No, Big-Time Emmy Winner 'Fleabag' Isn't Coming Back For A Third Season

There were a lot of winners at last night's 71st Primetime Emmy Awards, but none won bigger than Fleabag. Phoebe Waller-Bridge's razor-sharp dark comedy series about a grief-stricken, sexually promiscuous woman trying to survive in modern London was a sleeper sensation this year, earning critical acclaim and awakening many a fan's love for Hot Priests.

But the series came to a definitive end with the bittersweet second season, with Waller-Bridge ruling out a possibility of a Fleabag season 3. And that's how it will stay, Waller-Bridge confirmed to reporters, clutching her many trophies in hand at the 2019 Emmy Awards.

With buzz for Fleabag at an all-time high, any creator would be tempted to bring back a beloved series for another season. But Phoebe Waller-Bridge is not that creator. Backstage at the 2019 Emmy Awards, Waller-Bridge told reporters that there is no chance for a Fleabag season 3. Per the Los Angeles Times:

"This just feels like the most beautiful, beautiful way to say goodbye to it. It does feel nice to go out on a high. You can't get higher than this."

You couldn't get higher than Fleabag season 2, which was arguably the best single season of television this year. Exceptionally written, exquisitely acted, and emotionally devastating, Fleabag blew up Stateside after the season was released on Amazon Prime Video in April following its airing on BBC in the U.K., accumulating fans through word-of-mouth and the circulation of gifs of Andrew Scott's so-called Hot Priest. That explosive reception surprised even Waller-Bridge, who received some of the loudest applause of the night at the Emmys — no doubt a result of the show's success.

"It's the word-of-mouth stuff that just kills me. Knowing people said, 'I've told my friend and my friend told their friend and my whole family watches...' That stuff is really special. The press has been so amazing and writing these incredible pieces on it. It did feel like a tidal wave, didn't it, just suddenly hitting us all? And here, because it lands as one thing, one bingeable thing here — in the U.K., it's spread out over six weeks — it landed and there was this explosion of response. There were kind of shockwaves to it."

So while the fact that we won't be getting more Fleabag is almost as devastating as that heartbreaking final episode, at least we'll be left with the knowledge that Waller-Bridge was justly rewarded for her brilliant show. And while we may still be nursing our emotional wounds from the open-ended ending, in the words of one Hot Priest, "It'll pass."