Clown kisses, swans and Fatboy Slim – best bits from the Derry Girls finale

Fiona Frawley

Derry Girls cast dressed in white with feathery wings and halos.

Due warning – spoilers ahoy for an emotional whirlwind of an episode.

Much like life itself, the series finale of Derry Girls took us from the highest of highs to the lowest of lows almost instantly.

derry girls s3 ep 6 pic.twitter.com/MICNjiLM8P

— amy🌿 (@CLEM3NTlNE_) May 17, 2022

It started off as all great episodes do – with Aunt Sarah finding herself in the classic predicament of accepting a proposal without realising. We’ve all been there. As we’ve come to fondly expect, the opening scene was also punctuated with a quintessential Irish Mammy™ moment – in this instance, Ma Mary ripping open a private and confidential letter for Erin without a moments hesitation.

Elsewhere, the girls faced a predicament of their own – the potential of losing their highly coveted Fatboy Slim tickets unless James agreed to fight a grown man for them. Luckily, Michelle was on hand with an inspired plan not only to get their tickets back, but to get VIP passes too – a tv interview detailing a shocking (and fictional) attack on James, which she recounted convincingly and colourfully to Margaret Callaghan (played to perfection by Sinéad Burke).

Well, that seemed to work. #DerryGirl https://t.co/FhfHWElAns

— Sinéad Burke (@TheSineadBurke) May 17, 2022

Feathered up to the nines in their Claire Danes from Romeo and Juliet – NOT swan inspired – costumes, the girls travelled in style to the show – via a trailer proudly pulled through the Halloween parade by Clare’s dad in a mini. The look of love between the two of them at this moment would be enough to set you off all by itself – never mind paired with what came later.

The 👍 to her Dad. 👌#DerryGirls pic.twitter.com/l8EAz89LSr

— Glen O'Dálaigh (@GlenDaly85) May 17, 2022

Once the girls landed at the concert, it quickly became apparent there was something far more important than seeing Fatboy Slim – getting Clare the shift. After a group exercise of unmasking every clown in the greater Derry area, Clare found her Juliet (Lauri) and they shared a smooch before being swiftly removed from the venue. Michelle’s plan to cast James as the victim of a hate crime was unsuccessful, none of the girls would be able to see Norman do his thing but none of it mattered, Clare was going steady with another wee lesbian. The group celebrated together in a final moment of pure joy before the unthinkable happened.

https://twitter.com/castlepinkskull/status/1526662688855805953?s=20&t=kYHEW53nPZXm5Y4Yy6hDTg

https://twitter.com/milevans_/status/1526663563070394369?s=20&t=kYHEW53nPZXm5Y4Yy6hDTg

If you’ve happened to read this far without watching the episode yet, I’ll just say there was a funeral, and it’s gut wrenching. I was planning on crying during this episode anyway, but I wasn’t prepared for my fully fledged ugly sob face to be out in full force. It’s the end of Derry Girls as we know it, but this is your gentle reminder of the hour long special is on tonight at 9pm on Channel 4, for one final goodbye.