Streaming: The dark deal with guilt: “Bad Sisters” is back

The “Bad Sisters” Eva, Grace, Ursula, Bibi and Becka Garvey are back. In the streaming series on Apple TV+, the Dubliners – single, newly widowed, prone to double standards, lesbian and/or (in)guilty – try to move on with their lives two years after the “accidental death” of Grace’s nasty husband. The new season is now online.

They don’t manage to restart without chaotic complications. The series scores with very good, but dark humor, many unexpected twists and dark secrets. If you don’t know the Belgian original “Clan” and were wondering at the end of the first season what else could be said, you can tell – without giving any spoilers – a lot.

As the eldest, Eva (Sharon Horgan, who also co-produced the series) tries her hardest to keep a cool head as the past keeps catching up with the five. And some people are not what they seem. Anne-Marie Duff as the nervous, gullible Grace, Eva Birthistle as the divorced nurse Ursula, Sarah Greene as the tough Bibi with an eye patch and Eve Hewson (currently also seen alongside Nicole Kidman in “A New Summer”) as the youngest and most impulsive the Garvey sisters complement each other perfectly.

“Aunt Petunia” as an unsympathetic neighbor

The dynamic between the main characters is bittersweet: the “Bad Sisters” argue, love, and save each other. They don’t let themselves down when discussions with the police, new partners or the unpleasant neighbor Angelica get out of control. Fiona Shaw, known to many as Aunt Petunia in the “Harry Potter” films or as the therapist from the “Fleabag” series, appears in a wonderfully typically Irish manner as the heavily Christian old lady curiosity persona. Angelica aptly doesn’t mince her words when it comes to responsibility and conscience: “I’m a woman of the church, I’m in the debt business.”

The award-winning series (including two Baftas, a Peabody Award, four Emmy nominations) was internationally celebrated in its first season as a dramedy that was as viciously funny as it was poignant.

The new episodes were also filmed in Dublin and the surrounding area: streets, houses and places – such as the legendary bathing area “Forty Foot” in the harbor town of Dun Laoghaire, beloved by the Garvey sisters – and steep cliffs play important supporting roles.

There is also an emotional soundtrack with songs by PJ Harvey and Sinéad O’Connor: “Bad Sisters 2” is warmly and ice-coldly recommended to fans of thrillers, black humor and Ireland.