Thinking about the final scene of the special again, but specifically in comparison to the end of the very first episode. Because that also ended with the five mains, Mary, Sarah, Gerry, Joe, Anna, Dierdre and one of Clare's parents all gathered in one place for one purpose, too.
But, in the first episode, nobody wanted to be there. They were there because the gang fucked up their detention so badly they looked guilty of killing someone. And now, they're there by choice, making one of the most important political decisions they may ever face. Before, the gang were children to be dealt with and talked over and blamed. Now, they're young adults, their voices heard, their right to speak up finally being taken seriously.
And none of them are the same, either. Erin isn't a brash, showy kid desperate to grow up, frantically writing down everything, however inane, frantically chasing boys who don't care about her. She's a young woman who, after saying one of her most profound speeches, says she'll maybe write it down, who's found someone willing to take his time, who'll challenge her to improve without compelling her to change.
James isn't that confused fish out of water that stepped off the bus, reeling from being dropped into Derry by his mother. He's grown more confident, learned to take things in stride, and grown secure enough in the Irish side of his identity that he feels like he can vote in the Referendum, like he's not just the wee English fella anymore, and he's allowed a say in what happens to the place he calls home.
Clare's no longer the anxious, closeted girl who doesn't want to be an individual on her own. She's out and proud, and, as it turns out, every bit as capable of causing mischief as any of the others under the right circumstances.
And that's not even getting to the adults. Mary's not an overworked stay at home mother anymore, she's a student pursuing an exciting new academic journey. Gerry's become more assertive, especially with Joe. Joe has watched his granddaughters grow, and has proven he's as dedicated to their happiness as he is to that of his daughters time and again, and has shown that for all he's an old man, he's no less open to ideas and accepting of others (just maybe not Gerry, but that seems almost out of habit at this point).
We know now that Dierdre isn't just Michelle's mum- she's the former punk that Michelle got her wild streak from, sure, but she's also the mother of one of the prisoners facing release if the nation votes yes. She's got more skin in this game than most of the other adults we see voting, with far more to consider in this scene than just how best to tell her nephew his mother's ran off without him. And, of course, the biggest change to the adults present in this scene- Geraldine is here instead of Sean. This is another moment he wasn't here to see, to be part of.
And I feel like I can’t make a post about the changes from the start of the show to the end, without mentioning wee Anna. When the show started, she was a baby, being carried around by Joe and her parents. And now she's a little girl, standing on her own two feet, walking into the future. She's gonna grow up to be one of the weans for whom the Troubles will be nothing but a ghost story, and that starts here, in the final scene of the special, with her granda excitedly showing her a piece of paper she's too little to fully understand the meaning of, covered in words she can't even read, but that are gonna make it so the stories her big sister and her parents and the rest of her family tell will be just that, stories.
They've all come such a long way from that first episode, and it makes me emotional.
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