"Fleabag": Series Two Trivia Quiz

Answer: The Priest

The second series of "Fleabag" takes place a year after the events of the first series, and opens in a restaurant bathroom. Fleabag stands at the sink with blood all over her nose and mouth. As she cleans herself up, she breaks the fourth wall and tells the camera, "This is a love story."

The family has gathered to celebrate Dad's engagement to Godmother. There is an unknown man sitting with them, between Fleabag and Godmother. "Don't know who this guy is," Fleabag tells the camera, after he makes a quick toast. We come to learn that the man is the priest who will be marrying Dad and Godmother. Fleabag tries to sum him up in a quick line ("cool, sweary priest") but as we soon discover, he is more complex than Fleabag initially gives him credit for.

Phoebe Waller-Bridge explains that she was motivated to create the Priest character out of a desire to pit Fleabag against someone she couldn't reduce to a stereotype, like she does with almost everyone in the first series. "She considers herself to be able to see people very, very quickly at their core, and it was really exciting - the idea of her meeting somebody who she couldn't define," she explains.

Answer: Claire suffers a miscarriage.

Fleabag hasn't seen her family since the events of the first series' finale, so much of the evening is spent catching everyone up. They all have wine to celebrate Dad and Godmother's engagement, except Martin and Claire, who are taking a stab at being sober because they're trying for a baby. Claire is commuting from Finland, and Fleabag's café is actually doing well. The tensions from the last series are still bubbling under the surface, though. As Fleabag passes Martin on the way back from having a smoke, he tells her, "I am so intrigued to see how you're going to make this whole evening about yourself."

Fleabag goes to check on Claire after she takes too long in the bathroom, and finds her sister in the stall having a miscarriage. Fleabag helps Claire to clean herself up and convinces her to go to a hospital. She agrees, but implores Fleabag not to tell anyone. When they arrive at the table, Claire has a change of heart and reaches for the wine bottle instead. Fleabag needs to stop this and does the first thing that comes to her mind, which is to claim Claire's miscarriage for herself. Immediately, the entire table erupts in concern for Fleabag. "You should go to the hospital," Dad advises. "She doesn't want to go," Claire says adamantly. "I really think she should see a doctor," the Priest says. "No, I think I'll just deal with this in my own insane, irrational, anal way, if that's okay," Fleabag says, but it's directed at Claire. "That's probably for the best," Martin says. "It's like a goldfish out of the bowl, sort of thing. If it didn't wanna be in there, it didn't wanna be in there. Something wasn't right." Fleabag glares at Claire as she processes this, as only the two of them know that Martin is talking about his own wife. "It's the kid's choice if it wants to jump ship, right?" Martin adds, doubling down. "Either way, she got her spotlight."

A moment passes, then Fleabag punches Martin hard, in the face. Everyone gets up - it's pandemonium. Fleabag goes for another swing, but Martin deflects, pushing Fleabag's hands into her own face, and sending her flying backwards and head-butting the Priest. The waitress arrives, and promptly gets slapped by a flailing Martin. The table now has four bleeding people.

Answer: She fancies the Priest.

"So why do you think your father suggested you come for counselling?" the Counsellor asks. "Um, I think because my mother died and he can't talk about it, and my sister and I didn't speak for a year because she thinks I tried to sleep with her husband and because I spent most of my adult life using sex to deflect from the screaming void inside my empty heart," Fleabag replies, before adding to the camera, "I'm good at this." Fleabag is still addressing the camera as a means to deflect from her own life, as she did during the awkward dinner party. As Kathryn VanArendonk, writing for "Vulture", observes: "Fleabag's sly, secretive, sometimes resentful tendency to break the fourth-wall of her own story is an escape hatch. She dissociates from her own life whenever things get to be too much, turning away from what's right in front of her so she can have a moment to breathe."

