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Biggest Derry Girls Lie Finally Gets Debunked by Fans

Biggest Derry Girls Lie Finally Gets Debunked by Fans
Image credit: Netflix

Did you pay attention?

Summary:

  • Derry Girls was one of Netflix 's biggest hits during its 3-season run.
  • Following the lives of a group of teenage girls in 90's Derry, the sitcom showed the truth about growing up amidst the civil war known as The Troubles.
  • However, the majority of viewers missed a secret behind the origins of the only boy in a group, James.

Looking back at Derry Girls, many people believe that Netflix, or any streaming platform for that matter, has yet to create such a brutally honest yet entertaining sitcom. Derry Girls had it all, from brilliant comedic performances from all of the show's leads to truly heartbreaking reminders of Ireland's troubled times.

It was only several years after the show's finale aired that people began to notice some of the little things that the series glossed over. The origins of James Maguire, the Derry newcomer who joined the girls in the pilot, is one of the secrets that has only recently been revealed.

Where Derry Girls’ James Is From?

Although viewers were enchanted by the ensemble of girls who portrayed Erin, Michelle, Claire and Orla in the show, it's Dylan Llewellyn's James who brought the unique accent to the group. As the only boy in the all-girls college, he was bound to be the subject of bullying, but it wasn't his masculinity that was under attack.

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Having traveled all the way from London to Derry, James was quickly labeled 'the wee English fella' and had to earn his right to be trusted. Cursed a million times by his own cousin Michelle, he was blamed for just about everything the British did wrong. Given that Derry was in the middle of a conflict, he endured a lot.

While James was strong enough to prove himself and earn the honorable title of a Derry girl from the group, it is debatable that he ever had to fight for it. Although he grew up in England, he was conceived in Ireland before his mother moved there for a failed abortion attempt. So if his father wasn't a soldier, he's as much a Derry girl as anyone.

“He has always been a Derry girl, just took a long way home via England,” Redditor SamsungGalaxyBrain said, concluding their analysis.

Of course, it's not that simple. Given the division at the time, and the cultural differences between England and Ireland that still exist today, his upbringing, accent, and experiences, all English as far as the other characters and the audience were concerned, mattered the most.

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Even though James was never technically an 'English fella' as he was labeled, his appearance said otherwise. It was only through trials and tribulations that the girls agreed to let him be a part of their community.

If you feel like taking a trip down memory lane and revisiting 90's Derry, you can stream all 3 seasons of the iconic sitcom on Netflix.

Source: Reddit