honestly though can we appreciate michelle in this episode actually admitting that if a split happened in the group she would go with james over erin??
[ID: Seven gifs from Derry Girls S3E04. The Derry Girls are in a car at the border to the Republic of Ireland. The soldier controlling James’ papers quizzically asks him, “You English?”, to which James insecurely answers, “Yeah…”. Michelle leans forward from the passenger seat and says, “He’s fine. We didn’t bring him up here to kill him or anything.” Annoyed, James explains, “She’s my cousin.”, which makes Michelle give the soldier a happy wave. The soldier looks James up and down, saying, “Oh right. Not properly English then.” James groans in frustration and exclaims, “I can’t win!”. Michelle presses her hand to her mouth to hide her laughter as Clare and Erin giggle in the backseat. End ID.]
god. it’s just. it’s dreams by the cranberries. it’s the montage of them all voting yes. it’s orla’s little smiley face in the box. it’s the live footage of the troubles. it’s erin’s speech. it’s the way that the last shot is of grandpa joe and anna jumping together out of the voting hall. it’s the sheer symbolism of youth and age being joyful and hopeful together. god.
I adore the inclusion of Liam Neeson’s character in the finale for two reasons:
1. The show is the world of these teenagers, so almost everyone they - and we as an extension - interact with is Catholic. So despite the almost cameo nature of the character, he’s really the only Protestant we see. And along with seeing all our main Catholic characters saying “yes, we want peace” we also get to see that same decision - at least that’s how I read his acting while taking off the hat, etc. since we don’t actually see what he marks - from the other side and from a character that is something of the bad guy in his episode part. It’s seeing that both sides wanted this.
2. Just the reality of Neeson himself. He was an 8-year-old Northern Irish Catholic when the Troubles began. He lived through all of it. He was 18 when one of the most violent parts of the Troubles began. He was 20 when Bloody Sunday happened. To include a face that we all know so well is standard cameo practice. But to include this man, who at 46 as an Irish citizen could have stood in one of those polling booths and been faced with that exact decision. That was so much more.
The revelation about Michelle’s brother adds so much to her dynamic with James. Michelle probably resents him taking her brothers place, and at the same time grows attached to him like a brother. It makes more sense why James puts up with Michelle, because he knows why she is like that.
It also makes her reaction to the possibility of losing him (like he’s gonna go back to England) hit so much harder.
