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Good news for 'Bad Sisters': They're just as fearless in Season 2
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It's a dark-hearted relief to know from the very beginning of the first season of the Apple TV+ black comedy series Bad Sisters, which was released in 2022, that John Paul ends up dead. It might be too much to take if you didn't.
John Paul (or JP), played with breathtaking vileness by Claes Bang, is the cruel, emotionally and physically abusive husband of Grace (Anne-Marie Duff). Grace makes excuses for him; her sisters will not. Eva (Sharon Horgan), Ursula (Eva Birthistle), Bibi (Sarah Greene) and Becka (Eve Hewson) have hated him — each for reasons of her own — for a while before he ultimately dies. The series is told both in the present, where two insurance agents are investigating his death, and in extended flashbacks, where we learn that Grace's sisters have been actively trying to kill JP for a long time without success. Presumably, something finally worked — but what?
The Emmy-nominated, Peabody-winning first season is gripping and very funny. (And, I'll warn you, quite brutal to both people and animals.) As it develops, the desperation of these women to rid themselves and their sister of this vicious man reaches a fever pitch. And then, at last, we learn how John Paul finally bit the dust, and how the sisters will try to move on. It is as good a distillation as you'll see of the ways in which, in certain situations, rage and love can fuel each other even among people who are striving to be good.
Up to the end of Season 1, Bad Sisters is an adaptation of a Belgian series called Clan that aired all the way back in 2012. Clan wrapped up its story, it answered the big questions, and it ended. But Bad Sisters, despite concluding in essentially the same way 10 years later, is returning for a second season, and now the Apple show is on its own to provide the story. Even for those who loved the first round, it's fair to wonder whether this is a good idea. After all, we know what happened to John Paul; what's left to find out? Can coming back do anything besides ruin a good thing?
We pick up the story two years later, with Grace trying to move on from her awful marriage. Once again, viewers will begin by learning that something terribly serious (well, at least one thing) has happened, and they will not know exactly what it is. But they know that it is trouble for the Garvey sisters. They do something frightening under the cover of night. And again, we move back in time to see how they arrived at that place, doing that thing.
As if that weren't enough, new law enforcement personnel are sniffing around about JP's previously resolved case, which left behind a few, well ... loose ends. In a suitcase. In a pond.
The biggest addition to the second season is the imposing Fiona Shaw (Andor, Fleabag, Killing Eve), playing a new character whose connection to Grace — via another familiar face — is complex and grows more troubling. There are other characters from Season 1 whose involvement (or lack thereof) it's probably fair to let you discover for yourself.
You can certainly say this about Bad Sisters: It is fearless and it is merciless, and that's what makes it feel so unexpected. Despite Season 1 having what might pass for a happy ending, nothing is that simple. Nothing stays happy for this family — which just might be a little bit cursed. Did they need to make another season? Perhaps not. Do they find ways to keep digging into the crevasses of these characters and discovering new things? They do. Whether you're ready or not.
This piece also appeared in NPR's Pop Culture Happy Hour newsletter. Sign up for the newsletter so you don't miss the next one, plus get weekly recommendations about what's making us happy.
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