Lying Down With FLEABAG

Article first published as FLEABAG Review on Seat42F.

Launching as an Amazon Original, though also a British series that already posted to online streaming service BBC Three, all six episodes of FLEABAG come to American audiences on September 16^th. Set in present-day London, it’s the story of a young woman who isn’t handling the death of her best friend very well. Told in semi-non-linear fashion, it’s about grief, feminism, millennials, sex, and so much more.

FLEABAG is created by Phoebe Waller-Bridge (Crashing, The Iron lady), who also stars as the titular character. When we meet her, she’s a mess but we don’t know why. She treats her sensitive boyfriend, Harry (Hugh Skinner, W1A), and her sister, Claire (Sian Clifford, Paddy), poorly, using them and then pushing them away, and not really seeming to take their feelings into account at all. Her father (Bill Paterson, Outlander) has it even worse, with Fleabag causing friction in his relationship with her godmother (Olivia Colman, Broadchurch). Fleabag herself will sleep with just about anyone and seems to barely get by day by day.

But then, we learn about Boo (Jenny Rainsford, Prometheus), her guinea pig-obsessed best friend and business partner who perished. Did Boo kill herself, or was it an accident? This is in doubt. Since Boo is the only character we ever see happy (in a number of interspersed flashbacks), it makes the situation even more puzzling.

The fact that Fleabag lost Boo does not excuse her behavior, at least not all of it. Fleabag is rude, self-centered, and semi-psychopathic. And yet, viewers will want to cut her some slack because of Boo’s death. Everyone deals with grief in different ways, and maybe Fleabag is acting out from deep emotional pain. After all, she’d have no one at all if she were always so awful, right? Maybe…

Waller-Bridge gives a stunning performance, one that constantly keeps you guessing about whether you should like the protagonist or not. Her snide comments and looks at the camera, a la House of Cards, help us get inside her head and earn some sympathy. And yet, they also betray that she may be just as horrible as she outwardly acts.

I watched two episodes to try to figure out the fascinating dichotomy. I did not manage to, though I’ll be watching the additional four installments to see if they can shed any more light. Instead of answers, we get a complex woman that feels completely real, both a product of her time and a reaction against it. While it’s hard to like Fleabag too much, she begs you to try to peer into her soul, and it’s difficult to look away. She is one of the most interesting, enigmatic character studies I’ve seen in a long time, which is probably why I liked the show so much.

If you are casually pulling up a scene or skimming through FLEABAG, you are likely to wonder why in the world you’d ever want to watch such a thing, which is what my wife asked me ten minutes into episode two (she missed the pilot). But if you’re willing to devote the time and attention this dramedy deserves, it seems to me there is much richness to be mined, and certainly a ton of originality, which is lacking from most other shows.

I don’t know if there’s any hope of FLEABAG coming out of the funk she’s in, or if this is her natural personality and always has been. I hope it takes her awhile to figure herself out, though, because this is something I’d like to watch for a few years, not just one afternoon.

FLEABAG will premiere on Amazon Prime September 16^th.

OUTLANDER Gets Another Good "Mark"

Article originally written for Seat42F.

Tonight’s OUTLANDER episode, “The Devil’s Mark,” could be divided into two parts. In the first, Claire (Caitriona Balfe) and Geillis (Lotte Verbeek) stand trial on the charge of witchcraft, with an execution all but certain. In the second, time travel secrets are spilled and Claire must make a very difficult choice about where she wants to spend the rest of her life. Both are quite compelling, and together, they make for a hell of an hour, more connected than they first appear.

At the start of “The Devil’s Mark,” Claire and Geillis, previously good friends, are on the outs, both blaming the other for the position that they are in. In truth, though, they’ve been keeping secrets from one another. Those secrets come out too late to do any good, but if they’d only confided more fully in each other earlier, they could have been better pals, and maybe a different outcome could have been reached.

See, Geillis is from the future, too; in fact, about twenty-five years further in the future than Claire. This is a huge bombshell that is telegraphed, but not enough that I saw it coming. Her dance in the woods, her knowledge of the supernatural; these things are clues to who she really is. She and Claire have something extremely important in common. Her vaccination mark leaves no doubt that Geillis is telling the truth when she confesses this.

But by the time she does, she is taking the fall for both herself and Claire in court, and Jamie (Sam Heughan) is escorting Claire away from the rioting mob. Claire can do nothing to save Geillis, and as far as Claire knows, she is once more the sole time traveler in the area. However, hearing Geillis spill her guts, in a fashion, makes Claire realize she must do the same, and Claire confides everything to Jamie.

Jamie, of course, is from this time, and has no reason to believe Claire other than his love for her. Even taking for granted that Jamie accepts some things beyond his comprehension, a product of the superstitious time he lives in, it’s a stretch for Claire to expect Jamie to believe anything she says. Yet, he does, fully and without question.

This proves how much love Jamie has for Claire. What is less certain is the love Claire has for Jamie. She’s fond of him, sure, and enjoys their sexy times, but she has not stuck her neck out for him in the same way that he has for her. In “The Devil’s Mark,” I think Claire finally realizes this. She may or may not be able to get home again through the stones, but by making a conscious decision not to try (or at least that’s how it appears), she does something monumental for Jamie, and the tears on his cheeks show how he feels about that.

Claire can be a bit of a jerk, and some may argue that she isn’t doing right by Frank (Tobias Menzies) to stay in the past. Frank loves her, and even if they aren’t particularly close at the time of her disappearance, given their long separation during the war, he isn’t ready to give her up. At the same time, there is no arguing that what Claire has been through with Jamie is significantly more dramatic, and the bond she has forged with the young Scot is probably quite a bit stronger than the one she shares with Frank. For now, anyway.

