Fleabag is coming back! series 2

[HoraceCope]

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

I agrees, Bertram and I'm reading it that the priest is very troubled by what happened (when he was also quite troubled and drunk), which is why he faces up to her at the bus stop and asks her not to visit him at the church again.

I also wonder if Fleabag herself is supposed to come from a Catholic background? They don't specifically say it, but Claire evidently attends the church in some capacity and it's the father rather than the stepmum who's driving the wedding. Stepmum is clear she's not into organised religion and being Catholic isn't like being C of E, at least one of you would have to be at least nominally of the faith if you're going to get married in it. The mum's funeral was also in what appeared to be a Catholic church.

I guess it's possible Dad and Claire both came to it recently and Fleabag never had any involvement with religion at all, but seems more likely that it's a familial thing. I know Fleabag says she's not Catholic but that's not especially unusual in people who were raised somewhat Catholic but subsequently reject it.

I would also argue that priests only obtain power from their position in the community, their role as heavenly gatekeeper and forgiver, and the respect the role traditionally is given.

However, FB is not part of the community, does not believe in God or heaven and has no respect for his position as a priest, the church or God.

He is more, if not equally damaged. I don't think he is being abusive. I think he is making a bad decision. I didn't like the last episode and was disappointed they chose to have sex, but because I think their relationship is potentially damaging to both of them.

On the other hand it is unusual to have a best friend who committed suicide and killed 3 people because you slept with her boyfriend.

But it wasn't Boo's intention to commit suicide. She just wanted to get hit by a cyclist / hurt so her boyfriend would visit her in hospital.

A few random thoughts:

• there must be loads in the final ep that is nothing to do with them having shagged, there are lots of loose ends
• I wonder what evil stepmum has told HP about FB and Clare, she had the initial contact with him and I bet has filled in some gaps untruthfully there. I feel this will bite someone (hopefully ESM) on the arse at some point
• I hope we see FB's dad regain his voice a bit
• I reckon Hot Misogynist has fulfilled his narrative duty ie was the reason she was oiled up in her pants, I don't think we need to see him again (unless it's really him Clare is after and not Klare?)
• I really hope we see the finished portrait of FB and Clare, I bet it's an absolute horror
• where did the golden statue end up?
• Jake must make an appearance, he'll surely be at the wedding, hopefully he's got an absolute showstopper line
• I need to get out more

BUT wasn't sleeping with her best friend's boyfriend evidence of an already dysfunctional personality.

I don't know - I don't think anybody in the show is completely functional or good. If everyone is innately flawed, does there have to be a reason for their behaviour? (At this point if I were writing an essay I would talk about the Catholic Church, Quakerism and Original Sin, and show how the Catholicism theme and priest character are completely and absolutely essential!!!!)

There could be circumstances that explain what she did, but that wouldn't mitigate the trauma of the consequences.

I'm not sure it's entirely true that she has no respect for his position. A lot of athiests and agnostics actually find the idea of other people having faith strangely comforting as well as infuriating. She's read the bible, helped out at church fetes, even went to the church to pray without him.

But it wasn't Boo's intention to commit suicide. She just wanted to get hit by a cyclist / hurt so her boyfriend would visit her in hospital.

Yes, but I don't think that would make FB feel better about the consequences.

She helped out at the fete because she wanted to sleep with him. If anything, she's the one being abusive by not respecting his clearly set boundaries.

But this is a TV show, not the relationships board. We're not all playing spot the abuser.

Erm Veronica - are you forgetting the bit where he turned up at her house and told her they were going to have sex? She was doing exactly as he'd told her - leaving him alone and he sought her address out from Claire.

And are you forgetting the scene in th Confessional? Push push push tell me all tell me all......

She went to the church in the first place. She's been after him like a dog at a disco all series!

And that scene was hot. Lighten UP.

I think he actually said. 'ok...' and 'go on...'

