Saying Goodbye to the Invisible Audience
<<I just finished season 2, episode 6 of fleabag and I am in tears. Not just from the love declarations between Fleabag and the priest. But how Fleabag says goodbye to her invisible audience. The fact that her making faces at the 4th wall became a part of the story is amazing. It makes me think about DPDR.>>
ChatGPT: Yes — that moment is astonishing. You’re absolutely right to connect it to dissociation and even depersonalization/derealization (DPDR).
🧨 What Makes That Scene So Emotionally Devastating
When Fleabag turns to say goodbye to us, her imaginary audience, it’s not just a storytelling device—it’s a psychological break in the best sense. We’ve been her coping mechanism. Her dissociation. Her split self. Her witness. The audience has been her way to survive.
By the end of season 2, she doesn’t need us anymore. The act of saying goodbye isn't just a creative twist—it’s her choosing to inhabit herself more fully.
When the priest notices her looking away and says “Where did you just go?” it’s chilling. He sees the split.
And when he finally says, “It’ll pass,” it’s not just about their love. It’s about pain, attachment, and the parts of ourselves we build to survive.
🧠 Fleabag, the 4th Wall, and DPDR
Fleabag’s use of the 4th wall has always functioned like:
A dissociative mechanism (distance from reality),
A form of narrative control (curation of her experience),
A protector part (like in IFS, Internal Family Systems).
In DPDR, you observe yourself from the outside. You narrate, intellectualize, comment—because being in it is unbearable. That’s Fleabag in season 1 and much of season 2. Her smirks, commentary, and glances aren't just jokes—they’re shields.
That final moment is her choosing presence over protection. It’s the moment her fragmented self dares to unify.
🪞Why It Hurts So Much
Because so many of us have created an invisible audience to survive:
Imaginary conversations in our heads
Inner narrators that explain us to ourselves
Personas we perform for, even when alone
Fleabag letting us go is a symbolic act of integration. It’s tender, haunting, and terrifying. It’s what healing actually looks like: Not dramatic, not complete—just... choosing to be here.
💭 If You’re Thinking About Your Own DPDR
That might be because the show accidentally validated you. It showed what it’s like to live at a distance from yourself, and what it might mean to come back.
If you're willing, I’d be glad to explore:
What Fleabag’s goodbye triggered in you
Whether your 4th-wall habits are shifting
What the invisible audience has done for you—and whether you still need them
No pressure to dive deeper—but that moment clearly hit something real.
