3x07 The Agreement

[7.8/10] I appreciate the choice to conflate something as geopolitically momentous as the end of The Troubles with something as personally momentous as the act of leaving your childhood behind. The choice to vote yes on the titular agreement is juxtaposed with the choice to accept adulthood, and the inevitable changes that come with it. Granda Joe lays it out -- it’s easy to be afraid that it could all be for naught, but it’s tougher, in some ways, to imagine there could be something better, even if it’s scary.

The finale does some of those full-circle things that help mark that this is a big closing event for a show. We open with a montage of the major developments, big and small, that have taken place over the course of the series. The whole thing ends in a big dance party and celebration that includes most every character of note boogieing down together in one big brouhaha. They dust off the Cranberries again and show most of the cast making their choice on the ballot before venturing into that big wide world and with it, the future. The show does a good job of marking the milestone, for the series and for the lives of its characters, that this represents.

And I like that for all Erin’s literary aspirations -- devolving from Hamlet to a “Shakespeare Simplified” book to a teen magazine -- these experiences genuinely did give her a voice that helps her to articulate not only her own perspective on growing up, but on her country’s perspective on emerging from ages of sectarian violence into a new period of peace. The hints that this show is, more or less, what Erin was talking about when she said she’d write this down “someday” are a little too cute, but I like that idea as the capstone to her growth and her arc over the course of the show.

The side stories we get along the way are good too. Sister Michael is my favorite character in the show, so pretty much anything they did with her was going to meet with my approval (including her chalking up Jenny Joyce’s song as another “atrocity” that the troubles has visited upon them). That said, I really like where they went. More than anyone, Sister Michael seems perpetually disgruntled about her job and this school. But when the bishop is ready to reassign her, she looks wistfully about the place that’s been her calling for the last several years, affirms that she appreciates her work and feels as though she makes a difference, and ultimately succeeds in her fight to stay. Watching her fight for the thing she seemed to disdain, because deep down she appreciates it, is softly moving.

I also appreciated the fight between Erin and Michelle over how the agreement would free her brother, who killed a man amid The Troubles, from prison, and whether or not that’s a good thing. (Did we know that before now? Feels like a line that got tossed off semi-joking in season 1 that’s being played straight now.) The show wrings good comedy from their tiff, with Clare’s inadvertent game of phone tag being the funniest bit in the episode. But it also pays off the dispute nicely, with both acknowledging the shades of gray, the lack of clarity in resolving what’s good and what’s bad, and in line with the broader ideas of this episode, connecting their own uncertainty over how to reckon with such things personally with the people of Ireland’s difficulty in doing the same.

Connecting it to dueling parties between Erin/Orla on the one hand, and Jenny Joyce on the other, makes for some good set pieces. The fact that Erin has to share her party with Orla, share her theme of literary heroes with Orla’s of monkeys, and share the parish hall with a first communion, adds to her parade of amusing indignities. By contrast, Jenny’s party is appropriately tricked out, replete with a famed singer from Derry. The big shindig gives the show a chance to go a bit wild. And the imagery of Clare blacking out Jenny’s party to bring it to the rest of the Derry Girls on foot is a nice way to give everyone a win.

(As an aside, I don’t know if it was covid or scheduling commitments, but Nicola Coughlan was apart from the rest of the cast for a lot of this episode. It’s not a hindrance to the episode necessarily, but it’s a little conspicuous in a series finale.)

The other bits we get here are all solid. Gerry bristling at having to house cousin Eamonn, who’s in no hurry to get his roof fixed and is ready to take advantage of the Quinns’ kindness, is worth a laugh. Granda Joe puzzling over what the agreement actually means, and the family’s reactions, are worth a few laughs. And my favorite part of the episode may actually be the opening, with Orla’s free-spirited, musical wandering through the town, which comes with a great energy and carefree air that signifies the spirit of hope amid uncertain possibilities “The Agreement” represents.

The thought that lingers with me is Joe’s prophecy to his granddaughter, that one day she’ll tell these tales to her kids like they’re ghost stories. I didn’t grow up amid the end of The Troubles, but I’m old enough to know what he means, to feel like your childhood took place in a different world, one you can describe and explain, but never truly account for to someone who wasn’t there before so much changed. This finale isn’t perfect, but it and Derry Girls as a whole, is the best way to capture a few of those ghosts, share them with people who might appreciate them, and conjure those days again. It did it all with great humor, an incredible sense of place, and a poignancy that remained until the final moments of the show.