A Handy Primer To Fleabag, Which Dominated The Emmys

Do you love Fleabag? If you don't love the BBC-turned-Amazon series which swept the Emmys then it's probably because you just haven't watched it yet. Starring and written by British comedienne and all-around writing legend Phoebe Waller-Bridge (she's also responsible for Crashing, Killing Eve, and the upcoming Bond 25 movie), the show is actually not about a sex addict, as Ben Stiller put it in the Emmys shared opening monologue. Rather, the show is about relationships, depression, passion, family, and most of all, a guinea pig named Hilary.

Fleabag is about a woman who the audience knows merely as "Fleabag." Her real name doesn't matter, because in a matter of episodes, you begin to feel like you know everything else about her. You see, unlike other shows, Fleabag breaks the fourth wall and talks directly to us, her audience. Kind of like I'm doing now! But, Waller-Bridge does it in the most stylish and moving way. Words don't do it justice, because the real force of her performance (her Emmy award-winning performance) lies in her execution of every cheeky grin and subtle wince.

Throughout the two seasons, Fleabag learns life lessons (usually the hard way, and usually with some hilarious vulgarity), and finds ways to deal with strained relationships with her future step-mom played by Olivia Colman, her sister played by the incredible Sian Clifford, and the memory of Boo.

Oh, also there's a hot priest. Unfortunately the Emmys do not have a "Sexiest Priest" award at this time. My vote would be split between Fleabag's and Jude Law in The New Pope.

Moving on...

Phoebe Waller-Bridge plays the aforementioned Fleabag. Inspired by the lead character of a monologue with the same name, Fleabag's character is a narcissistic, horny, dynamic, intelligent, and totally reckless adult — with shades of all of us, yes us, infused into her extremely chaotic-yet-relatable psyche. When Vanity Fair asked Waller-Bridge why people love Fleabag, she replied: ”‘Cause people! Fucking! Do! There are people in the world who have fucked the wrong person.”

Waller-Bridge plays Fleabag, but we are all Fleabag.

Fleabag has won two awards, and Waller-Bridge has presented one alongside Bill Hader where she proclaimed herself one of the tallest people at the award show. (Unfortunately, producers did not show actual Amazon queen Gwendoline Christie's reaction to the joke.)

No, but it is on Amazon Prime. You have two seasons to binge. Starting...now.