Warning: The following contains spoilers for Derry Girls Season 3.It’s a commonly understood fact that when one refers to the Derry Girls in the hit show of the same name, they are referring to the rowdy group of Northern Irish teens who go about making trouble in various, always hilarious ways. The fact that one of the integral members of this group is, in fact, a boy is never accounted for, as neither the show nor viewers seem too fussed about the technicality. That is, until Michelle says at the end of season two, “it doesn’t matter if your bits are different than my bits. It’s a state of mind.”
Jame’s obvious differences from the girls exist in such plain sight that one grows used to it. His character who flies under the radar of the show, doing whatever the girls happen to be doing and folding into the scenes so naturally that viewers hardly notice that, yes, of course, they consider him a Derry Girl. However, the girls’ relation to James is still, to put it mildly, unique.
The Meanest James Moments In Derry Girls
Michelle Doesn’t Want To Hear James Breathe
In season 3, Erin’s family takes her friends along for a trip to an amusement park. They have to get there by train, and when the girls get bored, Erin tries to get them all to have a normal conversation instead of playing a game. Michelle, however, gets bored with that as well and laments that James’ breathing is annoying her.
Though James is offended by his very breathing annoying his cousin, Erin agrees, and James has to go sit away from them in order to keep them happy. It’s a pretty low moment considering all the other grief they’ve put James through.
James Is Put In Danger For Concert Tickets
A Halloween festival sees Fatboy Slim as the headlining DJ, and the group just has to get tickets. When they’re accused of cutting in line to get the last batch of tickets, however, the man who wants them offers to fight James for the tickets to make it fair.
While James is aghast that a grown man wants to fight him, the girls encourage him to do it. It’s not hard to understand then why James would just rip the tickets up and run away in a panic instead of fighting. Of course, the group does get to go to the festival (dressed as angels) in the end, but James could have ended up in serious danger.
Everyone Refuses James A Bathroom
James comes into the show’s premiere instantly made fun of - for being English, for looking feminine - and spends the rest of the episode begging to use the bathroom. Despite him quickly becoming one of the most likable Derry Girls characters, no one wants to help him.
Not a single person in the show offers him directions to a toilet, not even the head nun of the school. Whenever James inquires, he is dismissed as being a needy pest.
The Group Forgets James With The Travelers
The girls spend an episode playing hooky and trying to make their way to Belfast to get to the concert of their favorite band, Take That.
During the trials of making their way to the city, the girls realize that James hasn’t been with them for a while, and have to stop and re-consider where they might have left him. It’s incredibly insensitive to completely forget someone who you’re with, as if they aren’t worth remembering.
The Girls Are Enraged That James Doesn’t Like Fried Food
A recurring gag in the show is the town’s obsession with the local chip shop. Each family goes there regularly, waiting in line to tell the owner their entire family’s order, and the owner that everyone knows by name.
The love for fried food is taken for granted until James is asked what he’d like, and he confesses, to the horror of all present, that he thinks fried food is “too greasy.” This opinion made it so everyone was pretty upset with him.
The Girls Are Disgusted That Katya Likes James
The girls regularly assert their opinion that James is an unattractive person. They say this as if it’s an obvious fact to be accepted and not challenged - something made even more ridiculous by the fact that James is clearly a handsome person.
So when exchange student Katya takes a liking to James, the girls act as if the world has turned upside-down. Their disgust at Katya’s interest in James is incredibly over the top.
James Is Constantly Harassed For Being English
It’s another running Joke that everyone James meets in Ireland will naturally dislike him at least a little bit due to the fact that he’s English.
When James is mistaken for being gay on several occasions, something that was not as accepted at the time, it’s even joked that his being gay might “make up for the English thing,” a way for the show to highlight its pro-gay themes while playing up the tensions between the English and the Irish.
The Most Touching James Moments In Derry Girls
The Group Panics When James Is Knocked Out
Sister Michael sends the friends to her aunt’s house to clean up for a wake, and she gives James the school van to drive them there. A flat tire and the van not being placed in park means that on the trip, James ends up briefly knocked out.
The girls panic because they’re so worried that he’s seriously injured - not just because they could get in trouble. They carry him all the way to the house they think belongs to Sister Michael’s aunt, and are perfectly prepared to get him a doctor and risk getting themselves into serious trouble when James wakes up.
They All Wear Eyeliner
Miss De Brun begins working at the school and quickly becomes every student’s icon.
The girls all take up wearing applying eyeliner in the same style as Miss De Brun - black liner on the tops of their lids ending in wings at the corners of their eyes - and James waltzes down the hallway wearing the same style and look of proud association as the rest of them, a sign of his increasing oneness with the group.
Erin And James Go To The Dance
James shows little interest in the school dance as he has other things he would prefer to be doing - that the girls make fun of, of course - but when Erin’s date stands her up and her mother calls James to come to get her, he shows up with a smile on his face, telling Erin that she’s more important than what he had to do.
It’s a moment where the veneer of daily joking is put aside and James’ value as a friend shines through. Of course, it’s also a hint at his developing feelings for Erin, but that’s not the focal point of him taking her to the dance so they can all have fun together.
James Bonds With Father Peter
Father Peter becomes the subject of everyone’s admiration - except for the often deadpan Sister Michael, of course, who openly admires no one - and James particularly takes a liking to him.
James has very few men to interact with and more importantly has very few people who don’t treat him with disdain. Father Peter makes a show of being cool and understanding, however, and James instantly clings to him as a role model.
Michelle Begs James To Stay In Derry
The most touching of all scenes involving James doesn’t happen until the end of season 2, putting into striking perspective just how undervalued James has been throughout the series, but when the girls’ true feelings for James are forced to the surface, it’s well worth the wait.
In one of the best Derry Girl lines, Michelle, the harshest of them all, insists that James stay in Derry instead of leaving with his mother. Her claim that his mother is bad for him shows Michelle’s genuine care for James’ well-being, and she is finally made to admit that she likes having him around.
James Proclaims That He’s A Derry Girl
It’s thoroughly heartwarming to see how crumpled the girls are without James when Derry Girls recounts the real life visit of President Bill Clinton to the small town. Throughout the first two seasons, James is a tag-along who the girls majorly take for granted, but once they are suddenly without him, they don’t know what to do with themselves.
James returning and shouting to the rooftops that he’s a Derry Girl, and having the girls celebrate with him instead of teasing him for once, is a lovely and fitting ending to the season 2.
