‘Bad Sisters’ Thrills in Season One
Sharon Horgan, Eva Birthistle, Eve Hewson, and Sarah Greene in Bad Sisters | Credit: Apple TV+
When John Paul (Claes Bang) dies, his widow mourns, her sisters rejoice, and a pair of insurance men investigate. Throughout the season, we learn about the highs and lows in all of their lives.
Bad Sisters is absolutely hilarious! The show is filled with quick-witted dialogue and dark Irish humor that will keep you laughing throughout. The premise of the show is comical and then the writing and acting brilliantly builds on that foundation.
The Garvey sisters are the anchor of this show and you just want to keep spending time with them. Eva (Sharon Horgan), Bibi (Sarah Greene), Ursula (Eva Birthistle), and Becka (Eve Hewson) are so distinct and their relational dynamics are hilarious. You never know what one is going to say or do next, which makes you want to keep watching.
The show takes place in the present as Grace (Anne-Marie Duff), JP’s widow, and her sisters deal with the fallout from JP’s death. When Thomas (Brian Gleeson) and Matt (Daryl McCormack), insurance men and half-brothers, begin investigating JP’s death, the Garvey sisters are forced to relive some dark moments in their past.
Bad Sisters consistently cuts back and forth in time, but it’s never confusing. Instead, each flashback is important to help us understand where the family members find themselves today. We understand how JP affected each of the sister’s lives. And just when you think things are bad, somehow they manage to just get worse. These flashbacks are incredibly effective in helping us understand the relational dynamics. They also help us better understand the decisions these characters are making.
Sarah Greene and Sharon Horgan in Bad Sisters | Credit: Apple TV+
What impressed me most about Bad Sisters is how effectively the show makes you hate JP from the very beginning. Starting in the first episode, we see how JP treats his wife, Grace. We see her sisters’ concern and know that something is not right in this relationship.
Of course, we know that murder is bad and isn’t something to cheer or advocate for. We, as the audience, have our own internal set of morals that we bring to a show like this. But Bad Sisters does a great job of giving the audience permission to bend our own sense of morality. Starting in the first episode, we see how much of a creep and a manipulator JP is to Grace. By the end of the first episode, it’s pretty clear that Grace’s life will be better without her husband in it.
As the season continues, we learn more information about JP and how he has injured everyone else in this family, particularly the Garvey sisters. It’s easy to understand how these sisters would be willing to do anything to protect each other.
Of course, Bad Sisters does all of this scheming with immense humor throughout. And as the show goes on, the Garvey sisters hit more and more hilarious roadblocks, adding levity to a really dark premise.
Bad Sisters does an excellent job of maintaining a balance between the humor and the serious moments. We learn about the struggles that each of the sisters is going through—real things that affect many of us. This helps us empathize with them more and also gives an important grounding to this story that might otherwise seem far-fetched.
Bad Sisters is a story of family members seeking to protect one another, filled to the brim with dark Irish humor and powerful themes. I can’t recommend this one enough!