2x05 Episode 5

[7.9/10] Let’s start with the easiest thing here. I love how we finally see a chink in the Godmother’s armor here. The way she puts on the same Stepford smile and tells the Priest that of course he must go to his brother’s hospital bedside rather than perform her wedding, only to scream “what a cunt!” when he’s gone was just delightful. It’s a small moment, but a hilarious one, that deserves mention.

And hey, let’s stick with villains. I both love and hate the scene with Martin in this one. He is legitimately scary when he shows up in Fleabag’s cafe, holding Hilary. You feel like he could do anything in that scene, which is what makes him seem so frightening, with his various threats and challenges. But he also seems kind of pathetic and self-rationalizing. He’s not in very much of this show, but he’s still a really memorable asshole of character nonetheless.

But he’s not the only visitor the cafe gets. The bank manager comes back, mostly to say goodbye, but also ending up looking after the shop when Fleabag is called away. It’s great to see him again, and I continue to love his and Fleabag’s awkward but sweet little friendship. It’s one of the nicely pure things on this show that doesn't include much in that department.

Fleabag is called away, naturally, to help Claire with a crisis, which just turns out to be a bad haircut. Granted, I enjoy Fleabag’s speech about the impact of good hair or bad hair, for women especially. But I mostly like how the crisis leads Claire to come to her sister’s aid and, more importantly, do whatever she can to get Claire together with her Finnish flirt, the one who actually compliments her hair. It’s a nice moment, particularly after Claire’s confession that she was relieved that she wasn’t going to have her husband’s baby and felt awful about it. There’s some real rich material there and, as usual, the show mines it both for comedy and pathos.

Of course the main event here is the continuing story of the relationship between Fleabag and the Priest. I generally like how it goes here. The Priest doesn't want this to go any further, he’s sacrificed a lot to have this life and doesn't want to give it up. There’s something profoundly sad about him backing out of the Dad and Godmother’s wedding because he doesn't want to be exposed to Fleabag, and his “don’t come back to the church, I say that with the best of compliments” line is devastating.

It’s tough for Fleabag too. You can see her doing some rationalizing of her own with her vapid lawyer boyfriend. But there’s still something charged when the Priest shows up (and it’s nicely layered with the comedy of the lawyer showing up). There’s catharsis in the two giving into their feelings for one another, but also something kind of tragic in the Priest being torn between these two things that he wants. They’re so great together, and you want to see her sleeping with someone because she loves them and they love her. But at the same time, you can’t ignore the admonition that it would and probably will fuck up the Priest’s life.

Who knows where we will go from here? But I’m as excited as I am filled with trepidation for the finale.