'I will miss her extremely': you review the end of Fleabag (original) (raw)

‘We each get to write the rest of the tale – that’s art’

Superb – both series and ending. Having now recognised the capacity for love (which her father points her, and us, to shortly before she articulates it to The Priest), we are allowed to hope that somewhere, somewhen Fleabag finds an appropriate and reciprocated object of her refreshed affections. The Priest was so clearly wrong; not only already taken but most certainly alcoholic, repressed and generally screwed up ... We each get to write the rest of the tale and play out the happy-ever-afters or the doomed cyclical destruction that sits best within our own personal narrative. That’s art. ID3315576

‘The ending was perfect’

It was very sad finding out that the second series was to be its last, however Fleabag’s ending with her walking away from the camera and letting go was perfect. No need for a third series – I can patiently wait for Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s next masterpiece. Calum O’Brien, 24, Inverness

‘I was glad to see it back, but it’s right that it has come to an end’

I liked it a lot and the ending worked really well. But I think the first series remains the benchmark. This was far more linear and, that fourth wall breaking moment aside (and it totally makes sense that a priest caught on to it, who has his own relationship with an unseen entity), felt a lot more straightforward and familiar than the first series.

It made sense that she said goodbye to the audience/god/whoever because she had already outgrown it. The first series we were the confidante and/or depository for her guilt and self-loathing. There was little for her to unload this series because, in part, she was learning how to connect with someone else again. But it was that cycle of self-loathing and self-deception, and the knotty structure of the first series, that elevated it above what it could otherwise have been. While I was glad to see it back and enjoyed it very much, it’s right that it has come to an end. Bjerkley

‘A thoroughly unlikable, manipulative and dishonest main character’

Just didn’t get it. A thoroughly unlikable, manipulative and dishonest main character, with all the male roles being ludicrous paper-thin caricatures. Oh and the gross overuse of breaking the fourth wall was immensely irritating. Charmant_mais_fou

‘Loved the ending – it made me ugly cry’

I was a fan of the first series, and have enjoyed watching friends find it through series two. As an admitted hopeless romantic, I actually loved the ending. It made me ugly cry as it made me think of my own breakup, in which I still loved him but knew it wasn’t right, and also reminded me of the ending of Prime (the Uma Thurman movie). My friends hated that movie ending, where they didn’t end up together, but you can be a romantic and understand that sometimes things just aren’t right, and your happy ending is still out there, waiting to be found. Alison, 30, Cardiff

‘I am in grief. I’ll miss her but I don’t feel worried for her’

It was glorious. An outstanding artistic achievement. Phoebe Waller-Bridge – I will miss her too much on screen. I will miss Fleabag, extremely. But I agree that the ending was fine. There could have been no other resolution. It was clear that Fleabag had had a life experience, in the love affair with The Priest, which had enriched her, brought her pain and happiness but also – as was made expressly clear by The Priest – hope.

This was the whole point of it. She has now been eased out of the wildness of her reaction to her depression after losing Boo. She has matured. She’s more gentle, more graceful, less abrasive, more at ease with herself – and us. I am in grief, I sobbed a bit after the end. I’ll miss her. But I don’t feel worried for her. The most brilliant piece of television, both series, in my view – ever. As drama. ClareLondon

‘A struggle between the faith and the flesh’ ... Andrew Scott as The Priest. Photograph: Luke Varley/BBC/Two Brothers

‘I loved it – it was entertaining’

When I was 26, I opened a shop with my best friend and it was amazing and then she died. Neither I nor people around me could, or even tried to, deal with my grief. I had to hide in plain sight. When people around continued in their banal prestigious lives, I realised I was the one out of sync. While my bereavement might be natural, nothing was going to save me, other than throwing myself into something else. People’s lives went on, very selfishly ignoring deep and very honest needs. Because that’s the kind of superficial life that was protected. This is revealing a little stuff. For anyone who’s been in it, watching the first series was bewildering.

