Honestly, if you've ever had a sibling who makes your blood boil but you’d also bury a body for them, you get the fundamental DNA of Sharon Horgan's Bad Sisters. It’s not just a show about a group of Irish women trying to kill their brother-in-law. That’s the "hook," sure. But the real meat of the thing—the part that actually sticks to your ribs—is the terrifying, hilarious, and deeply messy reality of female codependency.
When the show first landed on Apple TV+, everyone called it the Irish Big Little Lies. That's a lazy comparison. It's more like Catastrophe met a Coen brothers film and they all went for a very cold swim at the Forty Foot in Dublin. Sharon Horgan didn't just write a thriller; she built a world where grief and slapstick comedy live in the same house, and usually, they're fighting over the last bit of soda bread.
Why Sharon Horgan Bad Sisters Hits Different
Most murder mysteries start with a "whodunnit." Sharon Horgan Bad Sisters flipped the script into a "howdunnit" or, more accurately, a "why-hasn't-he-died-yet-it." We know John Paul (Claes Bang) is dead from the opening frame. We see his casket. We see the "post-mortem priapism" (google it, or don't, it's a wild ride). The tension doesn't come from the mystery of his death, but from the escalating desperation of the Garvey sisters as they realize that killing a "prick" is much harder than it looks in the movies.
Sharon Horgan plays Eva, the eldest, the maternal anchor who basically raised her sisters after their parents died. She’s the one trying to keep the wheels from falling off while Bibi (Sarah Greene), Ursula (Eva Birthistle), and Becka (Eve Hewson) cycle through increasingly absurd assassination plots.
The Realism of the "Prick"
One thing people often miss is how Horgan handled the villain. John Paul wasn't just a cartoon bad guy. He was a masterclass in coercive control. He didn't just hit people; he eroded them. He poked at their insecurities—Eva’s infertility, Ursula’s affair—until they felt small. Horgan has spoken about how essential it was to make him truly loathsome so the audience would actually root for his murder. It’s a dark tightrope to walk, but she nails it.
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The Dublin Connection
The setting isn't just window dressing. The Forty Foot, that famous swimming spot in Sandycove, is basically a character itself. Horgan, who grew up in a big Irish family (five siblings, just like the Garveys), wanted that specific Dublin chill to permeate the show. There's something about jumping into freezing grey water on Christmas morning that perfectly mirrors the sisters' relationship: it’s painful, it’s shocking, but it makes you feel alive.
The Massive Season 2 Twist That Changed Everything
If you haven't caught up on the 2024 episodes, look away now.
Season 2, which premiered on November 13, 2024, did something incredibly gutsy. Most shows would have just introduced a new "prick" and repeated the formula. Instead, Horgan decided to deal with the "fallout." Two years have passed. The sisters think they’re in the clear. Then, the past starts clawing its way back up.
Horgan made the bold choice to focus on the psychological price of their "success." Grace (Anne-Marie Duff), the sister they were supposedly saving, is at the center of a much darker storm. Fiona Shaw joined the cast as Angelica, adding a new layer of tension that shifted the show from a dark comedy into something much more "convoluted and complex," as Eva Birthistle put it.
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- The Cast Expansion: Adding Fiona Shaw and Owen McDonnell (as Ian) wasn't just about star power. It was about showing how the Garvey circle is impenetrable and dangerous to outsiders.
- The Guilt Factor: Season 2 explores the idea that you can't just kill your problems and move on. The "Bad Sisters" are being hunted, not just by detectives like Una Houlihan (Thaddea Graham), but by their own choices.
What Most People Get Wrong
People think this is a show about hate. It’s not. It’s a show about an aggressive, bordering-on-toxic level of love. The Garveys are a "five-headed monster." They protect each other to the point of self-destruction.
Horgan has mentioned in interviews that she often got notes from executives asking her to make the characters more "likable." She refused. And thank god for that. The sisters are judgmental, they're impulsive, and they're often terrible to each other. Becka is a mess. Bibi is a powder keg. Ursula is deeply flawed. But because they are written with such specific, human textures, we forgive them.
Production Realities
Behind the scenes, the show was a massive undertaking for Horgan’s production company, Merman. It took about six years to bring the first season to life, adapting it from the Belgian series Clan. By the time Season 2 rolled around, Horgan was no longer following a blueprint—she was building the house as she lived in it. She’s admitted that balancing the roles of lead actress, writer, and executive producer is a "slog," often needing director Dearbhla Walsh to tell her to stop thinking about the script and just "be in the scene."
Is There a Season 3 on the Horizon?
As of early 2026, the future of the Garvey sisters is a bit of a question mark. Horgan has been somewhat cagey, hinting that she feels the ending of Season 2 might be "the ending." She’s always been an artist who prefers to go out on a high note (look at Catastrophe). Plus, she’s busy. With her new projects like Amandaland and The Twisted Tale of Amanda Knox on her plate, the Garvey girls might finally get the rest they probably don't deserve but desperately need.
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Navigating the Garvey World: Actionable Insights
If you're looking to dive deeper into the world Sharon Horgan created, or if you're a writer trying to emulate her style, here's the "secret sauce":
- Watch for the Timelines: In Season 1, the show uses two timelines. Pay attention to the lighting. The "past" (when JP is alive) often has a slightly warmer, more claustrophobic feel, while the "present" is cooler and more expansive.
- Study the Dialogue: Horgan’s writing is famous for the "verbal jousting." She takes inspiration from Richard Linklater’s Before trilogy—the way real people actually talk over each other and find each other funny in the middle of a crisis.
- The "Prick" Test: If you're writing a villain, don't just make them mean. Make them inconvenient. Make them the person who ruins a nice lunch or makes a public scene. That’s where the real audience hatred grows.
- Embrace the Dark: Don't be afraid to put a joke in a funeral scene. Life is absurd, especially when it's tragic. Horgan’s best work lives in that specific intersection.
Bad Sisters isn't just a TV show; it's a testament to the fact that family is the only thing that can save you and the only thing that can truly ruin your life. Whether they return for a third outing or not, the Garvey sisters have already left a permanent, salt-water-stained mark on the golden age of streaming.
Next Steps for Fans:
- Explore the Source: Watch the original Belgian series Clan (sometimes titled The Out-Laws) to see how Horgan reimagined the structure for an Irish context.
- Visit the Locations: If you're ever in Dublin, take the DART to Sandycove and walk down to the Forty Foot. Just maybe skip the murder plots.
- Deep Dive Horgan’s Catalog: To see the evolution of her voice, go back to Pulling and Catastrophe. You’ll see the seeds of the "Bad Sisters" wit being planted years ago.