"Tell me about the sex," the Counsellor says. "Sex didn't bring anything good, so I'm trying not to," Fleabag explains. "And what have you found in your abstinence?" the Counsellor asks. "The impulse is very much still there. It's just never the right person," Fleabag replies, her mind flashing to a memory of the Priest dressed in his robes. "Mm," the Counsellor says. "So there is a particular person you're not having sex with." Fleabag is thrown a little off guard. "No. Well, nothing's happened. He's not available," she says. "In a relationship?" the Counsellor asks. "Yes, a bad one," Fleabag replies. "How so?" the Counsellor asks. "It's the sort of relationship where one partner tells the other how to dress," Fleabag says. When the Counsellor asks if she has anyone she can talk to, Fleabag answers affirmatively with a playful wink at the camera. "Do you see them a lot?" the Counsellor asks. "Oh, they're always there," Fleabag replies, as she looks straight into the camera. "They're always there."

VanArendonk describes this scene as "thrilling and crushing at the same time". As she explains: "It's so flattering to be her confidant, and so sad. Her closest relationship is with a presence she can neither see nor hear."

Answer: The Priest notices Fleabag doing it.

Fleabag starts finding excuses to spend time with the Priest, like showing up at church and volunteering for the fete. She shows up one evening with some G&Ts, hoping for a chat. They end up in the garden, and the topic of conversation turns to his faith. "Do you ever have doubts?" she asks. "Yes, of course. Every day. It's part of the deal," the Priest replies. "I just don't think I could do it, especially the celibacy," Fleabag says. "I couldn't give up sex forever." The Priest nods appreciatively. "Celibacy is a lot less complicated than romantic relationships," he points out. "What if you meet someone you like?" she asks. "I talk and drink and laugh and give them Bibles and hope they eventually leave me alone," he says. Fleabag keeps pushing. "What if you meet someone you love?" she asks. "We're not gonna have sex," the Priest replies. "I know that's what you think you want from me, but it's not. It won't bring any good." Fleabag laughs awkwardly and takes a beat to look straight at the camera. "I'd really like to be your friend, though," the Priest says. "I'd like to be your friend, too," Fleabag replies, before turning to the camera and adding, "We'll last a week."

The Priest frowns slightly. "What was that?" he asks. "You just went somewhere." Fleabag looks to the camera in confusion. "There," the Priest says. "Where'd you just go?" Fleabag can only laugh nervously. "Nowhere," she says. "Okay," the Priest replies, looking away. Fleabag turns and looks at the camera in alarm. For the first time, someone has noticed Fleabag's coping mechanism and has called her out on it. He may not be aware of the audience or Fleabag's secret relationship with us, but he can tell that she is not fully present in these moments and is stepping away from her own life. An incurable romantic might say that Fleabag has found someone who truly sees her in a way that no one else has.

Answer: "Kneel."

The Priest visits Fleabag's café, where he catches her breaking the fourth wall again. This time, he presses her for an explanation of what she does whenever she "disappears", but Fleabag can't take the scrutiny and ends their afternoon abruptly. She spends the rest of the day thinking about her Mum's funeral and ends up in the church attempting a prayer. Just then, she is interrupted by a blast of hip-hop music coming from the vestry. Upon investigation, she finds the Priest attempting to retrieve a bottle of whiskey from a high shelf. He offers her a drink and probes her on why she is here, but Fleabag is coy with her answers. "Come with me. I know what to do with you," he finally says.

The Priest leads her out to the confessional booth and offers to hear her confession. "I lied to you about the miscarriage," Fleabag begins. "I was just covering for my sister, who actually had the miscarriage, because her husband didn't know she was pregnant." The Priest urges her to keep going. "Well, I've stolen things. I've had a lot of sex outside of marriage. And once or twice inside someone else's," she says. "I'm ashamed of not knowing what I...." she begins, but is interrupted. "What you want? It's okay not to know what you want," the Priest says. "No, I know what I want. I know exactly what I want, right now," she continues. "I want someone to tell me what to wear in the morning." The Priest laughs at that. "No, I want someone to tell me what to wear every morning. I want someone to tell me what to eat, what to like, what to hate, what to rage about," she says. "I just think I want someone to tell me how to live my life, Father, because so far I think I've been getting it wrong. But I know that's why people want people like you in their lives, because you just tell them how to do it. You just tell them what to do and what they'll get out of the end of it," she continues, in tears now. "So just tell me what to do," she finishes. The Priest is quiet for a few moments, and when he finally speaks his voice is soft, yet commanding.

