Fleabag seduces us, then accuses us with Phoebe Waller-Bridges fourth-wall-breaking

The New York Times

"It zaps the viewer awake, reminding us that watching is never neutral," Parul Sehgal says of Fleabag's flirtation with viewers, making them complicit in her self-destruction. "When characters are primarily oriented to the camera, not to one another or themselves, it alters not only the rhythm of the scenes but the very aspects of the characters we are allowed to see. We don’t see private lives, not really," says Sehgal. "We see characters with their volume turned up, performing with the avid, slightly brittle affect of people at a party, people who know they are being watched and who take an active, carnivorous interest in watching one another. Certainly we take a carnivorous interest in them. Fandom and television are tightly entwined; showrunners play to viewers and to the internet’s appetite for dissection. Fleabag cleverly holds up a mirror to the way we watch now."