Bad Sisters season 1 concluded in 2022 with the reveal that Grace Williams (Anne Marie-Duff) killed her abusive husband, John Paul (Claes Bang). Grace’s four sisters planned on ending JP’s (aka "The Prick") life, but something went awry each time they tried. Unknown to Eva (Sharon Horgan), Bibi (Sarah Greene), Ursula (Eva Birthistle) and Becka (Eve Hewson) is that Grace’s neighbor, Roger (Michael Smiley), helped Grace stage JP’s body to make it look like he had died in a freak quadbike accident. In reality, Grace strangled JP with his pajamas after she discovered JP had raped a then-pregnant Eva, who then went on to miscarry the baby.
Set two years after the initial events, Bad Sisters season 2 episode 1 picks up with the sisters celebrating Grace’s impending nuptials to Ian (Owen McDonnell). Unfortunately, "The Prick’s" villainous actions come back to haunt Grace significantly. Also, Roger is starting to crack from the guilt, and his sister Angelica (Fiona Shaw) is watching Roger’s every move.
It's unclear if Angelica’s motives are anything other than sibling concern, but her fixation on Grace is something to consider. The police are also back on the scene with Detective Inspector Lofthus (Barry Ward), joined by an eager new detective, Una Houlihan (Thaddea Graham). Will they find out the truth?
Almost driving off a cliff
Eva, Becka (who has a black eye), Ursuala and Bibi are driving at nighttime near the coast. Eva reverses the car almost too far toward the cliff edge. It is all somewhat cryptic, but whatever (or whoever) is in the trunk is the concern. The four sisters run off screaming when the trunk suddenly pops wide open.
This chaos is a glimpse of whatever is to come, but first, we see Grace in bed with her fiance, Ian. In her sleep, Grace starts to choke Ian, highlighting how her body still has a physical response to the years of abuse inflicted by JP. Ian is understanding; she has found a man who is everything JP wasn’t.
Later, the Garvey sisters head to the race track for Grace’s bachelorette party. Everyone is in a great mood, but it gets a little awkward when Roger and Angelica approach. Grace hasn’t been in touch with them for a while and belatedly invites Roger to the wedding. Angelica gives off busybody vibes; this run-in doesn’t seem as accidental as intended.
A body and a wedding
Around a decade ago, John Paul let his father, George, choke on a taxidermy eyeball and then stored the body in the freezer. When Becka accidentally killed JP’s mother, JP cut up the body, put it in a suitcase, and threw it in the pond at his parents’ house. The discovery of the suitcase brings a reluctant Lofthus back on the case. After all, he cost the department a lot of money when he got JP’s body exhumed after the Claflin brothers wanted to contest Grace’s insurance claim.
Meanwhile, Grace is blissfully unaware and having a blast at her intimate wedding being thrown at Eva’s house (also their old family home). Angelica is overfamiliar with everyone and seems to be listening to conversations.
Roger has always had a crush on Grace, so it's hard to tell if he is excessively drinking because he doesn’t want to see her remarried or if it's his guilty conscience. When Roger dances with Grace, he brings up the past. “Do you ever think about what we did?” he asks. Grace tells him she tries not to, but he is haunted by it. Angelica watches this conversation with concern and intrigue.
News spreads fast
Angelica cycles past the old Williams place and sees the heavy police presence. Roger is concerned by the body discovery news but doesn’t tell his sister the reason why. Roger phones Grace, but she ignores his calls.
Lofthus and Houlihan give Grace a house call, as she is the next of kin. Grace is genuinely shocked by the news about George Williams’ murder, and the detectives don’t have a reason to believe she is lying. However, they do use this moment to ask about the insurance claim regarding JP, which Grace tells them was withdrawn because JP died by suicide and she didn’t want her teenage daughter Blanaid (Saise Quinn) to find out.
Unfortunately, this raises some red flags as both detectives think how JP died doesn’t track with suicide. At the pub, Lofthus scrolls through old messages from when Thomas Claflin (Brian Gleeson) was convinced Grace had killed JP. Lofthus calls Thomas to talk about these theories but gets his voicemail.
A confession
The doorbell rings twice at Grace’s house, but no one is there when she answers it. When Grace steps out, she sees Roger. She lets him know the body that has been found has nothing to do with what they did. But Roger is in a bad way and says he needs to unburden himself. Roger plans on telling the police, Grace’s pleas for him to stay silent have worked, but it's unclear it it'll work. Regardless, Ian hears this whole conversation.
Back home, Angelica waits for Roger and tells him that, as a religious woman, she is in the “guilt industry” and knows he's hiding something. While we don’t hear Roger confess, Grace does tell her new husband everything.
Grace begins by saying that JP raped Eva and abused Grace. “I killed him. I killed my husband,” she says. Grace also says Roger knows and will talk to the police. Ian is speechless, telling Grace he needs space to think. Grace begs Ian to stay, but when Ian turns to leave she hits him on the back.
The next day, Blanaid, in her school uniform, runs to Eva’s house, where she tells Eva, Ursula and Becka that Ian is gone and Grace won’t stop crying. Is everything about to come crashing down on Grace?
New episodes of Bad Sisters premiere Wednesdays on Apple TV Plus.
