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Derry Girls Recap: A Tale of Two Ghost Stories

Season 3 Episode 4 Editor’s Rating5 stars *****

Photo: Netflix

All Derry Girls episodes are good, and some are great. This one is the latter in no small part because it’s very Michelle and Sister Michael forward. Jamie-Lee O’Donnell (Michelle) and Siobhán McSweeney (formally, Sister George Michael) are two of the strongest comic actors on the show (I rate Ian McElhinney as Granda Joe in the same echelon), and when their performances are front and center, every scene crackles with extra comedic energy, providing a little kick that makes everything else better.

In Sister Michael’s office, the wains are loudly expressing their outrage over Jenny Joyce doing yet another deeply annoying thing that’s an affront to them in every way. They give up that line of conversation when Sister Michael receives a call informing her that her aunt has died. The wains immediately offer their condolences, which Sister Michael appreciates, but she doesn’t want them to get carried away: Her aunt died after a long illness and, truth be told, “was an absolute arsehole.” Still, far be it for Sister Michael to look a gift horse in the mouth; when the wains offer to help out, she immediately assigns them the job of clearing out her aunt’s house so she can host the wake there the next day. Off the girls go to Donegal, James behind the wheel of the school van, to take care of the cleaning that very same day. Sure, Sister Michael could do it herself, but she doesn’t want to.

If there was any hesitation about this adventure, Michelle quickly quells it with loud and colorful promises of rides galore with “hot young farmers,” including lesbian farmers who will be lining up for the chance to get to know Clare. Once they get to Donegal, they need to stop to ask for directions, and the woman they approach speaks only Gaelic. Erin thinks she said something about seeing the devil, but she’s a little fuzzy on the details. No matter! They press on toward the house,but have to stop when the van gets a flat tire and James gets himself knocked unconscious. Fortunately, their destination is just a little ways up the road, so they carry James and get in the (very cursed-looking, it must be said) house. They get inside, and Clare absolutely loses her shit and smashes the glass door rather than wait for Orla to find the key, which she does seconds later.

Once in the house, they find the phone is disconnected and there’s no electricity. Hmmm. They consider walking back to the village to get help or at least directions to the closest hospital for James, but a huge crack of thunder, followed by driving rain, puts paid to that idea. At least James regains consciousness pretty quickly, telling the girls about his near-death experience.

As they potter around, assessing the state of the house, they find a 1941 wedding photo, noting that the happy couple are Annie and Robert. Sadly, Robert died pretty young, prompting the girls to fill in the blanks. This must be Aunt Annie and her tragic love, his life cut cruelly short. Could he have stuck around as a ghost to keep her company? Could Annie’s own ghost be lurking about, too?

The second they start thinking about ghosts, the wains are gripped with terror. Their fright isn’t helped by the strange sounds (like those often made by old houses), the aforementioned lack of electricity (and accompanying need for candles and all their eerie shadow-casting ways), and the way they keep ramping up the most extreme aspects of each other’s moods and fears. I am a complete fraidy-cat, and I watch very, very little horror, but the horror experts among you are most welcome to share any references to classic spooky movies you may recognize in this scene!

Meanwhile, in Derry, Mary and Sarah are preparing to visit their mammy’s grave with Granda Joe, who has bought two lovely and lavish floral arrangements for her grave. In contrast with the wains’ experiences, the grown-ups long for a nice haunting. Mammy McCool has been dead a decade now, and they’re starting to get a little sore about the fact that she hasn’t gotten in touch. Joe in particular would love to ask what she did with his good electric razor. Gerry, baffled, asks what they mean — surely a dead woman wouldn’t be getting in touch, primarily because she’s … dead.

Foolish, foolish man. Naturally, they’ve been expecting her to reach out from the afterlife, if only to let them know she’s having an okay time of it there in (presumably) Heaven. By their tone, it seems clear this expectation is straightforward and routine and Gerry’s disbelief is what’s weird.

Mary would love to go to a psychic to consult a professional on this matter, but Sarah is very cautious. Apparently her aura is so strong that she attracts all sorts of nuisance spirits. The last time she visited a psychic, she was positively tormented by the kvetchy spirit of a deceased U.S. Air Force pilot and would really rather not have to deal with him again. Mary prevails, and they head out to request a session with local psychic Carlos Santini, who’s very happy to attempt to contact the late Mrs. McCool so long as they all keep an open mind about the process and give him £7.50 each.

