Rating: 4/5
Set in the politically tumultuous Northern Ireland of the 1990s, the third and final season of “Derry Girls” provides a humorous and heart-wrenching exploration of the intricacies of adolescence, set against the backdrop of the country’s fight for independence.
The show follows five teenagers who attend a Catholic high school as they navigate friendships, romance, and emerging adulthood—consistent themes include the five attempting to gain more freedom from their families and avoid the school’s deadpan headmistress, Sister Michael (Siobhán McSweeney). The third season takes darker turns than previous seasons, peppering warm-lit scenes of mundane life with gritty footage of Bloody Sunday—when British soldiers shot 26 civilians at a civil rights protest—and killing off a minor character. Though the rapid shifts in tone, which often occur without the characters’ acknowledgment of major historical events, can cause intense whiplash, they are effective because they are realistic. People go on living their daily lives, worrying about crushes and high school reunions, even as the world around them comes crashing down.
The season’s emphasis on human emotion and personal experience drew me in and kept me invested. The stakes of each episode—will they manage to escape from police custody? Will they make it to the Fatboy Slim concert?—were made astronomically high through the actors’ genuine portrayals of the joy and distress of adolescent life, when each new struggle appears to foreshadow another Armageddon. Mundane storylines contrast with outlandish stakes, creating an enjoyable and humuorous irony reminiscent of the best sitcoms.
That is not to say that the show or the characters shy away from political topics—the finale includes Grandpa Joe (Ian McElhinney) providing a layman’s explanation of the Good Friday Agreement, which declared a ceasefire between Ireland and the United Kingdom. The show maintains a careful balance between keeping scenes informative and avoiding info-dumping onto the viewer. We see the characters for the last time as they leave the voting booth, all having voted in favor of the referendum, while a newscaster’s voice announces the results of the vote (over 70% in favor) over swelling music. Despite my utter ignorance of Irish history and the referendum prior to writing this review, the ending nearly brought me to tears.
Notwithstanding its discussion of several somber topics, the season continues to be defined by its steadfast comedy. Whether it’s the absurdity of Orla (Louisa Harland) and Erin’s (Saoirse-Monica Jackson) 18th birthday party being combined with young childrens’ first communions, or their mother Mary’s (Tara Lynne O’Neill) treacherous decades-old secret being an illicit tattoo, jokes remain the beating heart of the show. The tension build-ups are hilarious in themselves, especially with the show’s generous use of slow-motion sequences, and punchlines that never fail to elicit laughs. Overall, “Derry Girls” season three presents an educational, eclectic, and endlessly entertaining combination of internal and external battles, woven with juxtaposition between humor and solemnity. Viewers looking for a few hours of funny, emotional entertainment should undoubtedly give it a try.