As Derry Girls gets closer to its conclusions the Ma’ams get a spotlight episode with “The Reunion.”
It’s the 20 Year Reunion for the students of Our Lady Immaculate College. This includes the parents of the Derry Girls. This marks the first time they face Janette Joyce nee O’Shea (Justine Mitchell) a former friend who now looks down on them. Mary sets out to take Janette down a peg by revealing what their gang did 20 years ago.
“The Reunion” was an episode where most of the main gang didn’t appear. Only Erin and Orla appeared at the beginning of the episode. Yet that didn’t mean the gang’s presence was still felt. “The Reunion” was a flashback episode with a portion of it taking place in 1977.
The flashbacks showed the Ma Mary’s gang as teenagers, and they mirrored their daughters. Mary was the de facto leader, Sarah was ditzy, Geraldine shared her daughter’s nerves, and Deirdre was the loudmouth rebel. At their School Leavers Ball they were joined by Deirdre’s Canadian cousin, Rob. It’s a fun dynamic, it worked for the main gang and as well as similar shows like The Inbetweeners and Some Girls.
The casting team deserves a lot of praise for finding actors who could mirror the main gang’s characteristics and the actors were of course incredibly talented. The young ma’ams were able to mirror the basic traits of their daughters but there were also some differences. Sarah wasn’t as weird as Orla, she was more of an absent-minded airhead, whilst Deirdre was a punk. It was like making the same meal and altering some of the spices.
This showcasing of the past gives fans a hint of what the main gang’s future might hold. Geraldine called Clare a delinquent in “The Concert” and Deirdre had a no-nonsense approach when dealing with Michelle. Deirdre could see Michelle was like her when younger, so didn’t want her daughter to act in the same way. Irish mums being strict seems to be a permeant state of affairs.
It was amusing to think of Mary being strict with Erin when her dad was strict with her. Joe told his daughters to not even speak to boys, let alone kiss them or anything else. He even gave his daughters a hurley so they could protect themselves. Joe’s defensive nature for his daughters may explain why he dislikes Gerry: he would have disliked any man Mary would have married.
The mystery of the episode involved events in 1977. The episode does keep the audience guessing about what the girls did. Did they sneak in booze? Did they take drugs? Did Mary make out with Janette then boyfriend, now husband? The revelation was a funny surprise.
Even in this late stage in the show’s run, Lisa McKee showed she was willing to mix up the formula. “The Reunion” does stand out because of its focus on the ma’ams and showing events in the past. It was great to see more of these characters and show how cyclical life in Derry can be.
“The Reunion” was an incredibly humorous episode. It started strong with Mary trying to lose half a stone in an afternoon and Sarah reading up about the Russian Revolution to prove she’s not a bimbo. A joke I really enjoyed was seeing all the husbands and boyfriends were all made to wear the same suit. It’s a twist on the usual joke of women getting upset about wearing the same outfit. Deirdre’s Canadian cousin, Rob (Alex Gaumond) was a fun addition to the cast because everyone kept calling him American and he kissed one of the husbands to see if he could get a reaction out of them. Rob was in the James role because he was a foreigner who was berated for his nationality.
“The Reunion” was great for allowing the parents to shine and daring for the series not to feature the main gang. It was the best purely comedic episode in the season, so far.
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