The 6 Best And 6 Worst Bad Sisters Moments
Few shows truly showcase the bond of family with a focus on the deep ties of sisters. The Apple TV+ show "Bad Sisters" is not only packed with hilarity, chaos, and charming characters, but also shows real grit, intense trauma, and how important close relationships are for mental health.
"Bad Sisters" follows the five Garvey sisters: Grace (Anne-Marie Duff), Eva (Sharon Horgan), Ursula (Eva Birthistle), Bibi (Sarah Greene), and Becka (Eve Hewson). As the show begins, Grace's husband John Paul (Claes Bang) has just died, and the Garvey sisters are acting nervous at the funeral. When the insurance agents realize they'll be broke if they pay out the claim on John Paul's life, they start their own investigation to see if his death was really an accident or if there was foul play involved. Over 10 episodes, the audience watches the sisters' close relationships, their personal lives, and their survival instincts as they evade the insurance agents and slowly unravel under pressure.
Told in weaving fashion through flashbacks and present-day sequences, "Bad Sisters" is a show that will have you hooked from the very beginning. There are moments the audience will audibly cheer, and moments when their jaws will touch the floor. It's a rollercoaster of a show with darkly funny and intense moments, some good and some bad. Read on to see the six best and six worst moments from "Bad Sisters." Warning: spoilers ahead.
Worst: When Urs sends nudes to John Paul
In Episode 3, John Paul decides to target Ursula with his manipulative, sinister behavior. First, he starts off by following Ursula and Ben (Peter Coonan), the man she's having an affair with, to see what's going on. Upon discovering the affair, John Paul purposely gets into a fender bender with Ursula so he can corner her about why she's at a hotel and reveal that he knows she's an adulterer. He yells at her in this public setting, and threatens to tell her husband if she doesn't end her relationship with Ben.
But that's nothing compared to what he does next. Just when you think John Paul can't make things worse for Ursula, he finds a way. When the family all gathers for dinner at Eva's house, John Paul catches Ursula texting Ben. In another attempt to expose her, he switches his number with Ben's in Ursula's phone, and texts her as "Ben" to ask for nudes. Thinking she's texting Ben, Ursula goes to the bathroom and takes nude photographs of herself for him — only they're sent to John Paul instead. He looks at them, then teases Ursula even more until he admits he has the photos and will send them to her husband. It's an absolutely vile act that violates Ursula's privacy and betrays the trust of Grace, whose husband is now looking at naked photographs of her sister. It's pure evil.
Best: When Grace takes Blanaid to Lizzo
By Episode 2, the audience is really beginning to see the depths of John Paul's manipulation. When Eva takes Grace and John Paul's daughter Blanaid to the mall to buy a bra, John Paul is up in arms. He suggests Eva is trying to corrupt Blanaid and says she's wearing lingerie like a showgirl. Grace doesn't agree with John Paul, but she's hurt that Eva took Blanaid to the mall instead of letting Grace do it, because it was a moment she never got to have with their mother and one she wanted to share with her child. Eva feels bad about this; as an apology, she buys Grace and Blanaid tickets to see Lizzo in concert while John Paul is out of town.
Grace is hesitant to accept, knowing John Paul won't be happy, but she decides he doesn't have to know and she and Blanaid can have a good time together. Of course, John Paul ends up calling Grace while they're at the show, and is furious. However, even with this threat looming, it's one of the best moments in the show because the audience sees Grace come out of her shell and stick up for something her daughter wants to do. We get to see what Blanaid and Grace's lives could be without John Paul, and it's liberating.
Worst: When Bibi takes a man's eye
As the audience learns more about Bibi, we come to find out that John Paul is the reason she lost an eye. In Episode 5, we see a flashback of him picking her up to take her somewhere after her ride is canceled. She's grateful — until John Paul starts speeding. The Garvey sisters lost their parents in a car accident, so Bibi is on edge. She asks John Paul to slow down and eventually pull over, but he denies both requests and she grabs the wheel to try and stop him. John Paul slams on the brakes and the statuette on his dashboard slams through Bibi's eye socket.
This event traumatizes Bibi, but it also fuels her fire to help the sisters get rid of John Paul. They decide to kill him during a paintball outing; Bibi freezes her paint pellets to make them lethal, and everything goes as planned until just as Bibi is about to take the shot at John Paul, when Becka bumps into her and she accidentally shoots the paintball instructor in the eye. After all that she's had taken from her and knowing how it feels to live life with one eye, she can't believe she's responsible for doing it to another person. It's an awful moment to watch, and Sarah Greene's performance makes it painfully real.
