Fleabag 1x1 [top]

By the end of the episode, you know everything you need to know: She lost her mother. She lost her best friend. She runs a failing café. She uses sex to punish herself. And she is desperate for someone—anyone—to see her pain without running away.

Cut to black.

But by the end of these 27 minutes, you realize that line was the absolute truth. Fleabag 1x1 is a love story—just not the kind you are used to. It is a love story about a woman trying to remember how to love herself. Fleabag 1x1

Fleabag is at a sex-clinic support group (long story involving a chlamydia scare and a confused “feminist” loan). She is supposed to share her feelings. Instead, she imagines Boo sitting next to her. By the end of the episode, you know

"This is a love story."

She tells a story about a hamster she had as a child. It died. Her mother (before she died, too) replaced it with an identical hamster. Fleabag knew. But she never said anything because “I wanted to see how long it would take for her to crack.” She uses sex to punish herself

Then, a jump cut. Fleabag stares at her reflection. The laughter dies.