1x1 | Fleabag

Fleabag 1x1 works because it refuses to be one thing. It is raunchy and hilarious—the "Arsehole Guy" sequence is a standout of cringe comedy—but it is also devastatingly sad. It captures the specific exhaustion of being a woman in your late 20s who feels like they are "failing" at adulthood.

We are introduced to her high-strung sister Claire, her emotionally repressed father, and her passive-aggressive Godmother (played with delicious malice by Olivia Colman). Fleabag 1x1

By the time the episode ends with Fleabag sobbing in the back of a taxi, the mask has slipped. We realize that the witty, cynical narrator we’ve been following is actually a woman drowning in grief. Legacy of the Episode Fleabag 1x1 works because it refuses to be one thing