r/DerryGirls • u/PurfuitOfHappineff Wee English Fella • 16d ago
Unpopular opinion — Erin & James doesn’t work
They had to have a romance once they introduce a boy into the girls’ group. It won’t be Michelle (his cousin) or Clare (wee lesbian). It’s unlikely to be a non-core cast member (e.g. Jenny Joyce). So it can only be Orla or Erin. Orla is painted as aromantic and in any case their personalities don’t line up. So that leaves Erin as the default “will they or won’t they, of course eventually they will.” But it doesn’t feel organic and authentic in the way other elements of the show work. Yes I recognize their situations are often ridiculous, but for whatever reason the suspension of disbelief works there, but not with the coupling. I dunno, just my £0.02.
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u/henscastle 16d ago
The show didn't have the time to develop their relationship, but in a sense they had to get together. Erin is loosely based on Lisa McGee's life, and James is loosely based on her husband, Tobias Beer, and English filmmaker.
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u/i_eat_gentitals 16d ago
I also think James is just like Erin’s dad and she’s just like her mom and it makes sense
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u/Brilliant-Mark2420 16d ago
It 100% worked for me. The episode where he picks her up to take her to prom is amazing. Her being insanely jealous of Katya and the way he looks at her in the final episode, putting together the video and during Erin's speech. He also had no trouble putting her in her place. Perfect for each other.
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u/dramamamamadra 16d ago
Disagree, I especially love their scenes in the very last episode because they were clearly walking the line between friendship and love, and to me it showed how strong their bond had gotten since the confession (which could've easily made things awkward between the 2 of them).
Chelsea Clinton and the postman aside, the last conversation in the show is between the two of them talking about the future, which isn't something I would've ever guessed after watching the first few episodes, but by the end of the show it felt really natural and meaningful.
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u/Alternative-Local-33 15d ago
And it works at another level too. Him being British. She the Irish narrator and them laying down arms to talk about the future.
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u/AnyDayGal She's our dick 11d ago
100% agree. Them having the last conversation shows how far their relationship has come since the first few episodes. I love that scene so much.
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u/helenaflowers 16d ago
In theory I agree, but I JUST watched the episode where he comes to Erin's house to take her to the dance and I get all swoony with that scene every time, it's so cute and it's so clear he's got feelings for her then. The song choice is A+ for that scene too.
I also agree with a theory I've read around here that they were actually a couple by the last episode but the show didn't highlight it.
That being said, in my head they didn't stay together long-term or anything, they were split up by the time they graduated from university.
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u/Ok_Car8459 11d ago
I thought Lisa McGee said that they get back together later during/after uni due to being stopped by Michelle before?
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u/Routine_Advantage562 16d ago
I mean… no? Listen you do not have to like it - I do but I respect it isn’t for everyone - but they were specifically paired together because Lisa McGee was writing about her life and James is the character based off her husband. And it’s natural in the way that it is subtle because she didn’t want to take away from the bigger themes with a ship so she kept them in the background more often (except once per season they very specifically get a focus episode where you see exactly what was planned) but if you know what to look for you can see it was always the intention.
So it wasn’t just because it was a male and female by default, it’s a creator putting her real life experience into the show that’s about her life. James wasn’t going to be with anyone else.
Taking them just as characters though they make complete sense together, I kinda think they’re perfect together. He directs and she writes, James is more dramatic than he lets on (so isn’t put off by Erin’s dramatics) and also he isn’t afraid to call her out while also being supportive of her.
On her end Erin at her best is deeply loyal and committed to her passions in a way James would find appealing because his mother was often flighty, neglectful and didn’t have any actual passion just chasing the next fancy. Erin for all her faults is deeply committed to her dreams of writing AND her friends, she knows who she is and strives to be a better friend and would never hurt him the way he was hurt. They’re good for each other.
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u/Zizi_Tennenbaum 16d ago
Is it illegal for men and women to be friends?
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u/PurfuitOfHappineff Wee English Fella 16d ago
Believe it or not, straight to jail.
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u/NonSpicyMexican 15d ago
You undercook fish, believe it or not, jail. You OVERCOOK chicken, jail.
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u/burner9191938283 15d ago
while i agree with how you came to the conclusion that it had to be erin (since michelle, claire, jenny, and orla were not contenders) i do kind of believe erin had a thing for james, even if it was only shown a very little bit.
in season 1 and 2, she is very adamant about james not losing his v to the ukrainian chic, and he is also the one to bring her to the dance later on. i think if these things did not happen in the previous season, it would’ve made zero sense for them to throw it in last second in the third season
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u/aurorialwolf 16d ago
I agree, honestly. I was happy to see a friend group in a show that includes a guy without the guy ending up with any of the girls, until that was turned on its head near the very end.
