A moment that we’ll NEVER forget.
While every new episode of The Young Offenders is fresh and original, there are some things we still expect to see from Conor and Jock.
For example, they’ll always be nicking bikes, rocking the worst haircuts imaginable and making the lives of Healy, Mairead, Principal Walsh and Billy Murphy just a little bit harder, while remaining lovable gobshites at the same time.
Aside from this, Conor will never understand a woman, Jock will continue to give him terrible advice and the lads will find some way to get naked and strip off.
After all, they did it in The Young Offenders movie when they were about to jump off the pier, they did it in Season 1 when they jumped into the River Lee and they stripped down to their jocks in the Christmas special too.
However, nothing could prepare fans for the scenes that unfolded at the end of the most recent episode as Conor (Alex Murphy) and Jock (Chris Walley) squared up to Principal Barry Walsh (PJ Gallagher).
Truth be told, we’re blaming Gavin and his ma for framing Conor and landing him in it, but with Principal Walsh doubling down on his zero tolerance policy for anyone caught stealing, Conor and Jock reckoned that if they were going down, they’d go down swinging.
In a ridiculous attempt at solidarity after seeing that his mate was about to get expelled, Jock decided to try and get kicked out of school too by stripping off and peeing on Principal Walsh’s leg.
“My mum won’t be too happy!,” joked Alex Murphy about the memorable scene.
It turns out that the producers scheduled that particular scene to be filmed very early in the production schedule.
“Filming it was fine, actually. It was grand but they schedule those things very early. That was the first week on set. It was like ‘Oh welcome back, take off your clothes.’ We’re like, ‘ah yeah, ok. Ah yeah, sure everyone loves being naked! Being naked in work, it’s great craic,” said Walley.
“With those scenes in the library, there were a good few extras and the whole crew. You just get used to it. Yeah, yeah, it’s basically what people have come to expect,” added Alex Murphy.
JOE also caught up with Hilary Rose (Mairead) and P.J. Gallagher (Principal Barry Walsh) to get their reactions to that memorable moment.
We all know that Barry Walsh is forever tormented and always angry, but P.J. Gallagher said that filming the scene was a little bit too real because it was very easy.
“Yeah, they go all the way! What was that like? It’s weird, I suppose it’s easy to play in a way because you would never have to bite your tongue,” he said.
“The simple fact that they’re doing it! In fairness, when you’re filming a scene like that when they’re trying to wind you up, the lads do wind you up. They’re in my ear the whole time – Chris especially. He comes up and whispers straight into my ear. I’m like ‘Stop! The cameras aren’t even rolling!’ But they get to me.
“Because just like Barry in the scene, when you’re filming the scene, you can’t just react and be yourself. Like, they’re really good actors. They know how to make me frustrated and really uncomfortable. The scene you’re talking about, it’s the most unnatural place to have two lads doing the most unnatural thing. It’s bizarre!,” said Gallagher.
Throughout the history of The Young Offenders, Mairead (Hilary Rose) has always defended the lads and here’s what she had to say about one of the TV moments of 2019.
“You see it and you’ll never un-see it! That was actually my first day filming… I remember standing there and saying ‘Ah, hey lads. How’s it going?’ and then just thinking ‘yep, I’ll keep the eye contact above the waist!” she joked.
You can take a look at JOE’s interview with Rose and Gallagher below.
LISTEN: You Must Be Jokin’ with Aideen McQueen – Faith healers, Coolock craic and Gigging as Gaeilge