The first guest Carlos can sense from his rattan throne is indeed that dead Air Force pilot, who at least has the good grace to leave at Sarah’s insistence. Next up is the spirit of a woman, one with magnificent hair (Mary and Sarah nod happily at this detail), but before he can continue, a loud yell cracks the solemnity of the seance. It’s Carlos’s mother, who addresses him quite witheringly as Kevin and demands to know the location of her favorite green scarf. It’s too cold to go without it and she’s on the brink of being late to the bingo hall! Carlos/Kevin’s embarrassment at having to explain that he lives with his mother, his annoyance at her interruption, and his fury at being obliged to fund her gambling problem all erupt at once as he hurls the scarf out into the hall.

Carlos very theatrically collapses into his chair and says he can just make out the suggestion of water with some kind of red box below it. Neither the water nor the red box ring a bell for anyone, and Carlos’s energy is quite tapped out. A disappointment of an evening overall.

The wains’ evening is even worse as they plunge into an “I saw Goody Proctor”–style group delusion. They resolve not to sleep because constant vigilance against ghosts is their only shot at survival. We cut to the next morning; all five are sleeping while the birds outside chirp a friendly tune. Erin gets up, and James follows quickly downstairs.

In spite of Erin’s many tangential interruptions, James manages to blurt out his true feelings: “I like me, Erin!” Chef’s kiss to this George McFly moment. He admits he’s liked her for a long time and would regret it forever if he didn’t at least tell her how he feels. Their ensuing kiss is very sweet, but before they can pick up steam, Michelle interrupts them, putting her foot directly and forcefully down. Not only does the mere thought of Erin and James snogging nauseate her, but she knows that if they were to date, they’d break up, leaving Michelle in an impossible bind, caught between her best friend and her cousin. Family would win out, and that would be the end of her friendship with Erin, and she can’t bear the thought.

The next thing they know, the ghost of Robert is stalking toward the house with a hammer in hand. Oh, dear, now he’s smashing the door with the hammer, and I get this reference! He’s doing the “Heeeeeere’s Johnny” bit from The Shining! All is chaos, culminating in the wains wrestling the ghost to the floor and screaming at the sudden arrival of Sister Michael. She manages to sort out this comedy of errors and to convince the supposed ghost not to press charges against the wains for breaking and entering. Turns out, the irate hammer-wielding man on the floor is the house’s new owner, Declan, and not the ghost of Robert. Robert was Declan’s grandfather. Yeah, it’s not even Sister Michael’s aunt’s house — classic Derry Girls!

As they prepare to leave Declan’s house, Erin draws James aside, saying Michelle is right. They can’t take any of their romantic feelings any further. James saw this coming and reassures Erin he’s just fine with waiting for a better moment.

At the same time, back in Derry, Granda Joe gets up for a glass of water and takes a peek inside the cabinet under the kitchen sink. Lo and behold, here’s a red metal box under the water, just as Carlos had seen. Inside is his good electric razor, prompting a rare, full smile and an earnest “Thank you, love.” Goodness, someone must be chopping onions close by, my tears at this moment resist explanation by any other cause.

Dennis’s Pick & Mix

• One of my favorite things about Derry Girls is its insistence on finding madcap humor in the midst of the near-permanent state of grief and terror caused by the Troubles. If you relish stories that weave hilarity and grief together into a rich tapestry, I strongly recommend reading Did Ye Hear Mammy Died?, Séamas O’Reilly’s laugh-till-you-cry (then also cry, then laugh till you cry again) memoir of growing up on the outskirts of Derry as one of 11 children whose mother died quite young. It’s so lovely and leans heavily toward humor that can’t help but be over the top. O’Reilly’s epic Twitter thread about the time he got his work calendar mixed up and wound up very high on ketamine while serving drinks to then-president of Ireland Mary McAleese is a classic bit of internet hilarity.

• If Carlos Santini seems familiar to you but you can’t quite place him, it’s veteran character actor and “Hey! It’s that guy!” Conleth Hill (Game of Thrones, Magpie Murders, etc.), having a wonderful time ping into total silliness.

• This episode is overflowing with important Sister Michael facts! She drives a DeLorean, enjoys the big beat stylings of the Chemical Brothers, and understands Irish perfectly, though we don’t hear her speak it.

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