Orla bringing Granda Joe to the prom left Derry Girls fans in bits

Paul Moore

Derry Girls at its very best. A lovely moment.

While there’s no such thing as a golden rule in comedy, there’s a general belief that the truly great comedies are elevated by how they handle their more dramatic moments.

For example, the scene in The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air when Will Smith’s father leaves him again is absolutely heartbreaking. Elsewhere, Homer Simpson starring blankly into the night sky as he thinks about his estranged mother is beautifully poetic.

On this note, Lisa McGee has already proven that she’s more than capable of balancing laughs with drama because that superb finale in Season 1 was such a powerful moment.

Good comedies can make you laugh. The truly great ones can move you.

Derry Girls is a great comedy for a variety of reasons – the gags about Protestants keeping toasters in cupboards, Michelle bringing a suitcase of vodka to a gig, and the world’s most memorable wake – are all fantastic but one thing is often overlooked, just how much we care about these characters.

As the gang geared up for their ’50s themed prom – otherwise known as a debs, or a formal – there was a wonderful moment when we finally learned who Orla planned on taking as her date.

Erin was curious about who her cousin would bring along – “You’ve got a date. A date with like, a human?” – and as the gang were about to head out the door, we learned that Granda Joe would be taking his granddaughter to the dance.

“They kept saying that you’ve got to take a fella that you really like and he’s the fella I like the most,” said Orla. Simple and wonderful.

The best thing about the whole moment though is that it just fits with the characters.

Orla is a bit of a space cadet that lives in her own world but this decision is definitely only something that she’d do. Granda Joe might be cantankerous to his son-in-law but he clearly loves his granddaughters. It fits.

To quote Granda Joe when he started dancing with her, “come on Orla, we’ll show them” one of the most heartwarming scenes in the show.

We absolutely adore the gags but it’s impossible not to be moved by this.

Plenty of people were.

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