When Granda Joe was getting grilled by Mary and Sarah over meeting a new woman in mass named Maeve, Da Gerry was the only one very supportive of him despite the usual verbal backlash he receives from Joe. Near the end of said episode, Gerry tells Joe that Maeve is a nice woman and reassures him that Mary and Sarah will come around eventually, at which point Joe tells him to 'piss off', but in a notably kinder tone. The final shot of him looking at a photo of his wife also shows that he hasn't forgotten about her and what she was like.
Joe: ...And they're right. You were perfect.
When Michelle discovers that "Artem" is actually Clive, a Protestant tourist from Belfast who took a wrong turn and got mixed up with the group of Ukrainian teenagers, she's seen on the phone afterwards helping him make arrangements to get back home. While she's disappointed over not getting to hook up with a hot Ukrainian guy, she still doesn't hesitate to help the poor guy out.
Clive is very glad to see Clare at Jenny's party because Clare is wearing a Union Jack t-shirt as a show of peace and solidarity (since Katya pointed out to the group how silly the conflict sounds when you break it down to the simplest terms in order to explain to someone unfamiliar with the intricacies). Even Michelle seems to be more worried for Clare (saying she will be beaten up for it) than offended/betrayed by the wardrobe choice.
Episode Six
When Erin decides to publish the story about an anonymous student coming out as gay in the school paper, in spite of her earlier ban on the story, Sister Michael gives no sign that she's planning on punishing her for it and is seen happily taking a copy of the paper to read.
The fact that the story receives almost universal support from the students, even though it is a Catholic school in the mid-nineties. Seeing this positive reaction is part of what encourages Clare to come out of the closet.
Orla tries to do a dance routine to Madonna's "Like A Prayer". The other girls all mock her for it. But Erin stands up and defends her. Clare does as well, showing she's forgiven Erin for her behaviour earlier. They, Michelle, and James join Orla on stage to dance together. It's one of the few times the five are unambiguously kind to each other.
Season Two
Across The Barricade
In the Season 2 opener, Granda Joe tells Clare that he's been listening to KD Lang and remarks, "You're a very talented people." It's Played for Laughs, but it's quite sweet to see the normally curmudgeonly Joe going out of his way to show acceptance of Clare's lesbianism.
Granda Joe is usually pleasant with the group, you might remember him cooking for them all before the exam. He only really targets Gerry. While this is a nice moment, it’s not atypical for Joe.
In the same episode when the integration is happening, Father Peter tries to get the Catholics and Protestants to talk about their similarities - which cuts to an hour later where a different blackboard is labelled differences and is full, while the other blackboard with similarities is empty. At the end of the episode, everyone's parents are tearing into them. Erin goes to the similarities blackboard and writes 'parents' on them, sharing a look with Dee who smiles back at her.
Look closely at the gang's uniforms in Season 2; you can see that each of them has added a rainbow badge to their blazers, presumably in support of Clare's coming out (Clare herself wears two). It's subtle, but quite a sweet show of solidarity.
The Concert
Clare and Erin vehemently arguing that they need to go back for James after he's left behind with the Travellers.
When the girls return, one of the Travellers calls the girls out for mistreating James.
After all the hassle they went to get there, seeing the gang having the time of their lives at the Take That concert is bound to bring a smile to anyone's face, especially with the implication that Gerry won't rat them out and give Mary the "cold hard evidence" of footage of them on the news.
The Curse
While it’s also funny, the fact that the group has bonded to the point where all five of them go to events together is adorable.
The gang immediately puts aside their argument to enthusiastically dance to "Rock the Boat." All while Mary, Joe, Gerry, and Sarah happily watch them. With how often the family and friends are at each other's throats, it's a very cute moment to see them all enjoying themselves.
Mary actually stands up for the kids when her caustic Aunt Bridie tries to get her to punish them.
The Prom
In the scene where Michelle snarks at James as the five walk down the street, Orla can be seen linking arms with Erin and even resting her head on her shoulder.
While she immediately changes tracks upon seeing John Paul, Erin offers to be Clare's date for the prom, Clare breaking into a cute smile after Erin tells her "I'll be proud to have you in my arm".
Orla asking Granda Joe to the dance and their dancing together getting other people on the floor. Why did she ask him? He's the fella she likes the most, and Orla clearly never hesitated in coming to that conclusion.
This even seems to bring out Joe's nicer side towards Gerry; when Gerry compliments Joe on his suit, Joe responds with his usual insulting speech towards him, although the same sentence shows he appreciates Gerry's compliment.
After this, Erin is stood up by her date, and as she goes off to change in tears, James arrives at the door, having been called by Mary. According to him, this is more important than his "creep convention" (Doctor Who theme night).
The fact that Mary went so out of her way to cheer her daughter up is this in itself, considering how antagonistic their relationship usually is
2.05 also has another sweet moment from Sister Michael. When peace is declared in Derry, she can be seen listening to the broadcast and then raising a glass to toast it.