Best: When Eva and Gabriel come to an understanding
Another great moment from Episode 5 comes from Eva and her new friendship with Gabriel (Assaad Bouab). The two meet while working together, and Eva develops a bit of a crush on him. He asks her to hang out, and they go on a date of sorts to an art museum. While there, they run into Eva's ex-boyfriend and Gabriel is perceptive to Eva's sadness after seeing her ex has started a family. They decide to go back to Gabriel's boat and drink a lot of brandy while having a dance party. The situation begins to escalate, and Eva kisses him.
She starts undressing to have sex with him, and realizes he isn't into it. She asks if she's the problem, but he explains that it's not because he doesn't like her, but because he's gay. He explains that he cares for her deeply and just wanted them to be friends, but isn't out to everyone because he likes to keep his professional and personal lives separate. At first Eva is embarrassed, but she realizes she loves Gabriel as a friend, and goes back to talk to him. They make up in a joking and sweet way, and have a heart to heart about Gabriel's life. It's an important moment for queer representation and for their friendship, and makes the audience proud to see them both be so mature and loving.
Worst: When John Paul reports Roger
One of the most movingly played characters in an ensemble cast full of talent is Grace and John Paul's neighbor, Roger (Michael Smiley). The audience sees how much he cares about Grace, and it's clear he wonders whether she and Blanaid are in a safe space with John Paul, but he tries to be polite to him as well. However, John Paul takes advantage of Roger's kindness; to keep him from talking to Grace, he creates a fake profile in Roger's chat room for his church youth group, pretending to be a child reaching out to Roger for help before asking him a series of sexual questions, trying to bait him.
Of course, this doesn't work. John Paul, knowing even a rumor will stir things up, decides to call Child Protective Services anyway and anonymously tell them that Roger is molesting his child. The police come and take Roger away, and unfortunately, John Paul is right — the rumor is enough to ruin Roger's life. It's devastating to see this kind man be put under fire because of rumors that have no truth to them whatsoever. He's caught in the crossfire of John Paul's war on the world to feel some sense of power, and it's truly a shame to watch an innocent life be destroyed.
Best: When the sisters get stuck in John Paul's room
Episode 6 of "Bad Sisters" is a whirlwind. Other than Grace, all the sisters are on board with killing John Paul — and with their latest method of choice, which is to drug him. Ursula gets the drug they need and they put it in his nasal spray, which he's constantly using. However, John Paul comes home faster than they're expecting, and the four sisters are stuck in the house while John Paul remains conscious. Once they think he's asleep, they all start to leave, but then he wakes up, forcing them to hide in plain sight. He walks right in front of them, but doesn't see them in his drugged state.
This moment is stressful for a lot of reasons, but it's one of the best moments in the show because of the acting and physical comedy from the four sisters. As they're trying to crawl in closets, slither under beds, and evade John Paul's gaze, they somehow still manage to make witty comments and laugh-out-loud banter. This scene really highlights the comedy of four sisters trying to kill their brother-in-law and by drugging him with no skill or practice whatsoever. It perfectly exemplifies the heart of the show.
Worst: When Gabriel saves John Paul
In Episode 6, the sisters are almost successful in their scheme to drug and kill John Paul. After putting a roofie in his nasal spray and waiting for him to pass out, they're surprised when it doesn't completely knock him out. John Paul, without pants, sleepwalks to his car and drives to the docks to get on his boat, but he's in no shape to make it on board. In fact, he falls off the dock and into the water. What the sisters know, though, is that John Paul can't swim. They watch as he's about to drown and die, getting rid of their problem forever.
But at the last second, Gabriel, whose boat is stationed near John Paul's, sees that he's drowning and decides to intervene. He jumps in the water and pulls John Paul out, saving his life. The bigger problem, though, is that Gabriel sees Eva in her car at the scene after he rescues John Paul. Gabriel is just doing the right thing, but the scene is one of the worst because it puts another huge wrench in the sisters' plans and prolongs John Paul's familial terror.
Best: When Matt burns the evidence
In the present day sequence, the big question throughout all the episodes is whether insurance agents Matt (Daryl McCormack) and Thomas Claffin (Brian Gleeson) will end up finding out the truth about John Paul's death. The whole situation becomes more complicated when Matt and Becka start a relationship. Though they're cute together and the audience roots for them, it's clear it'll be nearly impossible for them to work out when Matt starts helping Thomas' investigation and slightly playing Becka for information.