The fact that now is the time in which Claire makes this decision makes it much weightier. She has just barely survived a sham of a trail in which she lost a good friend. Claire knows what will become of the Scots, the MacKenzies and their ilk in particular, and she has no reason to think she won’t eventually suffer the same fate as Geillis or worse. Claire isn’t just choosing Jamie, she’s giving up safety to be with him. This is super important.

The trial itself is very gripping television. Despite Ned’s (Bill Paterson) best attempt at mounting a defense, something he says Colum (Gary Lewis) would disapprove of, the crowd is with Laoghaire’s (Nell Hudson) lies and the co-accusers that Laoghaire recruits. Until Jamie shows up and Geillis makes a false confession, things look dire for Claire, and it’s all the more frustrating because viewers know without a doubt that the charges are unfounded.

Except, from Laoghaire’s perspective, she might very well believe what she’s saying. After all, she thinks she has Jamie until Claire steals him away. Since Laoghaire believes in witches and can’t bring herself to accept Jamie’s rejection, she might justifiably think Claire is one.

Perhaps it’s good that this civilization didn’t last. As much as Claire might care for certain individuals she encounters and as sympathetic as many of the personalities portrayed are, society as a whole is lacking. Magic and religion rule the day, most people buying into things they are told by people no wiser and a great deal more crooked than themselves. The present has certainly not eliminated all of that, but it’s with a certain amount of (admittedly smug) superiority one can look back at how far we’ve come.

None of that matters in crafting a story, though, and OUTLANDER is crafting a doozy. There is no ‘typical’ hour for the program, “The Devil’s Mark” being as different as any other installment from the others. Its strength rests in the characters and the authenticity of the setting, both of which are done with the highest quality. OUTLANDER remains “must-see,” by far the best program on Starz.

Oh, and Dougal (Graham McTavish) will not be happy his love and unborn child are killed to save Claire. He may not know about the baby yet, but he’ll probably find out. Knowing that certainly provides a bit of a cliffhanger.

OUTLANDER airs Saturdays at 9 p.m . ET on Starz.

DVD Release: Tinker, Tailor, Solider, Spy and Smiley's People

     Now available from Acorn Media on DVD is the classic British series, Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, and its sequel, Smiley's People. Both are based on books by John le Carre, and feature the same lead character. In Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, George Smiley (Alec Guinness, Star Wars), the retired Deputy Head of the Service, hunts for a Soviet mole in the Circus, a top level spy agency within MI6. With suspicion narrowed down to four people, Smiley has to call on every one of his considerable talents to figure out which one it is. This is a Cold War tale, with the threat of war and Soviet aggression hanging over Smiley's head. When his own past comes into play, things get personal for Smiley.

     Of course, this being a hero piece, Smiley triumphs. He sets an elaborate trap, and catches the mole, someone Smiley knows all to well. Before justice can be served, though, the man is killed. This is one mystery that Smiley cannot solve. Besides, he has his hands full trying to whip the Circus back into shape.

    Smiley's People is along similar lines, as Smiley is once more plucked from retirement. He is disappointed to find the Circus back in disarray, more political than practical. While tying up loose ends from a friend's death, Smiley is once more drawn into Soviet espionage, and is soon back on the trail of Karla (Patrick Stewart, Star Trek: The Next Generation), who escaped him before. Others have tried to clean up the mess, but it's up to Smiley, who actually puts relevance in a source, to dig deeper and find the truth. Unfortunately, the people now running the Circus would rather scandal be avoided than criminals caught.

     Smiley is not one to roll over, so pushes on, traveling where he must to uncover why people are dying. However, during this journey, Smiley begins to change. Not exactly warm and fuzzy in the first place, he realizes that the only way to defeat Karla is to become equally ruthless. This means he must cut off contact with loved ones, and do what he has to. The cost may be more than he'd like. Which begs the question, when is a win really a win? What if exposing the truth is not worth it?

     Hailed by many as brilliant, these two series have garnered their fair share of awards. Emmy nominated, and BAFTA winning, the subtleties of performance and story combine to make a truly memorable tale. Despite being released in 1979 and 1982, respectively, there is nothing lost. All of the elements that matter don't seem dated, even if the Russian threat does. More importantly, the essence of humanity and questions of morality survive and matter as strongly as ever. Plus, both look fantastic, filmed on location in London, Paris, Berne, Hamburg.

     Guinness delivers what some consider the performance of his career. He is surrounded by a number of other talents, including Stewart, Eileen Atkins (Doc Martin), Bill Paterson (Law & Order: UK), Anthony Bale (Game, Set, and Match), Bernard Hepton (The Charmer), Andy Bradford (Dixon of Dock Green), Michael Byrne (Coronation Street), Michael Jayston (Emmerdale Farm), George Sewell (The Detectives), Ian Richardson (Bleak House), and more. It is definitely easy to watch a cast such as this deliver an engrossing story.

     The extras are light, as usual for these value releases of older series. Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy has a nearly half hour interview with the books' author, his bio and booklist, production notes, fimlographies, and a glossary of terms and characters. Smiley's People has another twenty minutes with le Carre, as well as the bio, booklist, glossary, filmographies, and production notes. In short, the two have very similar bonus features.

     In short, for the low price offered, these two sets are well worth the cost. Whether you are discovering the stories for the first time, or remember fondly the original broadcasts, I highly recommend picking up both sets. Plus, it couldn't be more timely to review these productions, as a film adaptation of Tinker, et al will hit theaters this December, starring Gary Oldman and Colin Firth.

     Buy Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy and Smiley's People, on DVD now.

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