10 TV Performances Way Better Than Anyone Expected

4. Phoebe Waller-Bridge - Fleabag

The Witcher Geralt Henry Cavill
BBC

As the writer and leading role of Fleabag, Phoebe Waller-Bridge has shown us why she is a hidden talent in the television world. Well, maybe not so hidden anymore.

Fleabag is one of the most socially aware but unforgiving comedies of the last decade. Waller-Bridge's plays the humbling role of the titular character, Fleabag, a witty yet disastrous woman not exactly known for her good decision making. Constantly breaking the fourth wall and giving an unnerving realism to the world she lives in, our world, Waller-Bridge toes the line perfectly between black comedy and dark tragedy.

It's another example of how morally grey characters have become an icon for this era of television and Waller-Bridge's performance may the most real yet. She never asks us to sympathise with her character's flaws, but two seasons wasn't nearly enough time for us to explore the crazed mind of Fleabag.

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A music grad & screenwriting masters student hoping to put his strong grasp of the online thesaurus to good use. Will write about anything you can find on a screen or a compact disc. Except the Bee Gees. He doesn't know much about them.