The stakes are the highest at the end of the show; in Episode 10, Matt discovers what really happened to John Paul. With that information, he approaches Becka, who wants to know what he's going to do. Becka, in a last-ditch effort to protect her family, decides to poison Matt, but doesn't go through with it, instead attempting to take the blame for John Paul's death. Fortunately for her, Matt knows she's lying and decides to burn the evidence. Grace rescinds her claim, and Matt doesn't expose the murder. It comes down to the last second of guessing what he'll do, but it's a huge relief when Matt decides to let John Paul's official cause of death remain an accident.
Worst: When Becka accidentally kills Minna
Arguably the most pleasantly surprising relationship in the whole series is the one between Becka and John Paul's mother Minna. Minna needs a masseuse, and because Becka is one, she volunteers her time to help out. The two strike up a friendship and Becka becomes Minna's main confidant, listening to her stories about her husband, who's presumed dead by everyone but Minna. This becomes a bigger issue when Becka discovers that Minna's husband's body is being stored by John Paul in a basement freezer — and he was presumably murdered by John Paul as well. Seeing an opportunity, Becka concocts a plan with her sisters to kill John Paul in the very same spot.
Eva isn't keen on letting Becka be the one to live with the guilt of killing John Paul, so Becka calls Bibi and Ursula and decides to go rogue, carrying out the murder herself. They don't let Eva in on the plan; instead, Becka goes to Minna's house to wait for John Paul to enter the freezer, planning to lock him in and turn down the temperature after he arrives. She succeeds, and goes to tell her sisters the next day. They all celebrate, until Grace calls them and offhandedly makes it clear that John Paul is still alive. Becka immediately panics, realizing she must have locked Minna in the freezer by mistake. It's a devastating realization for the audience — and for Becka, who's left to carry unimaginable guilt.
Best: When the truth is revealed
The entire show leads to Episode 10, and the reveal of how John Paul finally died. Did one of the Garvey sisters do it? Was someone else involved? As it turns out, a Garvey sister did kill John Paul — it just wasn't any of the most likely suspects. After years of abuse, Grace finally has enough after she finds out that John Paul sexually assaulted Eva years earlier. Grace snaps and murders him, then makes it look like an ATV accident.
The other Garvey sisters are just as surprised as anyone when they learn what really happened. They didn't think Grace would ever recognize the abuse, let alone stand up for herself, so when they hear the truth from her, they're all proud and happy that she's rid of this monster. The reality is certainly exciting and satisfying for the sisters to hear, but it's just as amazing for the audience. To find out that it was Grace who decided to stand up for herself is gratifying, especially for viewers who have faced physical, emotional, or mental abuse.
Worst: When Grace finds out what John Paul did to Eva
The worst part of the entire series is when Grace finds out what John Paul did to Eva. The whole show is one large piece of evidence that John Paul abused Grace throughout their entire marriage and, as the sisters repeatedly point out, sucked the life out of her. The Garvey sisters all know what happened to Grace, but right before Grace kills John Paul, he tries to convince her that Eva cornered him and seduced him while he was drunk a decade ago, and, thinking it was Grace, he slept with her.
Grace sees through this story right away and slaps John Paul, realizing the truth is that John Paul forced himself on Eva when she was drunk, and that the miscarriage that followed actually came from John Paul sexually assaulting her. Grace tells Eva and the others the truth, and Eva confirms the story. All these years, Eva wanted to tell Grace, but was afraid to. The whole scene is heartbreaking — Eva has carried this with her for 10 years and Grace now has the guilt of knowing she brought this man into their lives in the first place. They all show each other love and figure it out together, so it's an awful moment when these women use it to make their relationship stronger.
Best: When Grace asks Roger for help
Just when you thought the surprises were finished in "Bad Sisters," the end of Episode 10 packs one last reveal. After Grace tells the sisters the truth about how she murdered John Paul, there's one more detail the audience gets to figure out: She had help. Sure, she killed him by herself, but she had an accomplice in covering up the murder. Who was it? None other than Roger, who's still piecing together the wreckage of his life after John Paul's nefarious lie. Helping Grace feels like just desserts.
But his assistance is also motivated by his appreciation and love for her as a person. He wanted Grace out of that relationship too, so he's happy to do what he can to help — and what makes all this even better is how much Grace appreciates it. When she's coming clean to her sisters, she doesn't even tell them that Roger had anything to do with it. She cares for him too and wants him to be protected from any harm that might come from this truth. It's a really sweet way to tie his character in and give their friendship a bit of redemption after all the damage John Paul wrought.