"Kneel," he says. "Just kneel." She puts her glass down and complies. The curtain is pulled away and he is standing before her. He bends down and caresses her face gently. They kiss, tenderly at first and then passionately. They are interrupted by a painting falling off the wall and crashing to the floor, breaking the spell. Embarrassed, the Priest walks back towards the vestry.

Answer: A bad haircut

Claire calls, hysterical, and asks Fleabag to come over. The Bank Manager, who happened to drop by for a visit, offers to look after the café, so Fleabag goes to find her sister. "Tell the truth," Claire says when she arrives. "It's horrendous." Claire has had a new haircut, which is short and lopsided. "It's modern," Fleabag says. "I look like a pencil," Claire says. Fleabag tries her best to calm Claire down, describing the haircut as "cool", "edgy" and "chic", but Claire remains unconvinced. The sisters go to confront Anthony, the hairdresser, but back down when he digs the reference photo out of the trash to prove that he gave her exactly what she asked for. "If you want to change your life, change your life. It's not gonna happen in here," Anthony tells them.

The sisters end up on a park bench, and Claire thanks Fleabag for accompanying her to the hospital on the night of her miscarriage. "I just felt relief," Claire explains. "I didn't want my husband's baby. Isn't that awful?" Just then, a familiar voice asks, "Claire? Is that you?" It is Claire's Finnish colleague and work crush, Klare, who happened to be walking by. Claire is mortified, but Klare loves her new haircut. "Oh, my God, Claire, I love your hair!" he says. "It's so cute and edgy and cool." He invites her to spend the day with him, and Fleabag agrees to run an errand for Claire so that she can go. Fleabag smiles as they head off, laughing happily.

Answer: She pushes the camera away.

In the aftermath of Fleabag's turn in the confession booth, the Priest pulls out of Dad and Godmother's wedding and tries to end things with Fleabag. "Please don't come to the church again. I mean that with the greatest of compliments," he tells her.

Later that night, he shows up at Fleabag's flat and asks to come in. "I've changed my mind about the wedding," he tells her. "I can't let them down like that. And apparently no one else will wear the outfit." The conversation turns to the elephant in the room. "I've sacrificed a lot for this life, you know? I've given a lot of things up," the Priest begins. "I can't have sex with you because I'll fall in love with you." Fleabag turns to the camera and says, "We're gonna have sex." The Priest continues. "I'm supposed to love one thing," he says, pointing upwards. "Oh, my God, we're gonna have sex," Fleabag says to the camera. "Stop that!" the Priest says, sensing her distraction. "I don't think you want to be told what to do at all. I think you know exactly what you want to do." An awkward moment passes. "We're gonna have sex, aren't we?" the Priest finally says. Fleabag nods. The Priest surrenders to the inevitable and starts undoing her coat. They kiss. The scene shifts to Fleabag's bed, and for the first time, Fleabag notices the camera, reaches over, and shoves it away. Unlike her previous sexual encounters, Fleabag has no intention of distancing herself from this one, or of sharing the experience with us.

Answer: Claire tells Martin to leave her.

The Priest turns up in full regalia, and Godmother introduces him to her guests. When she gets to Fleabag, she can't help herself. "And this is my unstable step-daughter who's had a miscarriage," she announces to everyone. "It was my miscarriage," Claire interjects, correcting her. "She was just covering for me," she adds, referring to Fleabag. "We were pregnant? It was my baby?" Martin asks, stunned. "I guess it was your baby's way of saying it didn't want you as its father. Like a goldfish out of the bowl, sort of thing," Claire replies, throwing Martin's own words from the dinner back at him. "Sorry, but whoever had a miscarriage, could you take it to the kitchen, please?" Godmother says.

