is genuinely warning Fleabag for Clare.

"She had an intact family and a mother to whom she close."

But that's the point of the show! Look at her relationships with her father and sister, they're completely dysfunctional. Not to mention the hint of a not-totally-loving relationship by her dad towards her mum. That stuff affects you hugely.

An "intact family" does not mean you end up fine - sometimes breakups are healthier.

She has Belinda's card as well so maybe she'll make a reappearance as well.

I agree that the HP is potentially a lot more fucked up than FB. She says in the first series her Dad didn't know what to do with her and Claire when her Mum died. At the time I assumed they were children when she died but we later find out they were adults. Having seen the funeral scenes I think she fucked Boo's boyfriend in her grief with tragic consequences but I don't think there's anything to suggest she had disfunctional sex before that? Will need to binge watch season 1 now!

But if the HP is the child of alcoholics with a paedophile as a brother and he's hinted there was lots of sex in the past and we are sure he has an alcohol problem in the present then that's a major fuckup.

PPs are comparing with a therapist, think about when FB saw the therapist, her reactions to FB were very different to HPs.

As far as finding it hot? Well every romcom ever written has women falling in love with inadequate men who behave badly and are redeemed by a big and usually public declaration of love. We are trained to find bad boys attractive in fiction.

PWB said this was a love story? Remember Frozen, Anna is saved by her love for Elsa not romantic love. We're being distracted by the HP.

The relationship with the sister is the healthiest one overall isn’t it? Again how did Clare end up with that odious man and why does she stay?

He kneeled too. I didn't think it was an abuse of power, rethinking now reading this thread but still unsure, at least he didn't unzip while she was down there

He is lovely.

Am i the only one who thinks Fleabag and Boo maybe became more than just friends after her mother's funeral? The 'give all your love to me' scene for example?' Because if so, it may explain further why Fleabag felt the need to sleep with Boo's boyfriend? Perhaps she saw Boo as betraying her on some level? And would take some of the heat off FB as 'the bad guy' in that context. Also, the 'part time lesbian' comment to the woman in the bar would be explained.

I know it’s not real life- but I do find all the women loving the priest really worrying. He is so dangerous and awful- I do hope you would all run a mile in real life!

I didn't get the lesbian vibe at all. Boo was just very like her mum - unfailingly kind, and perhaps damaged/needy as well.

There probably aren't many young tortured, charismatic, handsome celibate priests roaming the land, so it's hopefully not a big problem Bertrand.

“There probably aren't many young tortured, charismatic, handsome celibate priests roaming the land, so it's hopefully not a big problem Bertrand.”

I know. It’s my age. I just want young women to realise that dependable and safe is what you’re looking for in a man..........

Doesn't make for good drama though, I accept.