If it’s not relatable, then maybe it’s not written for you. There are so many stories that haven’t been written over the years. I loved it. It was entertaining, and when the fragments of care come through they are saving a soul. The existential dilemma of nihilism or care is an epic and funny journey. Learning to care is one thing – learning to love is even braver. Not everyone has the safety assumed by many here, not everyone cares about the madness of life, but that’s OK. They have their entertainment and maybe now we have some too, which can help us to care, and maybe next time, someone checks out in plain sight and you might be brave too. Anakissed

‘She’s just a girl having sex and being human – except posh’

Thing is, TV shows are so vastly different from each other, and comparing them is so subjective, that to call Fleabag the “most electrifying, devastating TV in years” reads like a Facebook post from a friend who is fond of oversharing. I thought the first series was okay, but do we really have to gush all over the show as “genius”, “astonishing”, “extraordinary” or “unbelievably good”? I mean it’s a girl having sex and being human, except this time she’s just like the posh Islington type. DC1234

‘Very funny and poignant’

I thought it was very funny and poignant. The ending was sad and in a way quite old-fashioned. People loving each other but one choosing duty and the other accepting it even though they were both heartbroken by it. I thought it was an exploration of a different kind of love, both familial and between Fleabag and The Priest (though they also had romantic love for each other). It’s called agape I think. Lilylantern

‘I would recommend people watch the show for the laughs’

I really enjoyed it. It certainly appears she’s got a functioning brain, that lady. Brilliant show for exposing ‘middle class’ navel-gazing as fairly self-defeating and self-indulgent. Not much use for much else, but I very much enjoyed it though. It is very, very funny and I would recommend people watch the show for the laughs.

Don’t watch it expecting to learn anything though, it’s a TV show about well-off people who are bored by their lives and all the grief that will bring about, written by someone who grew up among it and no doubt observed it but didn’t subsume themselves into it, and instead wrote a pretty hilarious play about it then turned it into a TV show. Brilliantly done though it was. It’s the idea it can teach anyone anything that makes me wonder what kind of life those who feel it can teach have led. Everything that underpins the premise is just so London middle-class in attitude. Fair enough, she writes what she knows and she does it brilliantly … but it is a fairly small world she is writing about. ID6234567

‘Her snide quips to camera were tediously insufferable’

I found the main character unengaging, unpleasant and irritatingly smug. I felt her contrived snide quips to camera were tediously insufferable. For me, it wasn’t a funny series. It tried far too hard to attempt to break boundaries and parody middle-class social norms but ended up being feebly unpleasant, rarely making me laugh or smile. At least they aren’t stretching it out series after series. harobed64

‘Pissed myself laughing numerous times’

Chill out everyone. I binged the two series over the last week, and Fleabag make me piss myself laughing numerous times. The sisters are cool, sexy and funny, Olivia Colman’s godmother is a fantastically evil cow, and who can’t sympathise with her dad, who loves Fleabag, but doesn’t always like her. Good telly, now looking forward to seeing more Killing Eve. Owen Brown

‘Flashes of truly great writing, but doesn’t quite compare with the first series’

It’s really such a Guardian show. I couldn’t get into this series so much, not being a Catholic or ever fancying a priest (or suffering the pain of being a woman). But just like Fleabag avoiding the camera in shame when the truth about Boo is revealed in the first series, waving goodbye when she knows that she is loved by somebody she loves back is a good ending. Flashes of truly great writing, but it doesn’t quite compare with the first series. CaptainBlack

‘One of the most affecting, unsettling and perfect pieces of TV’

Beautiful. Just beautiful. That ending was all I could have hoped for, leaving me with a mixture of sadness and hope. I’d love to see the character again but, like all great love affairs, I know I need to let go.

The second series more than matched the first, with the introduction of The Priest adding a whole new dimension, a struggle between the faith and the flesh. I’m a devout atheist, but Fleabag’s struggle to reconcile the two was vividly, credibly portrayed. Her ultimate failure to do so was devastatingly sad, sure, but this just made me love the show even more. Perhaps one of the most affecting, unsettling and perfect pieces of TV I’ve seen in years. AdamK