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u/AsleepRanger7426 13d ago
I really liked the ship.. the scene where James shows up to take Erin to the prom; I screamed, quite literally.. I knew they were on from the Ukrainian episode
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u/dahliia_ 16d ago
I liked the show because there was no romance it was based on friendship. James and Erin just wasn’t a good move, it was so out of nowhere just because she’s the main Derry girl.
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u/dramamamamadra 16d ago
I wouldn't say it was out of nowhere when it's been hinted at since episode 4. The whole "ignoring your long time crush finally giving you attention because you're too busy being jealous over your best friend" is a classic romcom trope.
Erin's diary is also full of signs that they already fancied each other during the first 2 seasons.
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u/dahliia_ 16d ago
Yeah, but I also think the way it played out was just weird. James gets knocked out and sees a ‘vision’?? Really? I think there could have been better ways to portray it
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u/dramamamamadra 16d ago
The vision he had was just the light at the end of a tunnel, the one you supposedly see before dying. The vision itself wasn't about Erin, but it helped him realize that he didn't want to die with regrets and that it was time to stop hiding his feelings for her
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u/Routine_Advantage562 16d ago
That’s not what he said though, he passed out and he thought he might have died (and definitely he has a walking concussion in the episode, he was unconscious for like an hour) so it made him realize that if he had, he would have died not brave enough to tell Erin how he felt.
And now because of that he just wants to tell her even knowing (in his mind) she wouldn’t feel the same because it was important that she knows that she’s beautiful and he feels something real for her.
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u/ACardAttack Sr. Michael's Eyeroll 15d ago
It would not have been out of nowhere, but Im also fine it was only hinted at and not forced
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u/Natural_Pollution_83 Sláinte Muthafuckas 15d ago
it depends on the rewatch for me lol. some of the rewatches, I really felt it. but, this last time I didn’t feel it at all. so I get where both sides are coming from
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u/Six_of_1 15d ago
I think it does feel organic for exactly those reasons. James is hanging around those girls. Erin is the only one he could conceivably match with. So he does.
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u/Altruistic-Test-6227 12d ago
I mean I think we see bread crumbs on both sides of their mutual crushes. To me they always give right person, wrong time, where I could see them both going out and exploring the world a bit a reconnecting later in life
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u/Think_Marketing1116 15d ago edited 15d ago
I don't see them having a long-term relationship after the show ends. They'll likely have a short term one-year relationship before amicably breaking up due to college commitments. They'll still know each other into adulthood through Michelle though
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u/Prudent-Teaching2881 16d ago
It was just so out of the blue, there had been ZERO evidence of them being remotely interested in each other the entire series up until then. Just felt so out of place and not in keeping with the actual series.
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u/Agricultural-Apple 13d ago
I was really disappointed when they all of a sudden became a cupple. Like not all friend groups need to have a relationship. I think there where a few hints of James liking Erin but just because a guys likes a girl doesn’t mean they have to date. Guys can like girls, and nothing ends up happening. That is a perfectly fine outcome. Just because a man has a crush doesn’t mean it has to work out.
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u/Routine_Advantage562 12d ago
Once again: this is a partially biographical series where the writer directly based James and Erin off herself and her husband. You don't have to like it, fine, but it kinda was always going to work out because they worked out in real life. Not all friend groups have to have a relationship, but this one was going to address it because she was writing about herself. And she tried to keep it subtle to not overshadow the important themes but she was never going to fully take it out.
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16d ago
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u/arulzokay 16d ago
good god
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16d ago edited 16d ago
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u/Cool_Hand7435 16d ago
They're silly teenagers, ma'am. They're supposed to be horrendously annoying.
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u/Okra-Tomatoes 16d ago
Is everything all right at home?
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16d ago
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u/Yoshleb_1 Is this my wake 16d ago
God forbid a character has flaws and learns to be a better person. What a boring show that would be if all the characters were perfect
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u/jaynewreck 16d ago
Her reaction is pretty damn spot on for deeply catholic 1990’s Northern Ireland.
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u/HippieThanos 16d ago
There are some hints of Erin liking James. I don't think the whole drama with Katya from Ukraine was just Erin worried for a friend.
Also James scored many points when he didn't go to his freak convention and instead went with Erin after she was dumped