Oh God, I fancy a priest.
The second season of this brilliant show just continues to be amazingly good. It’s kind of astonishing how much excellence this show can stuff into an episode that clocks in at under thirty minutes. Andrew Scott is absolutely brilliant as the Priest and his chemistry with Waller-Bridge is absolutely undeniable; their scenes together just crackle with energy and fun. The show just really leans into the screwball elements of the series in this episode and I don’t think the patter has ever been as fast as it is in a couple of scenes here. There’s a scene between Fleabag, Claire and a Misogynist Lawyer that’s taken at a breakneck speed not seen since His Girl Friday. Fiona Shaw gets off a brilliant one-scene role as a therapist Fleabag finds herself consulting with. Shaw’s performance is kind of a stand-in for the series as a whole: she manages to be a profoundly hilarious parody of therapists and yet also nail a couple of really devastating dramatic moments. That’s the show in a nutshell, really. Kudos for having Hugh Skinner show up as Harry; he’s underused, but, you know, same as it ever was. It’s also a downright pleasure to finally meet Jake, Claire’s weird step-son, and Angus Imrie really delivers a lot in a very short screen time. This season isn’t quite like season one where each episode was just obviously better than the one before it. This probably isn’t better than the previous episode, for example, but it’s brilliant and every episode has its own work to do this season, so fair is fair. As it, this show is just amazing. 4 stars.
tl;dr – a breakneck pace through both hilarious comedy and thoughtful drama makes Fleabag what it is, which is brilliant; the ensemble is still pitch perfect and the writing is exquisite. 4 stars.