Apple TV’s Bad Sisters will return for a second season, but where will the story go next? Here’s what to know!
A horrible death happened. But there’s no need to mourn. Because the deliciously dark Bad Sisters, developed by Sharon Horgan, Dave Finkel, and Brett Baer, has officially been renewed for a second season.
Originally titled Emerald, the Irish black comedy set in picturesque Dublin is based on a Flemish series called Clan, created by Malin-Sarah Gozin. Bad Sisters first aired on Apple TV+ on August 19, 2022, and was officially renewed on November 8, 2022, due to the overwhelming response to the first season. Since it was meant to be a limited series, it will be interesting to see how the story progresses. Here’s what we know so far about the plot, cast, release date, and more about the upcoming season.
Bad Sisters stands out for being more of a ‘whydunnit’ than a whodunnit since the story navigates the motives of the criminal more than their identity. The wickedly fun series revolves around the tight-knit Garvey sisters – Eva (Sharon Horgan), Grace (Anne-Marie Duff), Ursula (Eva Birthistle), Bibi (Sarah Greene), and Becka (Eve Hewson). Grace’s husband, John Paul Williams (Claes Bang), is abusive, as established in the very first episode, “The Prick,” but exhibited almost with perverse joy one peel back at a time over the course of the ten episodes.
John Paul dies in an accidental death that raises a couple of eyebrows with the Claffin brothers. Thomas Claffin (Brian Gleeson) and Matt Claffin (Daryl McCormack) are supposed to dole out a huge life insurance payout to Grace and risk going bankrupt (or worse) while doing so if they cannot prove there was foul play involved in JP’s death. But the catch is that JP was such an obnoxious git that everyone who knew him had more than ample reason to want the guy six feet under. And the show takes its time slowly unraveling and navigating the very nature of crime and criminal.
The thing is, the first season is pretty self-contained. It gives us an ending that can be left just where it left us. Unlike Big Little Lies, the HBO show with a very similar storyline, JP doesn’t have a mother who can come back in the form of Meryl Streep to haunt the Garvey sisters into a confession. But since the second season of Bad Sisters is coming, the neatly tied bow at the end of season 1 will definitely be pulled at, it seems. The Claffin brothers may have been satisfied with how things went down, but since the police, aka Garda, was involved, maybe something else might stumble out of the woods. Plus, there are too many people who are aware of what actually went down. As the saying goes, two can keep a secret if one of them is dead.
It is difficult to keep a show like this engaging when the main conflict has already been resolved within its first run. Perhaps season two can explore other ways the incident follows the Garvey sisters as they try to move forward. As long as we don’t have to deal with a fresh new casualty every season, unlike How to Get Away with Murder, which became the show’s eventual undoing, things could be fine, especially in the able hands of Horgan.
Horgan told MovieWeb in an exclusive interview:
“When Apple TV+ asked me what show I wanted to do next, they showed me this Belgian series, Clan, by Malin-Sarah Gozin, and said I think this is what you should do. I've never adapted anything before. I'd never written a thriller or an hour-long show — I'm used to half-hour sitcoms in my writing. But I just loved it. I found the premise hilarious and immediately got excited by what I could do with it. What would be my version be of this series? What if you set it in Ireland? What if you raise the stakes?”
Emmy nominee and BAFTA Award winner Horgan co-wrote, produced, and starred as the de-facto matriarch of the Garvey family. Along with the rest of the cast, Horgan delivered a stupendous dark comedy-thriller. So, she will definitely be back, and the main cast – Duff, Birthistle, Greene, Hewson – should join in as well. Since Claes Bang was mostly in season one via flashbacks, nothing needs to be different in season two.
Even though Assaad Bouab’s Ben and Peter Coonan’s Ben might seem to be done with the Garvey sisters, they might have good reason to come back to reopen the old can of worms. The same goes for good neighbour Roger Muldoon (Michael Smiley), Bibi’s wife, Nora Garvey (Yasmine Akram), Ursula’s husband, Donal Flynn (Jonjo O’Neill), Grace’s daughter Blánaid Williams (Saise Quinn), the Claffin brothers. Thomas’ wife, Theresa Claffin (Seána Kerslake), in particular, might still have a bone to pick with Becka.
Bad Sisters currently holds a 100% score on Rotten Tomatoes, so it isn’t surprising the show got picked up again. Apple TV+ hasn’t announced a release date for season 2 yet, but we can tentatively expect it to come out somewhere in 2023 unless there are any production delays.
We cannot wait for another season with an opening sequence that is more of a ‘spoilers without context’ reel and PJ Harvey’s rendition of Leonard Cohen’s “Who By Fire.”
Film & TV Writer and Critic. Also worked for: Vagabomb (Scoopwhoop), iDiva (The Times of India), The Indian Express, Tree of Knowledge, Juggernaut Books, Indiannica, Jagran Prakashan Limited, among others.