"You're leaving me," Claire says to Martin upon entering the house. "I know you look at me and you see a bad man with a big beard," Martin begins. "You are an alcoholic and you tried it on with my sister," Claire points out. "I am not a bad guy! I just have a bad personality. It's not my fault," Martin says. "I think the thing that you hate the most about yourself is that you actually love me. So, I am not going to leave you until you are down on your knees and begging me." Claire stares at her husband for a moment, then gets down on her knees. "Please leave me!" she pleads. "Oh, man. I didn't think you'd do that in that dress," Martin says. Defeated, he leaves.

Answer: "Love is awful."

"So, it turns out it's quite hard to come up with something original to say about love, but I've had a go," the Priest begins. "Love is awful. It's awful. It's painful. It's frightening. It makes you doubt yourself, judge yourself, distance yourself from the other people in your life. It makes you selfish. It makes you creepy. It makes you obsessed with your hair. It makes you cruel. It makes you say and do things you never thought you would do." Claire and Fleabag are sitting next to each other, and at this point Claire turns to her sister. "There's something wrong with your priest," she says.

"It's all any of us want, and it's hell when we get there! So no wonder it's something we don't want to do on our own," the Priest continues. "I was taught, if we're born with love then life is about choosing the right place to put it. People talk about that a lot - it feeling right. 'When it feels right, it's easy.' But I'm not sure that's true. It takes strength to know what's right." The Priest locks eyes with Fleabag, who listens intently. We get the sense that the Priest has made a decision about something. "Love isn't something that weak people do. Being a romantic takes a hell of a lot of hope. I think what they mean is when you find somebody that you love, it feels like hope," the Priest concludes.

Fleabag turns to Claire, and convinces her to leave the wedding and find Klare at the airport. A tearful Claire smiles at her sister, and takes her advice.

Answer: She walks away and forbids the camera to follow.

Fleabag leaves the wedding party at her Dad's place and waits at the bus stop. Before long, she is joined by the Priest. They make small talk for a while, if only to delay the inevitable. "It's God, isn't it?" she finally asks. "Yeah," the Priest says. Fleabag doesn't appear surprised but is still stung by this. She tells him that the worst part is that she loves him. He starts to say something, but she stops him. "No, let's just leave that out there, just for a second on its own. I love you," she says sincerely. He takes her hand in his. "It'll pass," he says. They sit together quietly for a few moments, until the Priest declares that he feels like walking. He gets up to go, then stops. "See you Sunday?" he asks casually, before adding, "I'm joking. You're never ever allowed in my church again." Fleabag laughs. "I love you, too," the Priest says, catching her off-guard. She nods, tears welling in her eyes as she watches him walk away. Fleabag gathers up her things and starts walking in the opposite direction. She stops when she realises that the camera is following her, and turns toward us with a sad smile and shakes her head. She resumes walking while the camera stays where it is. Once she puts some distance between her and the camera, she turns back and gives a little wave, before continuing down the street.

Over the course of the first series, Fleabag built up a relationship with the audience as a replacement for her friend, Boo, but it was a false, one-sided intimacy. Over the course of the second series, she turns to the camera less and less in favour of a real intimacy with the Priest, but when that relationship comes to an end, she realises that her performing to an audience is really just a coping mechanism that gets in the way of her forming real relationships with others, and finds the strength to go on without us. As Caroline Framke says, writing for "Variety": "Left with the crushing, miraculous knowledge of her own capacity to love, Fleabag says goodbye to the narrative and emotional crutch that has long outlived its usefulness. The show's greatest gift is that after delving so far into Fleabag's head, it finds the grace to let her go, knowing once and for all that she'll be better off without us."