Orla is originally upset that Erin doesn't want to wear their matching party dresses, since when they were children, they always wore the same clothes for special events. When James arrives to take Erin to the prom, she changes out of the dress she bought to impress John Paul and into the same dress as Orla.
That the girls - Orla aside, as she's eating popcorn with Granda Joe - actually try to save Jenny from the Carrie-style prank, and end up doused themselves for their trouble.
The ending is a touching contrast to the ending of Season 1, with the parents and community celebrating the ceasefire together.
The President
It's subtle, but when Kathy, James mum first appears in the scene where she drives up in front of the gang and Erin and Clare are accusing her of being a kidnapper, Michelle looks pretty unhappy to see her - likely because she suspects that Kathy will just let James down again.
While she seemingly contradicts this by immediately snapping back into her usual caustic personality and informing the girls that they're required to come to school the next day for business as usual. The next day reveals that this was entirely a piece of Reverse Psychology theatre. She doesn't even don her full habit the next day, making the rounds with a faint smile as she confirms that the only student who bothered turning up is Jenny Joyce... whom she immediately sighs and kicks out of the school so that she doesn't miss the speech.
In the series 2 finale, when James is about to leave with his mother, Michelle tries to convince him to stay saying that he's a Derry Girl, regardless of his nationality and gender. He does eventually decide to stay, and the girls not only sacrifice their spot at the front of the crowd at Bill Clinton's visit to go to him, they completely forget about the president's visit as soon as they find out James is still there. Their Group Hug and walking together as Bill Clinton’s speech begins can bring on the Tears of Joy.
Season Three
The Night Before
Michelle seems to have developed a nicer attitude towards James since season 2. He’s also more confident than he was in the previous season, as he voices his opinion more.
It's played entirely for comedy, of course, but Colm apparently wasted no time whatsoever in getting to the police station to help his nieces. Any time weans, any time.
The girls showering Colm in thanks and affection after he drones the police into submission, getting them released with no further mess after the robbers show up on security tapes.
The Affair
In the beginning of the episode, Michelle says that her mother would go nuts if she left James on the bus again. It’s clear that Michelle’s mother also cares about James, despite saying she hates him for being English in season 1.
When the gang suspect that Mary might be having an affair with a plumber, they try to comfort Erin.
Gerry is very supportive of Mary's plan to study English literature in university.
The Haunting
James admits to Erin that he likes her, and they kiss. After 2 seasons, the fans of the show are finally being treated to a kiss between Erin and James.
Michelle sees this and begs them not to start dating because it means that if they break up, she’ll probably lose Erin as a friend because she’ll have to stick with James.
Erin later tells James they shouldn’t date. James accepts this and tells her that he will wait. Erin is then seen smiling.
While Michelle claiming James and Erin dating would be incest is a funny moment, it also heavily implies Michelle considers Erin family, which thereby would make James and Erin family.
Before James admits to Erin that he likes her, she tells him that she remembers him telling her and their friends about how he has always wanted to go on a hot air balloon. It’s sweet that Erin remembers this about James, since Michelle has explicitly made it clear that the girls don’t listen to James in the beginning of this episode.
Meanwhile, the Quinn family visit a psychic to try to communicate with the late matriarch. Joe's main concern is finding out if she knows where his good electric razor is. The psychic gives a phony-seeming message about something being underwater, and a red box. When Joe looks under the sink in the final scene of the episode...
Joe: Cheers, love.
The Agreement
Mixed with Funny and Tearjerker, the episode opens with a montage of the series events, highs and lows. Then, we see Orla get registered to vote, and we get another montage of the characters going about their lives. Despite all the danger and tragedy and heartbreak, they've made it to adulthood and are shown being their strange, lovable, authentic selves, just to remind you how much you're going to miss these characters since this is the last episode.
While bittersweet and mostly Played for Laughs, when Clare tears apart her room looking for her missing bus time table, she shrieks "Help me now, Daddy!" to a portrait of her late father. As heartbreaking as his death was, it's sweet to think of Sean as his daughter's guardian angel.
After the gang gets kicked out of Jenny's party, Orla manages a surprisingly heartfelt moment as she states that even though the party was one of the best they've ever been to, she'd still rather hang out by a bridge with just the gang.
Clare who is ordinarily hesitant to do anything that might get her in trouble confidently jams the umbrella into the electrical box to put a damper on Jenny's party
When Erin asks Joe his opinion on the Good Friday Agreement, he tells her that he's an old man and it doesn't matter what he thinks, and encourages her to vote for her own future.
Erin: What if it doesn't work? Joe: And what if it does? What if this all becomes just some ghost story you tell your weans one day? A ghost story they'll hardly believe?
Erin and James's conversation about growing up and needing to be brave stepping into the future, framed against scenes of all the characters voting in the Good Friday Agreement and real footage from how peace in Northern Ireland came about.
In the Distant Finale, a mailman in New York delivers a letter that's been bouncing around the service since 1995 to Chelsea Clinton, the same letter the Derry Girls tried to send her during her father's visit to Derry. The fondness of how she reads it while the end credits roll indicates that on the one-in-a-million chance she did receive the letter during their visit, she might've taken them up on their offer.
