A body in the trunk of a car. Honestly, there’s no better way for Season 2 of the Irish dramedy Bad Sisters to begin. The first season took what seemed like a straightforward whodunnit and turned it into a darkly funny, yet heartbreaking story of sisterhood.
Season 2 picks up two years after John Paul's death, with the Garvey sisters trying to move on and leave it behind. His widow, Grace (Anne-Marie Duff), has found love again, marrying Ian (Owen McDonnell), and it seems like she's starting to find happiness once more... but there's still a cloud hanging over them. On top of that, a couple of cops start digging around, so John Paul's death may not be as closed a case as they thought.
The oldest sister, Eva (Sharon Horgan), is handling her menopausal years pretty smoothly, more independent than ever. Ursula (Eva Birthistle) is taking each day as it comes, after her marriage fell apart following her affair. Bibi (Sarah Greene) and her wife are going through IVF, and Becka (Eve Hewson) has a stable boyfriend for a change.
Early in Season 2, we get a pretty wild, sad plot twist that completely changes the game. After that twist, though, something that made the show work in the first place feels like it's missing, and it does impact the tone of the season. There are more twists as things go on, plus some questionable choices by the characters, as crazy assumptions lead to even bigger mistakes.
Fiona Shaw is a bright point this season as nosy churchgoer Angelica (Fiona Shaw), who’s convinced the sisters are hiding something and won’t stop pushing them for answers.
The sisters' storylines feel pretty disconnected, and the overlapping plots end up feeling unnecessarily messy. Without a clear villain to cheer against, we get overwhelmed with multiple narrative threads and no clear roadmap. While the first season was tight and gripping, this one feels more scattered and all over the place.
Bad Sisters worked brilliantly as a standalone series, both in terms of its structure and as a uniquely intriguing piece of TV, blending a deep and chilling look at coercive control with moments of dark humor. Sometimes shows are meant to be limited series, and that's okay.
