Warning: SPOILERS for the series finale of Derry Girls.
The final season of Derry Girls, season 3, ends on a poignant yet effective note when the sudden and tragic news of Clare's father, Sean, dying of a brain aneurysm hits the gang in the penultimate episode of the series. Even from its pilot episode, the series liked to flirt with the brooding and somber aspects of life, especially given Derry Girls season 3's setting during The Troubles, the era of separation of Northern Ireland that was also recently showcased in Kenneth Branagh's Belfast. Still, the characters always managed to look on the brighter side of things. The guise of teenage invincibility seemed to protect the group from the tumultuous times. However, Derry Girls season 3's heartbreaking death sees the Derry girls turn a new page on life, despite its devastating nature.
Derry Girls season 3, episode 6, "Halloween," sees Clare attempting to discover herself and explore her sexuality by landing her first kiss at a Fat Boy Slim concert. After some typical Derry Girls shenanigans, Clare manages to seal the deal and appears to be transformed by the experience in a rather touching moment. Unfortunately, afterward, they are met with the terrible news about Sean.
Despite the brutal nature of the news, it does offer something to the pack who have all been on a journey in Derry Girls season 3. In the subsequent scenes at the hospital and funeral service, the Derry girls transform from innocent, rambunctious, and hormone-filled teens, who are all too concerned with fitting in and kissing boys, into adults who now feel the weight of the real world. The real world is always something that has surrounded them, due to the time period in which they live, but never truly affects their characters until now. The painful realism in the tragic Derry Girls finale heightens this tension, making it all the more painful, but at the same time, all the more significant.
Clare's father's death allows the Derry girls to feel what it is like to grow up and become something entirely new. For instance, during the final episode of the first season, when there was a bombing in the town, it came as terrible and sudden news. Nevertheless, it is intercut with scenes of the girls doing a silly step aerobics routine, portraying how little the world around them actually affects their lives. When the two scenes are juxtaposed, it creates a feeling of absurdity and disconnect. However, the realism felt when they learn of Sean's death in the ending of Derry Girls season 3 gives the scene authenticity, and allows it to feel genuine. It serves as a powerful reminder that Clare and the Derry girls are growing up and will have to deal with the state of the world whether they want to or not. Even though the moment is somber, it is honest.
Derry Girls is a show that explores the high and lows of growing up in a chaotic state. The show's dark and savage humor is constantly contrasted with the backdrop of a world that is far less forgiving and comical. The sudden death of Clare's father serves as both a heart-breaking and powerful reminder of the fluid nature of reality. Though the girls are young, soon enough, they'll have to put away childish things and accept reality.