“The Affair” was a marvelous episode of Derry Girls. One of the things that I love about this series, aside from its comedy, are there dynamics between all of the characters. In this episode, Mary is constantly frustrated did she has to do everything around the house. As a result of her not being appreciated, she becomes attracted to the local plumber. Erin and her friends are entering children in need performance competition with the big prize being that their performance gets shown on television.
This is everything I want in a Derry girls episode. I love it when Erin jumps to conclusions because she always makes an absolute ass out of herself. She never bothers to ask questions or investigate to find the truth. She just believes what she is told and runs with it. This always has consequences for her. One of the things that I find most endearing is that even though every other member of the group makes jokes at Erin’s expense, they are always emotionally supportive of what she is going through.
The funniest moment of the episode didn’t even come from Erin. As usual, sister George Michael stole the show. Lisa McGee wrote a monologue regarding how stupid Sister Michael found the idea of the competition to be. As the girls would say, it was class. Moments like this are why this series has mass appeal. Leah O’Rourke as Jenny Joyce continues to be an unimaginable delight. Her dance performance with her best friend, yeah, it was priceless, especially since her best friend had a fantastic voice, only to be silenced by Jenny Joyce’s need for the spotlight.
The moment that surprised me the most was that Mary got her own storyline for once. It was intriguing to learn how dissatisfied she was with her life as a homemaker. It was great to see Mary go after her passion, which in this case was going back to school. This would have been frowned upon in previous decades, but I was happy to see the entire family support her. Derry Girls is not often wholesome, but I was glad to see a positive ending.
The heart of the episode, however, was the affair. Saoirse-Monica Jackson’s Facial expressions have me in hysterics. It’s entirely as if her world had been turned upside down. Furthermore, this is an exciting story to cover because it’s a subject that is not often covered in a comedy. I was deeply interested and invested in how they were going to find forms of comedy from something so serious. I’m invested whenever there are dramatic scenes as well. Erin’s breakdown because of the potential for her family to divorce and separate was tragic. While not justified, her anger and her mother really showed the dramatic chops Jackson has. I was absolutely floored with the resolution of this episode, where once again, the girls and Erin have eggs on their faces. Overall this was a fun episode with a serious story at its heart. I can’t wait to see what the girls do next.
Derry Girls is streaming on Netflix.
