Apple TV’s 18-Episode Dark Comedy Thriller Is the Perfect ‘Big Little Lies’ Replacement

Molly DeCastro is a New York-based emerging film and entertainment journalist with a personal passion for poetic prose and impactful storytelling. She graduated from Pace University with a degree in English and a concentration in creative writing. While film analysis is at the heart of her work, she is especially interested in exploring cinema through an anthropological lens and in examining how creative themes reflect cultural identity. She aims to forge a deep connection between audiences and film through thoughtful and evocative writing.

She also enjoys keeping up with all things film! That means specializing in industry news, emerging directors, and stand-out projects.

When it comes to emotional depth, few things strike a chord quite like sisterhood. A prime example of this notion is Apple TV‘s stunning black comedy Bad Sisters. Set in Dublin, the heavily decorated series, developed by Sharon Horgan, Dave Finkel, and Brett Baer,

captures the five Garvey Sisters at a particularly tumultuous juncture in their lives. As they suspect one of their own could have blood on her hands, they band together as they find themselves at the very center of a life insurance investigation. The streamer‘s most recent hit combines intriguing yet puzzling timelines with an effortlessly charming cast, winning over audiences with incredible ease.

The first season was so outstanding, in fact, it deservedly received a Peabody Award. For context, other recipients include TV legends such as Breaking Bad, Game of Thrones, and Succession. In just two seasons, this series has firmly established itself as a true masterwork. Plus, in 2023, the show was awarded a BAFTA for Best Drama Series and Best Supporting Actress, specifically for Anne-Marie Duff, who played Grace Williams. On top of that, it won a plethora of IFTAs, and on a slightly smaller scale, season 1 received a 100% on Rotten Tomatoes, and Season 2 received a slightly lower yet still positive 88%. Overall, it’s safe to say everyone was (and still is) completely enraptured by this series.

Why is Everyone Obsessed with Apple TV’s ‘Bad Sisters’

In an attempt to express the watching experience that is Bad Sisters, fans have referred to it as a pitch-black comedy, in reference to its oxymoronic balance of drama and humor. To quote the iconic Fleabag creator, Phoebe Waller-Bridge: “Disarm the audience with comedy, then punch them in the gut with drama when they least expect it.” It appears both the showrunners and cast held a similar philosophy. An example of this philosophy at work can be found at the very beginning of the series.

Four of the largest communities on the planet, and four completely
different reasons to belong to one. Here is yours, what it would give you, and the argument you
would be having within a week.

You belong to the fandom that is really about comfort. Hogwarts
works on people because it is a place rather than a plot, and the pull is not the wizard war
so much as the corridors, the food, the weather and the sense that somebody is expecting
you.

• You are drawn to belonging, which is why this fandom sorted itself into houses within
  about five minutes and has never stopped.
• This is the most social of the four, and the one most likely to know which type every
  single person in your life would be.
• The books are built to be reread rather than analysed, and rereading is exactly what you
  do with things you love.
• The new HBO series is bringing the whole thing back one book at a time, which means the
  arguments are about to start all over again.

You belong to the deepest fandom on this list, the one where
somebody has always read further than you and is quietly delighted to say so. Middle-earth
rewards patience more than any other world in popular culture.

• You like the sense that the story you are reading is only the visible part of something
  enormous, which is precisely how Tolkien built it.
• This fandom takes adaptation seriously to a degree that other fandoms find slightly
  alarming, and it has good reasons for that.
• Your favourite thing about the books is probably the bit that is not action at all,
  which is the walking, the songs and the long goodbyes.
• Nobody here thinks heroism belongs to the powerful, and the whole story exists to make
  that argument.

You belong to the loudest and largest tent of the four, the one
where three generations are all watching the same thing and none of them agree about any of
it. That disagreement is not a flaw in this fandom, it is the main activity.

• You want something you can share with absolutely everybody, from a six year old to a
  grandparent, and this is the only one on the list that really does that.
• Nobody argues like Star Wars fans argue, and the argument has been running since roughly
  1980 with no sign of resolution.
• The pull here is sensory before it is narrative, since it is the sound design, the score
  and the look of a used and dented galaxy.
• You would be first in the queue, in costume, with strong opinions and a genuinely good
  time.

You belong to the thinking fandom, the one that turns up for the
argument rather than the explosion. Trek has always been a series of ethical problems in
space, and the people who love it love being asked what they would have done.

• You are an optimist in a way that is currently unfashionable, and this is the only major
  franchise still willing to say the future might be better.
• The best episodes are the ones where nobody fires anything, which is a sentence that
  makes perfect sense to this fandom and to nobody else.
• Starfleet Academy brought the franchise back to a classroom in 2026, which is
  appropriate, because Trek has always been a bit of a seminar.
• You would want the conversation afterwards more than the episode itself, and here you
  will always find somebody willing to have it.

The show opens as a recently widowed Grace Garvey is violently pressing down on her deceased husband’s genitals, as she tries to dampen an erection he is somehow maintaining posthumously, as he lies in his coffin. Interjecting, her sister Ursela (Eva Birthistle) explains: “Post-mortem priapism… it’s not uncommon. Especially after a violent death.” Immediately, with exquisite ease, a layer of intrigue and a hint of debauchery sets a deeply entertaining precedent for what’s to come as the plot moves forward.

‘Bad Sisters’ Is More Than Just a Darkly Funny Murder Mystery

• Image via Apple TV

• Image via Apple TV+

• Image via Apple TV

• Image via Apple TV+

• Image via Apple TV+

• Image via Apple TV

• Image via Apple TV+

• Image via Apple TV

• Image via Apple TV+

• Image via Apple TV+

Their parents passed; thus, all the Garvey sisters have left is each other, and they will stop at nothing to protect one another. Each of them serves a different role, and each of their characters is incredibly well written, thus making their rights and wrongs lovable nonetheless. Upon meeting Grace’s late husband, John Paul (Claes Bang), the audience is then shown why he is—well, late. With such thoughtful poignancy, it becomes clear he’s coercive, controlling, and undoubtedly abusive, not only to Grace, but also to their daughter. In any Good-for-Her-esque series, the audience must be given reasonable justification. The Bad Sisters is a masterclass in doing so. Through this skillful execution, right off the bat, the audience knows what they’re in for: an occasionally stirring, truly wild ride.

By all accounts, this show is perfectly constructed. From Season 1 to 2, it has only matured in its already well-established way. Evidently, each moving part of the series, from the cast to the directors to the writers, has done their due diligence in crafting a truly compelling and well-thought-out story. It is relentlessly funny and surprisingly moving, while still leaving one at the edge of their seat. Truly a flawless cocktail of everything good modern television has to offer.

Bad Sisters is available to stream on Apple TV.

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  Sharon Horgan

  Eva Garvey

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  Eva Birthistle

  Ursula Flynn

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  Sarah Greene

  Bibi Garvey

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  Eve Hewson

  Becka Garvey