Don’t we all wish we could have a sisterhood as strong as the Garveys? The titular Bad Sisters from the Apple TV+ dark comedy have an unbreakable bond and will do anything for each other—even plotting to murder their in-laws. So was the plot of season 1 of the Ireland-set series co-created by star Sharon Horgan, about sisters Eva (Horgan), Bibi (Sarah Greene), Ursula (Eva Birthistle), and Becka (Eve Hewson) who try to protect their sister Grace (Anne-Marie Duff) from her mentally and physically abusive husband John Paul (Claes Bang) by attempting to kill him.
Bad Sisters season 1 was told through two timelines—one in the present when John Paul, a.k.a. JP, is dead and the Garveys are the subject of a life insurance investigation and one leading up to his death. It ended by revealing the answer to the mystery of who killed him, which still managed to come as a shock, even after the Garvey girls made multiple (at times convoluted) attempts on his life.
Season 2 of the must-watch series hits streaming on November 13, and there is much to remember before tuning into the new installment, which continues to examine the suspicion that still surrounds the Garveys from many fronts. Below, we’re breaking down what to remember before watching Bad Sisters season 2.
How does JP die in 'Bad Sisters?'
The Garveys wanted to get rid of their brother-in-law for several reasons: He was horrible and controlling to their sister Grace, a threat to their niece Blánaid (Saise Quinn), raped Eva years prior, and generally sadistic and manipulative for his self-interest. Though Eva, Becka, Bibi, and Ursula tried to kill JP by poisoning his meals and setting his cabin on fire, among other methods, he ended up dying rather simply—and Grace did the deed.
In a flashback, it’s revealed that Grace and JP were at his cabin when the two got into a violent argument. Trying to be intimate with her husband, JP has a vicious reaction when he can’t get an erection. Due to his anger and violent nature, he claims he can’t have sex with Grace because he raped her sister Eva a decade ago. He admits that he assaulted and impregnated her, which led her to have a miscarriage and become infertile. Grace can no longer stand his gaslighting and abuse, so they begin physically fighting and after JP hits Grace in the stomach, she defends herself by strangling him with his pair of pajama bottoms. As Eva says later on: “Ding dong the prick is dead.”
How is JP's death covered up in 'Bad Sisters?'
Grace had watched the classic Old Hollywood film Isadora, in which the main character dies after her scarf gets caught in her car—which is how she thought of the cover-up for JP’s death. She gets JP’s corpse dressed, puts him in outerwear and a red scarf, carries the body outside, and props him up on a four-wheeler off-road vehicle. Wrapping the scarf around both his neck and the wheel so it looks like it got caught and strangled him that way, she starts the vehicle so it crashes into a tree, effectively making his death look like an accident.
At the very end of the season 1 finale, it’s revealed that Grace had some help setting up JP's "death." It turns out that Roger (Michael Smiley), Grace’s neighbor, assisted her in carrying the body. Roger was another victim of JP’s abuse, as he told a harmful lie that Roger used his position and involvement in the church to molest children—all because Roger offered to be a companion and look out for Grace when he could tell she needed someone. Though the Garda, or police, couldn’t find any evidence, it hugely damaged his reputation, and JP never apologized, even when Roger found it in his heart to forgive him.
When Grace is getting ready to move at the end of the finale, she stops Roger on the street and thanks him for answering her call and coming to help her. Flashbacks show that he drove to JP’s cabin and helped her move his body.
In the present, insurance claim investigator Matt (Daryl McCormack) also pieces together what happened. He snoops around at JP’s cabin and sees the DVD of Isadora, realizing his death by scarf strangulation was staged. (He and his brother Thomas played by Brian Gleeson had been trying to prove JP’s death wasn’t an accident to stop Thomas from going to prison for the fraud committed by their late father.) Ultimately, the Garveys agree that they won’t accept the insurance claim, and Matt promises to keep his mouth shut.
Who killed JP's father in 'Bad Sisters?'
Minor spoilers for Bad Sisters season 2 episode 1 ahead. The season 2 premiere of Bad Sisters shows the new residents who’ve since moved into JP’s parents’ home discovering a suitcase in the pond, pulling it out, and finding skeletal remains. As it turns out, it's the decomposed corpse of JP’s late father George (Paul Bentall)—setting off another investigation into JP and the Garvey sisters going into the second installment.
The Garveys, however, have nothing to do with the death of JP’s father. It was JP who watched him die from choking on one of the glass eyeballs he used in his taxidermy hobby. JP didn’t interfere to save him. Rather, once his father was dead, he kept his body in the walk-in freezer in their basement.
In season 1, Becka discovered the freezer, having learned about it from spending time with JP’s mother Minna (Nina Norén). When she was helping Minna for the day and the elderly woman took a nap, the youngest Garvery went downstairs to investigate the freezer, which is when she discovered George’s frozen corpse.
Later, after Becka accidentally leaves the freezer open, Minna walks downstairs and freezes to death, which JP discovers. He makes it look like she died in her sleep and tells the authorities, but meanwhile puts his father’s body into a suitcase and dumps it in the pond. Even after his death, the prick manages to torment the Garveys, setting up just one of the conundrums on their hands in season 2.
