1x02 Episode 2

[7.7/10] I liked this one much better than the series premiere. The humor was sharper, the situations felt better-observed while still being a little loonier, and there’s a hint of something deeper there too.

Me being a professional sadboi, I liked those deeper moments. There’s something about the fact that Fleabag hangs onto Hillary the guinea pig, and all the guinea pig accoutrement that shows her as someone still missing her dear friend Boo. There’s the one time in the episode when Fleabag breaks through her veneer of detached irony and tells her vapid, faux-profound hookup that she does, in fact, get lonely. And there’s her little look toward the audience when Harry declares their umpeenth break-up, but this time, takes his little plastic dinosaur with him. As much as Fleabag acts like nothing can touch her, there’s someone hurting a bit inside, and I like how that’s dramatized here.

But apart from that well-done character work, it’s just a funny episode. I like all the relationship observations at play here, from Fleabag being brought down to earth despite feeling confident walking down the street, to the aforementioned weirdly earnest hook-up, to the amusing oversensitivity of her on-again, off-again boyfriend Harry. (And ruh-roh, I feel a little too seen via Harry.) There’s an exaggerated sense to all of these interactions that makes them funny, but also a germ of truth to each of them which makes them resonate.

I also got a kick out of the pure loony stuff. Bits like Fleabag charging increasing amount for simple sandwiches and chalking it up to “London” is a laugh. Her effort to play buying frozen risotto and tampons cool in front of her hook-up got a chuckle. And her trying to do her “surprise” for Harry by jumping on him in the shower while wearing a makeshift ski mask and brandishing a butcher nice is absurd but hilarious. There’s a lot of clever aside and just enjoyably goofy stuff here (see also: the reveal of Claire’s husband buying her a cheesy necklace) that wins.

Overall, this is sharper, funnier, better-edited outing for Fleabag’s second one out of the gate, and encourages me about the trajectory of the show!