Bloody hell, the stuff you guys are getting from a half hour telly show. Baffling

He didn't tell her they were going to have sex, he said, "We're going to have sex, aren't we?" Which is a question. And she had already acknowledged that they were going to in her own head. I read it as more of an acknowledgement of the inevitability that they kept being drawn to each other, not him telling her what to do.

And in the confessional he didn't push her, she volunteered as much information as she wanted to, and held back a whole lot that she clearly wasn't ready to share.

I reckon sitdownstandup you’re right the family is loosely catholic because the funeral was in that church too. I’ve also spent far too much time fathoming this!

Erm Veronica - are you forgetting the bit where he turned up at her house and told her they were going to have sex?

Strictly speaking he went to her house to tell her they weren't going to have sex, and she told him that catholic priests could have sex before twice telling the 'fourth wall' that they were going to have sex.

I don't think you can ignore the fact that he is clearly aware on some level of what she says to the fourth wall.

I will agree that it's not clear why Claire didn't just give him her phone number. I think it was for dramatic effect because it enabled the farce with the lawyer turning up at the same time, as well as putting him in a convenient place for the eventual sex.

However it doesn't make sense in real life.

The mum's funeral was also in what appeared to be a Catholic church.

It looked like a fairly traditional Anglican church. The filming location for the priest's 'Catholic' church is actually a Victorian Anglican church in Brent.

It was Stepmother who was taken with how 'chic' it was to have a 'real priest' officiate at the wedding. I think we're going to have to let this one go as a plot contrivance to bring the priest and Fleabag together.

But he didn't need to turn up at her house to tell her that - she'd already heard the message loud and clear at the bus stop.

you’re right the family is loosely catholic because the funeral was in that church too

Different churches!

I'm not liking the second series as much. I think Moriaty overacts and he's not for me.

Does anyone else think that FB sleeping with Boo's bf was a bit too far? They were supposedly really close friends.

are you forgetting the bit where he turned up at her house and told her they were going to have sex?

After she had already told us 'we're going to have sex'. I keep thinking about the therapist's line 'you already know what you're going to do'.

I have been thinking through my own reactions to the idea of the potentially abusive relationship. I think I don't agree with it because to me he doesn't appear to have a plan. If his behaviour could be seen as abusive in some scenes, others play against that, and my gut reaction to the character is that he's confused most of the time, and struggling with his own demons. So the power balance feels at least equal between them.

And Clare's haircut I read as others have done. It was a shock of something new, of taking a step with her hair that she really wanted to but then being scared of the consequences and in denial that she wanted so much change. And then all that writ large again about her whole life in general. And her appearance was slightly odd at worst (and lots of people would love the haircut - I felt FB was not reliable in her judgement there) and then Klare came along and totally appreciated it, and made her love it too. Again, that's how her relationship with her works. So it didn't at all feel like we were laughing at her for the cut or the reaction.

But he didn't need to turn up at her house to tell her that - she'd already heard the message loud and clear at the bus stop.

He needed to explain why.

Just from a narrative point of view, you can't have all that 'The priest really hears her' business, and then just 'never come to the church again'.

Obviously people are free to interpret the show as they wish, but I think at this point, if you see his actions as abusive, you are perceiving something that PWB isn't intending to portray.

I think we're going to have to let this one go as a plot contrivance to bring the priest and Fleabag together.

Well maybe. But having been raised Catholic myself, I thought it might be something that's just obvious if you notice it but not otherwise. I read an interview with PWB the other day that mentioned she'd gone to a Catholic school, which got me thinking about whether she has that in her background and is drawing on it.

www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2018/sep/08/phoebe-waller-bridge-fleabag-killing-eve-transgressive-women

And a lot of the more traditional and/or High Anglican churches are more Catholic looking than the actual Catholic ones!

Ruffle

the "I'm going to take a shit" thing - I actually wondered if that was part of the Unreliable Narrator issue.