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Season two of Sharon Horgan’s hit comedy-drama follows the siblings as they struggle to keep the past buried
4/5
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Bad Sisters was the perfect one-series drama. A whodunit with all plot strands satisfyingly wrapped up by the 10th and final episode. Who could ask for anything more? Bosses at Apple TV+, that’s who, because they commissioned a second series when the first turned out to be a hit, leaving writer Sharon Horgan with a major challenge.
There were two elements to this Irish comedy-thriller, which was a sort of Big Little Lies with saltier swearing and less Botox. The first was the villain, played by Claes Bang as the monstrous husband of Grace (Anne-Marie Duff). The second was the dynamic between Grace’s sisters (Horgan, Eva Birthistle, Sarah Greene, Eve Hewson) as they conspired to bump him off.
Bang was such a larger-than-life presence as JP that his absence from the second series – on account of him being dead, and there no longer being any flashbacks – leaves a gaping hole. Where can the story go from here?
Horgan has tackled the problem by creating a new character: Angelica Collins, sister of Grace’s old neighbour, Roger Muldoon. Angelica is a tactless local busybody who can’t stop poking her nose into the Garvey sisters’ business. Fiona Shaw plays her brilliantly as a do-gooder with flashes of malevolence. And she knows something is up. “I’m a woman of the Church, Roger. I’m in the guilt industry. I know guilt when I see it.”
It turns out that getting away with murder isn’t as easy as series one made appear, and the pressure of keeping secrets begins to tell – especially when another body pops up. Also on the sisters’ trail is Inspector Loftus (Barry Ward), who appeared briefly last time as a detective forever being interrupted on the golf course, and is now reinvestigating JP’s death. He is aided by an enthusiastic but galumphing new sidekick, fledgling officer Una Houlihan (Thaddea Graham), and his contempt for her is one of the show’s most amusing aspects.
“Who picks your wardrobe? Rupert the Bear?” he asks, surveying her jacket and trousers. Loftus is old-school and Houlihan is a very young 25. “She’s also a diverse female officer,” mutters Loftus’s boss. “Probably non-binary or some b——s. You overlook those ones at your peril.”
This series lacks the simplicity of the original premise and the mesmerising awfulness of JP. Bang is much missed. It feels messier and less focused. But it’s still a cut above most shows of this type, thanks to sharp writing from Horgan and quality performances across the board.
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4/5
3/5
English