Fleabag finale episode SPOILERS thread

[HotPriest]

Crack open a can of and join your fellow iPlayer stalkers here for discussion of the final episode of Fleabag. Spoilers totally allowed so no peaking if you haven't see the episode.

Hoping it's as good as we all want it to be. Should be live on iPlayer tomorrow about 9.30am

"Was the statue revelation hinting ESM and the mother were lovers? She spoke so admiringly of the source of its inspiration in the first episode."

I don't think so - I think it's more that they used to be bohemian and fairly liberated friends. The point of the revelation, I think, is to make us realise that, in moral terms if not in the letter of the law, the statue did actually belong to Fleabag all along, and represents her mother pre-cancer double mastectomy. It casts her act of theft in a totally different emotional light. If the first theft is a symptom of dysfunction, the final one is reclamation. One of the things I loved is the elegance of this: the same action, with totally different meanings at different moments of the drama. That's how far the drama moved, and it takes quite some writerly talent to make it work.

I've found my people! I'm bereft without fleabag. It was uncomfortable viewing sometimes, I think I've done things as bad in my past. (no hot priests though 😉)
I came to it late, I watched the first series over the last few nights, will watch the last one again too, this time I might not sob through it...😁

I have been silently following the posts of this thread but haven’t brought myself to say anything.
It's been a long week! I watched the final episode a few times and found it incredibly moving… for many of the reasons raised by many other people on this thread.
And I have found myself sad, confused and a bit embarrassed at the same time… never in all my adult life has a TV programme affected me this much!!
But it has been great to be able to read other people’s take on it and (silently) realise that it’s not just me 😊, but more importantly that I’m not alone… and I believe that’s the main strength of FB, it has touched and moved so many people!! It has reached inside and showed us who we really are… for the better or the worse… sparking so many interesting conversations along the way. And this is great!

As someone has once said: ‘People are all we’ve got’ 😉

Thanks downcast, that’s a beautiful summation and agree that’s the point of the revelation. I was just wondering if the split second of shock was solely a reaction to the statue being modelled on her mother or if it was also surprise at the level of intimacy in ESM’s relationship with her.

Well said,MrsPotatoLP .

It's a landmark piece of tv - particularly for women, but also more generally. I think certain writers just raise the bar and send everybody scrabbling to catch up.

For me, the last show to really try and deal with those dysfunctional dynamics and 'every character is flawed' stuff from a female perspective was Gilmore Girls.

Although the reboot seemed to lose a lot of that and obviously the 12 certificate and young teen audience gave restraints, there was still a lot of raw emotion there, particularly around grief, that I just hadn't really seen explored from the female gaze before.

If you're reading this, PWB i hope you realise it's intended as high praise!

Ok, it appears to be 48 hours later and I am still thinking about it, still rewatching bits whilst eating my breakfast or eating my lunch (with headphones in the work kitchen on my own). I have a major work project due in tomorrow yet I am stalking mums net instead of completing my work. Why has a tv programme got so under my skin?

I think its because it makes me reflect on every relationship I've had, of relationships I haven't had, and what could come of the ones I have in the future. I never had a phase of toxic men, of attraction like FB and the HP. I've been with my husband for 20 years and it wasn't an intense connection at first, but grew in to a deep love. Yes, we were young and at university and had the "fun" part like everybody, but not that deep power of instantly knowing each other without having to say it all. I don't have any plans to get rid of this current one, and I had a sadness watching FB and HP that I would never have a love like that. It made me think of my relationship with my mother, and how I would feel without her. It made me feel sad that I don't have a sister like Claire. It made me sad that I never had a living in London phase like many of my friends.

I suppose that's what makes people describe FB as art. You don't just look at art, art makes you look at yourself.

NorthernGravy
I fully understand where you're coming from... I have a pretty good life and there's nothing I would change.
However, it made me think about the meaningful relationships in my life and the people that I've left behind. It also made me question time and what I've done with it...
As RuffleCrow said, it might be the feminine perspective that really touched me... the strenght, the power, the fragility and that sense of being lost.
I liked the fact that characters were so complex and had so many layers... none of them were easy to define, despite the fact that the whole story was developed in less than 6 hours.

PWB's brain is something else...

Sorry if this has been covered haven’t RTFT but I was confused by the bit where the Gmother said the sculpture was based on the mum and it was portrayed as she was sticking the knife in. Why was it mean? I thought it was quite beautiful that FB was drawn to it.

Just seen that perfect explanation from Downcast. Yes that makes complete sense.

I watched it last night and am still mulling it over - I don't think I've ever thought so much about a show after each episode. I've seen loads of people say they cried but for me FB was more of a cerebral show, not laugh out loud funny or something that would make me cry, despite the beautiful, heartbreaking ending. I hope there isn't something wrong with me..

