Rachel Reviews: Fleabag

I've been craving good drama that's witty, entertaining and unique, for a bit of escapism from the darkness of the real world at the moment. I wanted to watch something which is about people and for it to illustrate relationships that felt like they were rooted in reality, reality as I wanted to see it, not this fear-mongering-crazy-hatred world that's projected to me whenever I look out.

Enter Fleabag. I'd seen clips of this series on the internet and been moderately drawn in by it but not enough to seek it out. I'd seen Phoebe Waller-Bridge receiving awards for it in my reels and most recently, I'd seen Paloma Faith on Graham Norton's couch next to Andrew Scott, star of Fleabag series 2, telling Scott (and the world) about how she'd had some "special alone time" with the scene where he says to Phoebe's character to "Kneel" in a confessional box.

It was time for me and Fleabag to get to know each other. I had an enormous pile of ironing, which can only be completed when I have something interesting to accompany me on a screen. Fleabag was my chosen viewing.

It's probably only right now to tell you a little bit about it if you've not come across it. I think it might be on Netflix or Amazon Prime for those non-Brits.

Phoebe's character, never named, is our guide, (she will now be known as Fleabag) mainly because we follow her life. Fleabag owns a cafe, is very sexually motivated, and has familial stresses with which we can all relate. And that's pretty much what the series is about: Fleabag, her café and her struggle to keep it going, men she sleeps with, family and the relationships she has with people in it.

It doesn't sound like much, does it? But it was really, really good. Drama at its best and I can only put it down to the characters and the way that it's scripted. It's also very funny and has extremely touching and moving moments that show vulnerability and the truth of a situation where you feel it deep inside yourself. Those dramas that can do that are the best.

Once I started watching it, I couldn't get enough. I devoured all episodes in a gluttonous shovelling, eager to start the next episode as the harsh music of the titles blasted out of the previous one. There are a number of things about it that appealed.

Firstly, I like the involvement that's promoted by the unorthodox approach that Phoebe Waller-Bridge has adopted through the use of asides. Basically, Fleabag talks to us directly through the camera so that we are privy to her innermost thoughts. It's not always done with words; sometimes it can be done with just a glance at the camera or an expression, a raised eyebrow or a smirk. We are with her through everything, pretty much, including intimate moments of passion with strangers as well as her family gatherings and her interactions with her sister, Claire and her friend, Boo. We are a voyeur and a welcome one at that, as she takes us into her confidence and we get to know her innermost thoughts and insights. I've always liked this in Shakespeare and I like it in this too. It makes it feel like you're being let in on a secret although even within this space, things are kept from us as you'll find out if you watch it. Fleabag doesn't totally let us in until she's prised open. And you don't always approve of what's she's doing - this is a warts-and-all sort of deal.

Often, the dramas that I connect with the most reflect me back from the screen but I can say categorically that my life is and has been nothing like Fleabag's, even when I was in my thirties. However, I could relate to parts of it quite closely despite this disparity. I could see from the way that she acts that she is seeking something more and that there are reasons for her waywardness and acting out. We've all been there. I have also known people like her, who have sought distraction because they have shit to deal with but have not yet reached a stage to atone for past transgressions. It always comes to the surface in my experience - suppression is temporary - and Fleabag's situation is no different.

It's a redemption story of sorts and I love a redemption story. People coming back stronger and more resolute inspires me. I am the supporter of the downtrodden. Fleabag's café is not thriving. She is capable of doing so much more but instead, rather than trying, she pretends like she doesn't care and lives a life of largesse. Fleabag's life lacks purpose in a lot of ways: she has no career, a relationship which she sabotages all the time with Harry (who is clearly not right for her) and a love for casual sex which she openly tells us about. We see enough of her having it, heaving and gasping to believe her and yet, it does feel like it's being used as a substitute for a closeness that she would actually rather have, a closeness that presents itself in series 2.

Fleabag is also dealing with the gaping holes left by losing those we love: the pillars that prop you up that, by leaving, mean your world collapses without them. There is a sense that she is desperately trying to stop everything caving in but not really knowing how to.

Sympathy is built for her but she's not looking for it. You see her life as she wants to present it to you and you either like it or you clear off. But she's likeable, mostly and I think this is because you are allowed to see past the loose behaviour and cockiness to someone who is a nice person but flawed, like us all.

