My wife has been wanting to watch this! I thought the premise sounded interesting, plus it’s one of those tune-in-and-zone-out sitcoms that I probably needed in my life at the moment.
The Premise
Derry Girls follows five friends living their daily lives in Derry, Northern Ireland in the 1990s during the Northern Ireland Conflict. The main characters are Catholic, and therefore on the side of the conflict that wanted Northern Ireland to be unified with Ireland. We all know how that turned out, but hey, this isn’t about history! This is about Derry Girls, and the Northern Ireland Conflict is just the backdrop of the show. It’s not really about that, sorta kinda.
Saoirse-Monica Jackson is the ambitious Erin, who I would consider the de facto lead in the ensemble cast. Jamie-Lee O’Donnell is Michelle, the boisterous and wild one! Nicola Coughlan is Clare, the anxious, prim and proper one! Orla, (Louisa Harland), Erin’s cousin, is the weird one! There’s also James (Dylan Llewellyn), who isn’t a Derry Girl at all, but rather an English Boy who becomes the only male student at the Catholic school. He gets shit on constantly by Michelle. They’re cousins.
Antics and hilarity ensue!
We’re not going to milk that cow. Who do you think we are, the Dairy Girls?
My Half-Baked Thoughts
I may be biased because I spent exactly 100% of my viewing time enraptured by the Irish accents, but this show is pretty good! It’s certainly a fresh perspective, gearing more toward “I’m accidently complicit in attempting to smuggle this Irish Republican Army guy across the border” type storylines, and not so much the American “muh face is fat” storylines. Other storylines include the families hosting Ukrainian students as part of the Chernobyl Children International exchange program; a dog peeing on an upper floor of the church, leading to what looks like tears coming from a Virgin Mary statue; the group (including James) developing a crush on the hot, young priest who is vaguely, second-guessing his life of God dedication; many, many more! A finite amount. Maybe lose one “many”.
The Hot Priest is just one of the many zany characters you’ll find packing each episode of Derry Girls!
I was floored to learn the ages of these five people playing teenagers. In 2018, the “kids” were the following ages:
Saoirse-Monica Jackson – 25
Louisa Harland – 25
Dylan Llewellyn – 26
Nicola Coughlan – 31
Jamie-Lee O’Donnell – 31
Who doesn’t love watching 30+ year olds play teenagers? That shit never goes out of style. 31! Two of these women, approved and cast in a TV show about teenagers at a Catholic school, were 31! I remember being completely beside myself when I learned Alan Ruck was 30 years old when he played Cameron Frye in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. But 31? That means when the show ended, they were both 35. Is that a record? If someone knows if anyone older played a teenager, please let me know. That’s fucking nuts.
Yes, this is pretty much the default temperament of the group.
Anyway, being exactly .0000005% Northern Irish myself (I’m barely exaggerating), I’ve been interested in Derry Girls‘ existence. This show prompted me to look up details about Northern Ireland Conflict, and let me tell you, they were pretty boring! First of all, only 3,500 people were killed in 30 years? That’s only 1/3 of a person per day! Almost as many people get struck by lightning per year. Alec Baldwin has shot more people in the face! Allegedly. Second of all, have I mentioned the age of these Catholic school students? I know that has nothing to do with the conflict, but that seems to be the bigger atrocity. Sorry, I don’t have much to say about the Northern Ireland Conflict. I’m not very good at reading large pages of words!
Who are the best characters? None of the main five! The best characters are, in reverse order, the following two: Joe McCool, Erin’s acerbic grandfather, who lives with the family and hates Gerry Quinn (Erin’s father) with a passion. He will often tell his daughter to get a divorce and find someone else right in front of Gerry. He’s great.
Then there’s Sister George Michael, the nun headmistress of the school. She is constantly annoyed by the children, she shows no respect for the priests, and she says every blunt thought that’s on her mind. You can count the number of times she rolls her eyes on about 10 hands!
Bonus option: Saoirse-Monica Jackson makes the best faces.
“I’d love to go to prom with you. Hyuk hyuk.”
Back to the Irish accents for a moment, I’m obsessed with the way they pronounce the word “now”. It’s like the band Neu! (as in, “noy”). They’re all like “I have to go to the loo roight noy.” It’s incredible.
Worth the Watch?
Yes indeed. There are three total seasons (or “series”, if you’re not a filthy American like I am), each only six episodes. I haven’t continued, but normal people without lives and jobs can bang this whole thing out in a weekend. I look forward to continuing.
Perhaps I’ll do it right noy.
Now with 80% more Derry Non-Girls.
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