Like all good art I think you see it through the prism of your own self and experiences. I felt sad never to have experienced the type of love/lust that exists between FB and HP, but also strangely relieved. I felt similarly about the sister theme, somewhat sad not to have one yet relieved I don't have that complication in my life and am not compared with anyone all the time. I was surprised there was nothing about Boo. Mostly I was surprised by the lack of drama in the finale. In earlier episodes I had been desperate for Claire to leave her husband, to get one up on the evil stepmum and to make up with FB but when that all happened I didn't actually feel the relief I thought I would. It was almost anticlimactic for me - I was expecting/dreading a darker ending for many of the characters. The final scene was breathtaking when it came, but very sad (despite the fact I never liked HP and didn't think he'd be good for FB).

I'm a bit in love with the Claire character (loved her airport speech) and also PWB. Definite girl crush.

I'm not sure I can match the character of FB with the person who slept with her best friend's bf - that's the only thing that doesn't add up for me. She seemed too nice and normal by the end. Agree that love as redemption was the main theme of this season. To know we can love is to know we are whole.

Gosh, didn't realise I'd written a mini essay there till I posted it!

I think the most groundbreaking bit was Kristen Scott Thomas talking about the pain women carry around, and how the menopause was amazing and freeing.

I don’t think I can remember a woman ever referring to the menopause on a TV show.

Cake " Mostly I was surprised by the lack of drama in the finale"

I thought they packed in loads of drama!!

sorry, hard to keep track of so many interesting discussions ... a pp mentioned that Fleabag maybe didn't trust the Priest enough to tell him why Clare left the wedding. I just assumed it was a privacy thing. You can't tell someone your sister has gone to pursue another man without checking with your sister that it's okay to tell people.

@Cakemonger, I think she made a mistake, in sleeping with Boos DP. Drunk... possibly slightly preyed on? I think after that, grief and guilt skewed her.

Undecided on Godmothers reveal about mum being her model. It was the kindest moment between them since their first on screen encounter- before she took the statue and explains why the statue may have initially caught Fleabags eye on a subconscious level, but it's still a piece of knowledge that I think she knows could stir deep emotion. For me... she may have said it kindly, but she is very controlling of the memory of the mother, so she will have said it knowing it could hurt. Alternative reading is that Fleabag taking the statue was a nadir in their relationship/Fleabags own life. The return allows her to be accepted and treated like an adult again.

God Mother is undeniably awful but occasionally she says something truthful and important, such as "dad moving on". It's the timing and context of these pearls of wisdom that make her so awful.

To the pp who mentioned not being overly emotional about the show, me too. I enjoyed, I laughed, I rooted for her but no tears. The way she smiled through being left each time though and everyone just goes blithely by, that did catch me out. I've smiled through. A whole 3-4years of my life were smiling through. It really fucking hurt. PWB nailed it.

I don’t think she really was the the type to sleep with her best friend’s ex - I don’t think many people are - but she was still early into the grief/ denial process.

Oh God fleabag. I cried at the last episode. But less at the priest/fleabag goodbyes. More Claire's "the only person I'd run through an airport is you" to FB. (my crying probably induced by being pregnant and having a very I'll sister). I'm really angry at the priest tho as feel like he preyed on her a bit. The confession bit she was really vulnerable laying herself bare and he made it sexual. I hope the fox ate him

Andrew Scott will be on The One Show tomorrow, talking Fleabag.

Rosa Ha yes, any other show and it would have counted as a dramatic finale. I guess I was comparing it to the finale of season 1, and of the episode with HP in the confession booth, both of which I found shocking. For some reason I thought the ending would be darker - I thought FB might die, HP might do something to hurt her, or that, god forbid, Claire would stay with her **hole husband.

Tinko Was it her friend's ex? I thought they were still together? Good point about the grief. Although I still find it hard to imagine somebody who is able to have such a close and loving friendship doing that? Maybe I've lived a sheltered life!

Haha MRSMARMITE!

Was Fleabag supposed to have slept with Boo’s boyfriend after her mum died?

I have just watched the confession scene again. It was such an amazing scene. She nailed that inner fear that comes with the human condition.

Were we ever given a proper timeline of events in the flashbacks?

I wondered if FB looking so luminous at her mum’s funeral was the afterglow of having sex with Boo’s boyfriend the night before.

Regarding Fleabag sleeping with Boo’s boyfriend, I think partly it is supposed to be viewed through her being reckless in her grief, but aren’t we supposed to believe she has always had a self destructive streak in her which got even more chaotic after the death of her mum? Her dad says often he loves her but doesn’t always like her actions. Her sister is always worried Fleabag will cause havoc and not do the right thing?

When Claire said something harsh to Martin and FB went ' oohh' and winced. She isn't used to her sister being cutting!
That was funny.
' he plays the bassoon, it's a cry for help'
Lol. Bassoons are weird instruments.

Interesting re Neil/Kneel
www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/p075zh60/focus-fleabag-stars-answer-fan-theories