You could say that sex drives the story but there are many facets that form part of Fleabag's life, her family situation being one of them. She has her sister, Claire; her father; her godmother, now stepmother. Let's deal with each of those in turn.

Fleabag and her sister are very different. Claire is career motivated, serious and tightly wound in a way that is opposite to Fleabag. Claire sees herself as the responsible one who's got her shit together but as the series goes on, it transpires that even she can't control everything. However, there is a sense of solidarity between them. If Fleabag can count on anyone, it's Claire. Their relationship is fractious but has a strong sororal foundation.

The depiction of their interactions feels very real. Claire has taken on the mantle of maternal role model for Fleabag but you can tell that that's not how Fleabag sees her. Distance has been created by their difference but maybe also from the loss of their mother and the detached way that their father now deals with them.

This is one of the elements of this series that I liked the most: its portrayal of family. A lot of the scenes are at family functions or where Fleabag and Claire are performing those expected duties like good daughters should and like most families, Fleabag's family has its quirks and its "characters".

Her father, for instance, has shacked up with a woman who was a friend of Fleabag's mother, the girls' godmother and immediately, it is apparent that there are simmering tensions which are barely contained, extending from the way that Fleabag feels about "The Godmother" as she's known. If you ever want a demonstration of passive aggressive behaviour, Olivia Colman's depiction of "The Godmother" is a masterclass. Just brilliant. Fleabag sees her as sport, someone she can goad subversively to see if she can crack the veneer that "The Godmother" always wears. No-one wants to upset the father and so, there is this veiled fractious atmosphere which crackles whenever Fleabag and "The Godmother" converse.

And Fleabag's father is a character who again is complex, seemingly weak and dominated by "The Godmother" but having moments of rebellion which liken him to Fleabag and yet, Fleabag's relationship with her father is one which is built on what appears to be nothing much. Isn't there a saying that mums are the buttons that keep everything together? And that's what it feels like between Fleabag and her father - that without the mother, everything is unravelling and that they are two separate pieces of material who can only meet again if the button is replaced or, to continue the metaphor, some serious independent sewing is needed, like a collective quilt meeting or something!

"The Godmother" is not a button: she's a seam ripper who is systematically attempting to remove each stitch that connects Fleabag and her father one by one. Honestly, watch it for Olivia Colman. She is an extraordinary actress, I think and in this, she is just excellent.

There's also Claire's husband, Martin to mention, who is loud and brash and makes inappropriate comments which are glossed over as "That's Martin being Martin." He is, what we Brits would call, a tosser. Or twat. Both work.

And Claire has a stepson called Jake who is a little strange, intense as teenage boys can be but in a creepy way - he has a fixation on Claire which I think can be deemed unhealthy.

You can see that family is a key part in the story.

Finally, I really should mention "The Priest", who does not feature in series 1 but very much features in series 2, played by Andrew Scott who you may have seen in Sherlock as Moriarty. Another great actor who brings a trueness to his roles that marks out someone in tune with the vagaries of human existence.

The Thorn Birds notoriously did the forbidden love thing between priest and woman but Fleabag brings it into the 21st century with the same intensity but more blatant irreverence; however all the tenderness is still there too. The evolution of their attraction for each other is just so well done, so human, I loved it.

Where series 1 seems more flippant and playful, series 2 shows a maturity and depth that permeates the episodes from the outset, like Fleabag is growing up, maybe in a better place emotionally. There is a sense that she is moving on from where she was before and it seems only right that she should meet someone with whom she will be satisfied. But alas, this path too is riddled with ankle-breaking potholes. I mean, a priest of all people? It's like she's doomed. But as a series that thrives on excruciating close-to-the-knuckle situations, it is entirely apt.

Fleabag is a mess. Her life is a mess. But you know, whose life doesn't have pitfalls and problems? Isn't that just the way of things? They might not be in the same vein as those plaguing Fleabag's but who doesn't have their share of dramatic moments? I know that my life certainly has although none of them has involved a priest but I sure have had some drama.

And whether you watch it or not, I've so enjoyed writing about it here, thinking about what it was that made it stand out so much for me. If reading this leads you to it, good. If not, I hope you've enjoyed my describing it to you as I've loved sharing it.