Jenny Joyce organises a 50s style prom, but the girls are more intrigued by the arrival of a new girl Mae Cheung.
Tropes
- Abuse of Return Policy: Michelle borrows her mother's credit card without permission in order to buy everyone dresses for the prom, planning to wear them for one night then return them. Karmically, only her dress is ruined and she gets in trouble for the purchase at the end of the episode, as Erin forwent her dress and Clare and Orla dodged the outfall of Mae's prank.
- Bait-and-Switch: There's a New Transfer Student with a Chinese name, and Sister Michael goes on about how she's from somewhere very different than here. She's from Donegal.Sister Michael: Miss Cheung's family have recently moved here to Derry so I hope you'll all make her feel very welcome. It's bound to be a bit of a culture shock, Mae. Things are done... differently in this part of the world. But I'm sure you'll soon feel as at home here as you did back in your beloved Donegal.
- Be Yourself: Erin refuses to wear matching dresses with Orla, instead choosing a glamorous but uncomfortable dress to impress her date. When James shows up as her back-up date, Erin changes into the matching dress and looks happier for it.
- The Bully: Mae is revealed to be one, to the point of having been expelled from her previous school.
- Decade-Themed Party: A 1950s-themed prom organized by Jenny Joyce.
- Dresses the Same: Erin and Orla have matching Easter dresses. Orla sees nothing wrong with it, but Erin denounces it as childish and wants a new dress instead.
- Five-Second Foreshadowing: After John Paul stands Erin up for prom, the usually pragmatic Mary tells Erin to wait longer even though it's been almost two hours. A minute later James arrives and says Mary called him.
- High-School Dance
- Hypocrite: After calling out the girls for attempting to recruit her as their Token Minority, Mae expresses interest in having a Gay Best Friend in the form of Clare.
- Instantly Proven Wrong: The TV is broken for a time. The family are worried about missing London's Burning and Coronation Street. Gerry says they haven't missed anything. They missed the first airing of the news about the ceasefire.Mary: God only knows what else we've missed.
Gerry: We won't have missed anything.
[TV turns on]
TV anchor: And tonight's main story again. A historic evening for Northern Ireland. As of midnight tonight, after 25 years, the IRA have called a ceasefire. In a statement released earlier this evening, they said there would be a complete cessation of all military operations. - Lampshaded Double Entendre: Michelle, as per usual.Michelle: Then there's this other fella, he's not as thick, but he's also not as hot, although I have heard he is really good with his hands. And when I say he's good with his hands, I'm not talking about putting up shelves, girls. I'm talking about—
James: Everybody knows what you're talking about, Michelle!
Michelle: —fingering.
James: Honestly! - Mistaken Nationality: Due to the combination of looking Chinese and being a new transfer student, Mae Cheung is regularly assumed to be from China. She's really from Donegal.
- Percussive Maintenance: Joe repeatedly thumps the TV set when it starts glitching.Joe: You have to give it a bit of a shock now and again. You have to keep it on its toes.
- Prom Wrecker: Mae wants to do this to Jenny Joyce after hearing she'd rigged the vote for Prom Queen. She does this by dumping tomato sauce on Jenny when she becomes Prom Queen (in a Shout-Out to Carrie). The protagonists try to stop this, but only manage to get covered in tomato sauce for their trouble. To make matters worse, Michelle had paid for her dress with her mother's credit card and needed to return it in perfect condition so her mum wouldn't notice the charge.
- Separated by a Common Language: The girls cannot understand a girl who comes from Donegal despite the accents being fairly similar.
- Ship Tease: After John Paul doesn't show up, James arrives to be Erin's date instead. It's per Mary's request which might otherwise make it less romantic, but the way the scene is played doesn't suggest that. Plus he gave up going to his Doctor Who convention to be here instead.
- Stood Up: John Paul doesn't arrive to pick up Erin.
- Token Minority: The girls and Jenny are quick to befriend Mae explicitly because of this trope. Mae lampshades it when they try.Mae: I think I see where this is going. I get this a lot. Dull white girls wanting me to join their gang because, well... [points to herself]
- Two-Timer Date: Michelle brings two boys to the dance, one who she describes as a Brainless Beauty and the other who's smarter but less attractive. Michelle tries to keep them apart, but they figure it out what's going on and talk to each other. They decide to ditch her and go to a pub together instead.Clare: You didn't bring both boys to prom, did you Michelle?
Michelle: I couldn't make up me mind! I thought I could just stick them in two separate corners and go between them, but they won't fucking keep put.
Clare: Imagine that. It's almost like they have their own free will.
Michelle: Tell me about it! It's a fucking nightmare!
