In the final episode of Fleabag, the priest pauses before marrying two people who love each other:
a helpless man whose wife has died, and his new partner—
a woman his two daughters hate.
She used to be their mother’s friend.
She controls his life excessively and drives a wedge between him and his daughters.
The woman treats the daughters badly because she’s afraid of them—
afraid of their rejection,
afraid that their father might love them more than he loves her,
and leave her.
The two daughters attend the wedding:
Fleabag, the woman trying to be a feminist,
who admits that her greatest dream is for someone to tell her what to do in every detail of her life,
because she believes all her decisions are wrong.
And her sister Claire,
who leaves her husband in the same episode
after realizing she’s spent her entire life protecting an image of happiness for others,
while being miserable inside.
The priest says:
Love!
It’s ugly.
It’s painful.
And it’s frightening.
It makes you doubt yourself,
judge yourself,
and distance yourself from the people in your life.
It makes you selfish,
heavy on the people around you,
obsessed with strange things—
even your hair.
It makes you cruel,
and it makes you say and do things
you never imagined you were capable of.
It’s the one thing we all want the most,
and yet it’s hell
when we finally get there.
So it’s no surprise
that we need someone to go through all of this with us.
We’re all born with love inside us,
and we spend our lives looking for someone
to give that love to.
People talk a lot about love being
“the right feeling,”
and that “when the right person comes along, everything will be easy.”
But I’m not sure that’s true.
Because knowing what’s right
takes strength.
And love is not a game for the weak.
Love is about hope.
And when you love someone—
regardless of everything about them—
hope is born.
And in that moment,
you feel like anything is possible.
