PSA: Stath Lets Flats is Very Funny
Ah crumbs
For the rest of the summer, I will focus on completing a draft of my novel. I’m simplifying my newsletter by writing the same thing every week- a brief talk-through of an episode of television that I find interesting. I hope you enjoy it, and I’ll be back with essays in (ahem, the second week of) September.
This is less a talk-through of an episode and more of an exhortation to anyone who hasn’t yet watched Stath Lets Flats.
It’s understandable why the show hasn’t become a giant smash over here. Telling people to watch Stath Lets Flats in the US is very difficult. “What?” they say. Then I say, “Stath Lets Flats?” And they say, “what?” And I say, “Stath, who is the main character, rents apartments? But in London? So he lets flats? So Stath Lets Flats?” The title is nearly incomprehensible to an American at first hearing.
Which is a pretty great way to understand how the comedy works in the show. Stath immigrated from Cypress to London as a teenager, and his father runs a lettings agency, Michael & Eagle. It’s a crappy lettings agency, and Stath is a terrible lettings agent. He’s, well, an idiot. And that combination of idiot and immigrant makes him nearly incomprehensible to all of his co-workers. He’s a bit of a Michael Scott. We don’t like him because he’s dumb, but we do like him because his heart is in the right place, he’s very loyal to his friends and family, and it’s not his fault everyone picked on him in school. Most of the dumb stuff he does is in service of fitting in.
There’s a divide in the show: cartoon characters versus real characters. Stath and his sister Sophie (played by his real life sister, the incomparable Natasia Demetriou from What We Do in the Shadows) are the two biggest clowns. Sophie is very socially…odd? Her character is so unique I’m honestly not sure how to describer her. Sophie has dreams of becoming a famous singer and/or dancer, even though she cannot sing and/or dance. And there’s also Al. Al is an agent at Michael & Eagle, and has a massive crush on Sophie. He is a man who has absolutely no backbone. He never says no.
The rest of the characters, at first blush, act as straight-men to these bananas three. There’s Carol, the lettings agent who actually does her job well. There’s Stath’s dad, who is annoyed at how bad his son is at letting flats. And there’s Julian, the boss at the fancy agency next door. In season 2 Julian takes over Michael & Eagle, even though he can’t believe how pathetic Stath and his family are. A lot of the comedy comes from these folks calling out the absurd behavior of the cartoon characters.
Except over the course of the series, Stath Lets Flats shows us that all of them are equally cartoons. This is my favorite thing about the show. The fact that Carol cares so much about her real estate job is actually just as laughable as how much Stath wants to take over the family business. Julian may be successful, but he’s also a chauvinist with a drug problem. He’s a funny villain.
Which leads us to the episode in question, the finale of season 2, Congratulations, Please.
Things are going great for Stath and his family. They’re nominated for “most improved agency” at the local lettings agents awards (which gives us the funniest joke about chewing gum I’ve ever seen). They fantasize about winning in the car ride on their way to the awards. His dad is going to finally retire, Stath is dating Katia, and Sophie is dating Cem (two other hilarious cartoon characters).
Then, at the midpoint of the episode, the shoe drops. Julian declares that he’s actually going to fire everyone, including pregnant Carol, once Stath’s dad retires. And it turns out Carol is pregnant with Stath’s baby! Katia runs out! Everything, very quickly, is terrible.
And then Michael & Eagle wins the award. Stath has to give the acceptance speech, the one he dreamed of giving in the beginning of the episode, while utterly dejected.
If you are writing a comedy script, figure out how to get your character to get what they wanted but in the worst way possible. It always, always works.
Meanwhile, Stath’s dad locks Julian on a second story balcony out of anger. And as he walks away, you hear Julian say, “You think I can’t get down from here? It’s the first floor!”
Later, the awards show ends and Stath and his sister walk out (after the viewers are rewarded with a high note in the middle of all the downs- Al finally admits his feelings for Sophie!). They’re talking about whether or not Carol will let Sophie be the Auntie. It’s funny- a throwaway scene.
Do you see what’s wrong here?
Suddenly, you hear Carol scream in the background. And in frame, the entire time, you realize has been Julian’s dead body, blood pooling from his head.
It is so shocking for a show like this, so completely and utterly surprising, and pulled off so perfectly, that the tonal insanity works. Julian has been dead on the ground this entire scene, and the siblings’ banter was so inane. Julian tried to climb down from the balcony and fell. We don’t feel upset, because he was such an asshole. And it’s so surprising. It’s one of the most surprising moments I’ve ever seen on tv. And what is laughter? Surprise. So fucking funny.
Stath Lets Flats is good for so many reasons. I’ve only scratched the surface of what's funny about it here, but if a lighthearted cringe comedy killing off a main character in a gruesome way out of nowhere at the end of their season two finale doesn’t make this a must-watch, I don’t know what does.
I’ll return to the usual programming next week, BUT- these sitcom episode recaps have been pretty popular! I’ll keep doing them. And if you have an episode of tv you’d like to have analyzed, drop it in the comments! I am happy to take requests.