Bad Sisters S2: More Trouble for the Guilty Siblings, and a Blast of Fun from Fiona Shaw
By Liam Lacey
Rating: B+
This week sees the debut of two limited series about Irish murder. The serious one is the true-crime drama Say Nothing, the FX series (carried on Disney+ in Canada). The fun one is the second, eight-episode season of the black comedy Bad Sisters on Apple TV+.
Bad Sisters, which aired in 2022, was adapted from a decade-old Belgian television series by Irish multi-threat actor-writer-producer Sharon Horgan (Catastrophe) along with the American duo of Bret Baer and Dave Finkel (writers for The New Girl, 30 Rock, The Norm Show and many more shows).
Set in the present day in a coastal town near Dublin, Season One followed the five adult Garvey sisters — Eva, Ursula, Grace, Bibi and Beka — who are the focus of a bumbling life insurance investigation, following the “accidental” death Grace’s odious husband, John Paul (Danish actor Claes Bang).
A lively blend of salty family drama, anti-misogynist revenge tale. and absurd black comedy, the series won a Peabody Award for international excellence in television as well as a slew of other nominations on both sides of the Atlantic. Since the insurance business issue concluded in the first season, and, because John Paul, a.k.a. “The Prick,” can’t die twice, one wonders what’s left? Eight episodes of rudely affectionate sisterly bickering and pretty seaside cinematography?
Fear not, lovers of the comic macabre. The first episode of the new season begins with four of the Garvey family — big sister Eva (Sharon Horgan), sexy nurse Ursula (Eva Birthistle), Bibi, the lesbian with the pirate’s eye-patch (Sarah Greene), and impulsive baby sister Becka (Eve Hewson) — sitting at night in a car parked by a seaside cliff. They are apparently preparing to dump a body over the edge.
Clearly, the Garvey girls have gotten themselves into another fine mess, though it takes until the end of the series to figure out exactly what that cliff side scene is about.
The first episode properly starts two years after the events of the first season and life seems to be looking up. Though still emotionally fragile, Grace (Anne-Marie Duff) is getting married to Ian (Owen McDonnell), an affectionate new man she met at a grief support group.
The sisters have a boisterous pre-wedding party at the racetrack where they run into their sad-sack neighbour, Roger (Michael Smiley). Roger is one of the keepers of the sisters’ secret, who carries a torch for Grace. He’s accompanied by his fussy, scolding sister, Angelica (Fiona Shaw) who has come to live with him. A menacing minor key shift in the music score warns of trouble ahead.
Shortly after, there’s the discovery of a dismembered body in a suitcase in a pond which, followers of the show will recall, was deposited there in Season One. The soggy valise full of body parts is reason enough to introduce a new pair of investigators, the golf-loving Detective Inspector Fergal Loftus (Barry Ward), who is busy planning his retirement party, and his annoyingly eager rookie partner, Detective Una Houlihan (Thaddea Graham).
By episode two, the sisters are already back in full crisis mode; as the series proceeds, there’s one shocking twist and, soon after, a new villain for the women to take on. Though far less tightly plotted than Season One, the new episodes maintain much of the bingeable appeal of the series.
Along with the supple performances of the five women, Horvath’s writing stands out, especially her ability to toggle the tone within a scene from comedy and vulnerability. The humour derives partly from the usual verbal gaffes and cringy social interactions, but on a deeper level, plumbs the way people who know each other intimately can hurt or comfort each other.
To my taste, the main reward in the second season is the presence in the cast of the great stage and screen actress Shaw (Harry Potter, My Left Foot, Fleabag). On first take, the character of Angelica is a stock comic figure, a hyper-critical busybody, peeking through blinds or popping in for a visit when least wanted.
But Shaw makes the character grander: terrible and pitiable and food-spittingly funny. She’s the kind of woman who can hammer back vodka shots alone or strap a celice around her thigh — a traditional barbed instrument of religious mortification — in a self-satisfied exercise in kinky penance.
“I’m a woman of the church, Roger,” she warns her brother. “I’m in the guilt industry. I know guilt when I see it.”
Though the final episode of Season 2 wraps things up tidily, crime drama fans know that suppressed guilt can find a way of bobbing up like an old suitcase of bones in a pond, and profitable television shows don’t just stop. I’m skeptical about the wisdom of extending Bad Sisters for a third season (the finale is cheekily titled “Cliffhanger”), but no doubt, I’d watch it.
Bad Sisters Season 2. Created by Sharon Horgan, Dave Finkel and Brett Baer. Starring Sharon Horgan, Anne-Marie Duff, Sarah Greene, Eva Birthistle, Eve Hewson, Fiona Shaw, Owen McDonnell and Michael Smiley. The first two episodes are available on Apple TV+ on November 13, followed by one new episode each week.