I was pretty high on Bad Sisters back in 2022 when its first season premiered on AppleTV+. In fact, I designated it one of the Best Shows You Aren’t Watching – which, for me, is pretty high praise. When Apple announced that the series, which seemed to wrap things up in a nice little bow at its close, would be coming back for a second season, I was very skeptical that Sharon Horgan and her writing team would be able to not only capture the essence of what made season one work (a whodunit wrapped within a family drama with a very clear villain that none of us cared was dead) but also craft a story that could stand up to the immense strengths of season one. And, having watched all of season two, I was right.
Now, it’s not that the second season of Bad Sisters is bad. It’s not. It’s just both wholly unnecessary (in terms of the story it is telling – which is in every way weaker and more convoluted that season one) and serves to cheapen the strengths of the show’s first season by rehashing elements of JP’s death that seemed done and dusted back then. When season one ended, all evidence related to the murder found by the life insurance adjuster was destroyed, our sisters were – for the most part – ready and willing to move on, and the case seemed closed. In season two, two years after the end of the events of the previous season, the police are looking into JP’s death (the circumstances around that decision feel shoehorned in simply to create some drama) and the sisters are once more thrust into the deep end, fearing that not only will the Garda determine what really happened (that would be Grace (Anne-Marie Duff), with the help of nice neighbor Roger (Michael Smiley), killed JP after years of abuse at his hands) but everything they thought they had put to bed in terms of the trauma JP caused is potentially coming back to the forefront.
If the only threat faced within the season were how to combat a police investigation into a murder, well, the season would feel a bit like a retread but might still work. However, there are several additional plotlines that weave throughout the season, each less compelling than the one before it. We’re introduced to Fiona Shaw’s Angelique, the sister of Roger who is very religious and very eager to insert herself into the lives of the Garvey sisters for reasons that aren’t all that clear. Then there’s Grace’s new husband, Ian, who seems the exact opposite of JP in every way, but who we know precious little about. After all, when someone seems too good to be true, there’s usually some dark secret lurking around the corner. Plus, each of the sisters has their own personal issue to deal with – Bibi (Sarah Greene) and her wife are trying IVF, but she’s not sure she wants to have another child; Ursula (Eva Birthistle) is continuing to steal drugs from work and someone might be onto her; Becka (Eve Hewson) is in a new relationship but she’s still pining for Matt (Daryl McCormack); and Eva (Horgan), well she’s given up drinking but is still feeling unfulfilled. It’s a lot. And when a horrific tragedy strikes the family, well, then it becomes almost too much story to truly invest in.
After the tight plotting and the interesting storytelling in season one, it’s a disappointment to see how overstuffed and often confusing season two becomes. That tragedy I mentioned is something that should stop the characters in their tracks for months, yet they seem to be up and running not all that long following its occurrence – or at least it seems so, since the passage of time itself is a bit lost within the series and I genuinely had no idea just how much time had actually passed. And the unraveling of the mystery this time is much less satisfying on every level than season one’s – largely because it’s not really a good mystery or an interesting one. You can figure it out rather fast and it has a tenuous connection to the tragedy that is trying to propel the dramatic stakes of the series in its back half. I often found myself wishing the series had simply scrapped the mystery – and the police investigation – and opted instead to take that tragic event and make the recovery from it the focus of the series. I would much rather watch our characters work through their grief, pain, and anger than try to solve a case while pushing all of that down deep inside.
The confused narrative, the lack of real stakes, and the inability to allow the characters the chance to sit in their emotional state and work through it serve to make season two of Bad Sisters a disappointment. Where season one was at times extraordinary, season two is far too ordinary throughout. The performances remain strong – this is a cast who understand how to emote when asked and can punctuate some of the darkness within the story with excellent comedic timing – but they are under served by the writing. Bad Sisters really should have been a one-and-done series, preserving it from a letdown like this one.
Bad Sisters’ second season premieres on November 13 on AppleTV+. All eight episodes were provided for review.
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