Derry Girls – The Affair Review

After a disappointing opening episode to Season Three, Derry Girls returns to form with an episode about a Children in Need, ‘90s pop, and a mid-life crisis.

Children in Need fever has struck the school and the students and faculty are looking for ways to fundraise. Father Peter (Art Campion) sets up a Stars in Their Eyes style singing competition and the winner would get to perform on TV, leading to the gang competing for the prize. However, a complication arises when the gang suspects Erin’s mum is having an affair with Gabriel (Damien Molony), the handsome plumber.

“The Affair” has a seemingly standard sitcom plot. It was a talent show storyline combined with a misunderstanding subplot. It could have been an episode for an American teen sitcom on Nickelodeon. But an unoriginal story isn’t an issue if it’s well-executed. Lisa McGee has already shown she can elevate a stock sitcom plot. She did it with “The Ukrainian,” “The Concert,” and “The Prom.” And she did it again with “The Affair.”

On a comedy level “The Affair” was a massive improvement from “The Night Before.” The gang felt more like the characters the audience fell in love with in the first place. In the previous episode they all acted as they suffered from a collective lobotomy since they had no critical faculties and helped two criminals commit a burglary.

Jamie-Lee O’Donnell as Michelle was the comedy star in the episode. She started strong by berating Erin and James, and she was the one driving the gang to compete in the competition. Michelle’s comical highlight was when she was to choreograph the routine and turns into a mini dictator. She was hilarious when she got into a heated argument with Erin and told James to shut up.

Michelle can be incredibly vulgar and that is what makes her funny. She has a no-holds-barred approach which led to some great insults from her. I did laugh a lot at Michelle’s guess at Clare’s charades. On a side note, Clare should stop doing sponsored challenges for charity, she’s no good at it.

Sister Michael had some great comedic moments. She has always made biting comments and she does it again in regard to Jenny Joyce and Aisling’s dancing. Sister Michael gets to suffer a whole evening of awkward school performances and when she interacted with the Quinn household, she got to say something most teachers wish they could say. Sister Michael’s interactions with Father Peter were gold because he was trying to boss the headteacher about.

Saoirse-Monica Jackson stated on her Instagram page that “The Affair” was her favourite episode to film. It’s easy to see why because she got to be funny and flex her dramatic muscles. Jackson got to showcase Erin’s narcissism which was on display because of Erin’s proposed act of charity which was to read her stories to sick children. Michelle rightly dismissed the idea. A fun little moment involving Erin was when she saw Gabriel and clearly fancied him, but he treated her like a small child.

Erin suffered from emotional strains which came during the second half of the episode when she thinks her mum is having an affair. She was depressed and dejected before her performance and the gang showed their concern for their friend. It’s sweet that the gang can have these moments. Erin acted like a teenager when she confronted her mother about the affair.

Mary’s character was explored in this episode. She was stuck with domestic life as shown during the episode’s pre-title sequence. Mary suffered from the hot water going out and all her family members wanting something at the same time. It’s a domestic situation that many families would have experienced. Mary’s character was developed in this episode since her hopes and desires were revealed and showed she was more than a strict mother.

In the first two seasons of Derry Girls, the show was consistent with the time period. There were references to mid-90s films like Pulp Fiction and The Usual Suspects and the second season’s finale centred around Bill Clinton’s visit to Northern Ireland in 1995. However, Season Three has been playing fast-and-loose with the facts. In “The Night Before” there was a news report about Mo Mowlan’s visit to the Maze Prison, an event that didn’t happen until 1998 and in this episode, the gang performed a song that wasn’t released as a single until 1997. It made Derry Girls seem like The Goldbergs where they used all facets of a decade’s culture regardless of when the events took place.

“The Affair” was an incredibly funny episode and had a little bit of dramatic heft. Erin, Michelle, and Sister Michael were legends in this episode.