Take Three: Fleabag

Fleabag: Season 1, Episode 3 (B+)

There’s a reason that this protagonist has her name. Asking her sister if she can bring a date to her surprise birthday party/business meeting when she isn’t dating anyone just shows how much attention she wants to have when it’s really not supposed to be about her. You have to give her credit for putting out feelers to be her date, leaving a message for Harry even though she’s well aware that they’re broken up and it would be wholly inappropriate for him to come and then sending pictures of her body to her ex-boyfriend just to see if he would bite. He was a blast, enthusiastically declaring his love for surprises and freaking out in the sex shop, then getting upset when he realized that she was faking and totally not being into her pet guinea pig. Fleabag doesn’t seem like such a terrible person opposite Martin, who truly has no sense of any boundaries or reasonable behavior in social situations, constantly making offensive remarks that no one calls him on. He reacted especially poorly when he kissed her outside the party and she recoiled, and at least she’s not terrible enough to do that to her sister. Her relationship with her stepmother is continually interesting, especially since she speaks in a manner that makes it seem like she’s complimenting her when she’s actually insulting her, but the best and most powerful relationship is the one that she has with her dead best friend who is still with her in so many ways. On a lighter note, the best line of the episode: “It’s like having sex with a protractor.”