The year 2026 marks 10 years since Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s dramedy Fleabag (2016) aired on our TVs, and I still can’t get enough of it. Adapted into the show from Waller-Bridge’s one-woman play of the same name, Fleabag explores themes of grief, loneliness, and love mixed with sarcasm and comedy to create a beautiful bittersweet story packed into only twelve episodes. From guinea pigs to a hot priest, this Valentine’s Day I will be exploring the world of love and loss through the eyes of the very witty Fleabag herself, and proving very much so that it won’t pass. (If you know you know.) Just a warning that there will be SPOILERS AHEAD for those who have not yet seen the series (I mean, it has been 10 years).

“I don’t think you have to be alone to be lonely” – Fleabag

Season one introduces us to the very dysfunctional family that consists of Fleabag, her sister Claire, her father, and her very passive aggressive godmother (portrayed by the one and only Olivia Coleman). In season one, we also learn that Fleabag is grieving both the loss of her mother and her best friend Boo, the two people who seemingly understood her the most. To cope with the loss of these two people, as well as the breakup with her long term boyfriend, Fleabag indulges in a lot of meaningless sex. When rewatching Fleabag for the first time many years ago, I felt that the story of Fleabag was not just one of self-destruction, but rather a search for fulfillment of the gaping “hole” in her heart left by those who she’s lost. After Fleabag loses her mom, she sleeps with Boo’s boyfriend, an act which I saw as an attempt to fill the gap in her heart and feel something other than the numbing loneliness left by the grief she felt. This decision she made ultimately made the “hole” bigger, as it led to the death of her best friend, the second person in her life who understood her the most. With no one around her who truly understood her sarcastic and atypical personality, Fleabag is left searching to find the person/people that will fill the gap left in her life.

“The only person I’d run through an airport for is you” – Claire

Claire, Fleabag’s older sister, has a complicated relationship with her, but also shows the importance of sisterly love. It is clear from the beginning that Fleabag and Claire do not fully understand each other, but attempt to support each other, with Claire continuously asking Fleabag if she’s okay, and Fleabag trying to protect Claire from her toxic husband, Martin (even though he claims he’s “not a bad guy, he just has a bad personality”). Fleabag and Claire have a complex relationship where they find comfort in each other through their childhood upbringing, their grief for their mother, and their hatred for their godmother. Claire, a successful business professional with two masters degrees, is quite uptight in comparison to the comedic Fleabag, but I think it is this dynamic which makes the two rely on each other for support. As the younger sister of a master’s degree working professional older sister, I can confirm that it is usually my job to be the comedic outlet for the family, although I would like to think I have a better relationship with both my sisters (yes, I am even a middle child) than Fleabag and Claire. By the end of the first season, we can see how after the collapse of her relationship with Claire due to a nonconsensual kiss forced upon her by Martin (which Claire chooses not to believe), Fleabag has just lost too much. Saved by the surprising friendship she has created with her banker, Fleabag is convinced that she is capable of working on herself, and is willing to heal without the approval of her family. The kindness shown and friendship offered by her banker tells both her and us that she is still capable of being loved and cared for, even with everything she’s lost.

“I think you know how to love better than any of us. That’s why you find it all so painful” – Fleabag’s dad

Now moving on to my favourite season, season two. Season two shows us a different side of Fleabag, a side where she is learning to find love again in herself and in others. After working on herself for over a year, Fleabag reunites with her family at a “passive aggressive dinner party.” She regains the trust of her sister by covering up a miscarriage, and learns that her father is engaged to her godmother. There are two reasons I believe that season two is better than season one. The first is that we see the incredible Andrew Scott as the “hot priest.” The second is that we get to see how, when Fleabag has someone around her who fully understands who she is, she is truly not a bad person. The priest is the only person in the series who sees past Fleabag’s flaws, and finds comfort in her sarcastic personality. The priest is also the only character who takes notice of when Fleabag talks to the audience and breaks the fourth wall. Similarly, Fleabag is the only person around the priest who sees the fox which he claims has been following him the entire season. To me, the two of them taking notice of these “invisible” forces of nature proves that they are meant for each other and fully understand each other. 

“Why believe in something awful when you can believe in something wonderful” – the priest 

But the priest is just that, a Catholic priest. By choosing this position with the church he chooses to be celibate, meaning he chooses to abstain from relationships. By the end of season two, it is very apparent that the priest has feelings for Fleabag. The two have kissed many times throughout the season, and eventually choose to have sex with each other. In the last episode, after the wedding of her father and godmother, we get the most famous scene from the show, Fleabag and the priest sitting on the bench of a dimly lit bus stop when she confesses that she is in love with him. It is here we learn that the priest has chosen his position as a Catholic priest, and his relationship with God over his feelings for Fleabag. And it is here we get the most famous line from the show…

“It’ll pass”

After ten years of Fleabag, I can confirm that for me it has not passed and will not pass, as I really feel that the two are truly meant to be with each other. The priest, being someone who fully understands Fleabag, fills the “hole” that she was searching for in season one, and without him I question whether she will return to her self-destructive behaviours, or if her experience with him has finally taught her to love and find support in herself and those who were always around her. However, with all this in mind, I still feel that this was the perfect ending to a perfect show. I encourage everyone reading this to watch Fleabag this Valentine’s Day (or just in general), and consider who in your life truly understands you for who you are, flaws and all.