​​Bad Sisters season 2 review: Hilarious and heartbreaking with every breath, it'll rip your heart right out

Based on the Belgium TV series Clan, the explosive first season followed the Garvey sisters - Grace (Anne-Marie Duff), Eva (Sharon Horgan) Bibi (Sarah Greene), Ursula (Eva Birthistle) and Becka (Eve Hewson) - as they schemed to kill Grace’s abusive husband, John Paul (Claes Bang), aka "The Pr**k".

Across the 10 episodes, they tried and failed to kill him, before the finale revealed that it was actually his wife Grace who had strangled him to death with his own pyjama bottoms and staged it as an elaborate accident.

Season 2 picks up two years after the first season, with the Garvey girls (all excluding Grace) racing through Ireland’s winding hills to ditch a body in their boot. Yet, unidentified dead bodies aside, things are different now.

Eva is off the booze and working with a menopause coach, baby Becka has grown up and settled into a long-term relationship, Bibi and Nora (Yasmine Akram) are getting an egg donor for another child, Ursula is divorced and still smuggling pills from work, while Grace has blossomed in confidence and is about to get married again.

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Dressed in red, Grace is far from the cowering, anxious shadow of herself in season 1, as she celebrates her hen do with her sisters at the races. They bump into Grace’s old neighbour Roger - who helped Grace move her dead husband’s body - and his sister, Angelica (Fiona Shaw), who Grace apologises for not keeping in touch with.

Despite the approaching wedding bells, the Garveys’ criminal past comes back to haunt them when a decomposing body is found in a suitcase in the lake of John Paul’s old family home.

Detective Inspector Fergal Loftus (Barry Ward) is the officer assigned to inspect the body - which viewers will remember is George, John Paul’s dad - which opens old wounds about his death.

Begrudgingly, Loftus begins to think he should have listened to the annoyingly persistent Claffin brothers, Tom (Brian Gleeson) and Matt (Daryl McCormack), when they suspected that Grace could have been involved in John Paul’s death.

Loftus also has a new rookie detective in tow, Houlihan (Thaddea Graham), a hungry 25-year-old who makes an excellent comedy double act with Loftus and substitute for the Claffin brothers' bickering.

As the police begin to suspect the Garveys again, Eva walks Grace down the aisle to marry Ian (Owen McDonnell), who she met at a bereavement group, in the garden of her parents' family house. On all accounts, it seems to be a blissful new beginning, but there’s a foreboding sense that something bad is coming.

Roger watches the happy couple, an endless stream of drinks in his hand, and even cuts in for a dance with Grace. Momentarily transported to simpler times, Roger admits that he is burdened with guilt about what they did to cover up John Paul’s death.

Initially, Grace is stoic, but after the police visit to notify her about George’s body in the lake, they begin to question her about John Paul’s life insurance policy, which she didn’t claim.

Ian walks in mid-interrogation and Grace’s two worlds collide. It further unravels after a late night visit from Roger, who is desperate to go to the police and "unburden" himself. In a frantic panic, Grace confides in her new husband that John Paul abused her and raped her sister Eva and that, worst of all, she killed him.

Stunned, Ian walks out, and the next morning Blanaid runs down the beach to Eva to tell them the news: Ian walked out, Grace is inconsolable and won’t tell anyone what happened.

Blood remains the thickest form of love and protection here, but this time it’s Angelica who makes for an uncomfortable presence for the Garveys. She possesses a certain 'pr**k-like' quality, and swiftly becomes a common enemy for the Garveys as they navigate the fallout of what was supposed to be a happy new beginning.

The devout Christian offers the Garvey women and her brother Roger a way to unburden their guilt, all while she weaponises it against them – though it’s unsettlingly unclear whether she wants to destroy the sisters' bond or is simply jealous of them and desperate to be included.

Angelica "suffocates" Grace with her presence, all while she continuously drops rude remarks at the sisters including telling Eva they're "the same… women who reach a certain age and know they can’t have it all".

Shaw is undoubtedly a worthy addition this season, but all of the newcomers are a breath of fresh air. Houlihan and Becka’s boyfriend Joe both offer some much needed light relief when the series becomes more hard hitting, as they’re excluded from the Garveys' big secrets.

The second season exemplifies what Bad Sisters does best: splices the ridiculous joy of life with its bleakest moments.

It’s more sombre in tone than the first season, but as fiery, twisted and shocking, which will keep viewers second-guessing throughout.

One thing is for sure, Bad Sisters has the ability to rip your heart right out and catch you involuntarily laughing out loud even when you don’t want to.

Bad Sisters season 2 will premiere on Wednesday 13th November on Apple TV+ with the first two episodes, then new episodes weekly. Season 1 is available to stream on Apple TV+ – sign up to Apple TV+ here.

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