YMMV / Absolutely Fabulous

• Alternate Character Interpretation:
  • Saffron. Some see her as a figure who stays with her abusive mother not out of one-sided love but due to a fear of going it alone in the world and opting to take her mother's abuse in exchange for Edina supporting her financially.
  • Although she did move out for a while against her mother's wishes, and it is later revealed that she is legally the owner of Edina's incredibly expensive house.
  • Also, in the episodes where Saffy considers moving into the residential halls at the university, Edina really doesn't want her to move out.
  • Edina is vapid, but she's got an impressive job and is rich, so she can't be as stupid as she acts. Perhaps she's a Bunny-Ears Lawyer?
    • In the episode where Saffron and her father are trying to rein in Edina's spending, Saffron admits many of Edina's investments and side-hustles are actually quite lucrative - she's not in financial trouble, in truth she has more money than she knows about. The problem is, if she knew about it, she'd spend all of it.
• Audience-Alienating Premise: The 2001 French film Absolument Fabuleux starring Josiane Balasko and Nathalie Baye didn't do great at the box office and among critics. Reasons for the former include the French public not having much awareness of the British series at the time, and the film not being very good to begin with for the latter.
• Crosses the Line Twice: Really, all of Edina and Pat's drunken antics and the effect it has on their lives and loved ones would be the stuff of soap operas if it weren't overdone to the point of absurdity.
• Fan Nickname: The show is commonly referred to as "Ab Fab".
• Hollywood Homely: Julia Sawalha, who was and still is a very attractive woman, is given oversized glasses, an unflattering wardrobe, and a bad haircut and cast as the "frumpy" Saffron.
• Hollywood Pudgy: Everyone treats Edina like she's grossly overweight (even Edina herself, as she has body image issues) but she actually has an average build. Justified as Edina works in a fashion and media orientated industry, from whence this trope was born in the first place.
• Jerkass Woobie: Patsy. Several episodes have revealed that her mother was a selfish bitch who ignored Patsy throughout childhood and adulthood and has a sister who has made repeated attempts to murder her.
• Les Yay: Between Eddie and Patsy. Oh so much.
  • They even get married when they go to New York.
  • Also between Saffy and Titicaca/Sarah.
• Memetic Mutation: The "She's blind" scene from the episode "Fat" has become a surprisingly common audio clip used in TikTok videos.
• Moral Event Horizon:
  • Patsy actually once sold Saffron into slavery. Though it is uncertain how much of that episode was a Mushroom Samba.
  • A more literal example in the finale: Edina and Patsy do all sorts of horrible things to Saffron over the years, who suffers silently as a Love Martyr until the final special, which has Edina striking her granddaughter. Which is enough to get Saffron to disown her mother and force her and Patsy out of the house, with the reveal that Saffron is the real owner of the house (due to Saffron's father putting the deed to the house in Saffron's name so that she couldn't be kicked out by her asshole mother). Even in the 2012 specials when its revealed Saffron at some point forgave her mother for this and has let her move back into the house, it is still considered a major MEH by fans.
• Retroactive Recognition:
  • Natascha McElhone, credited under her real surname "Taylor", has a bit part as an art gallery assistant in "Death".
  • A young Idris Elba appears in "Sex".

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