Bad Sisters season 2 episode 2 recap: spiraling out of control

Anne-Marie Duff, Sarah Greene, Eve Hewson, Sharon Horgan and Eva Birthistle in Bad Sisters
Anne-Marie Duff, Sarah Greene, Eve Hewson, Sharon Horgan and Eva Birthistle in Bad Sisters (Image credit: Apple TV Plus)

Bad Sisters season 2 kicked off with a flashforward that showed four of the five Garvey sisters involved in another madcap scheme with a mysterious something (or, more likely, someone) in the trunk of a car. By the end of Bad Sisters season 2 episode 2, it's clear why Grace (Anne-Marie Duff) is not present for this nighttime drive to the edge of a cliff. Though after getting her life back on track, a different car crash has tragic consequences.

It has barely been five minutes since Grace walked down the aisle to marry Ian (Owen McDonnell), and we still don’t know where Ian is — or if he is alive. With Roger (Michael Smiley) overcome by guilt about helping Grace cover up killing her abusive first husband, John Paul (Claes Bang), Grace told Ian the whole truth. Ian said he needed space, but now Grace isn’t forthcoming about where he is. The Garvey sisters are concerned about everything Grace is facing, including Roger’s sister Angelica (Fiona Shaw), who inserts herself into Grace’s problems.

Let's dive into everything that happened in Bad Sisters season 2 episode 2.

Grace tells her sisters (some) of the truth

Eva (Sharon Horgan), Ursula (Eva Birthistle) and Becka (Eve Hewson) take turns trying to coax Grace from her bedroom. After raising the alarm that Ian is missing, Blanaid (Saise Quinn) calls her mother “mental” and tells everyone the police stopped by the night before.

Bibi (Sarah Greene) arrives just in time for Grace to explain everything, other than the whole confession part. Grace says there is nothing untoward about Ian's situation; they argued, and he left. Grace updates them about the body in the suitcase, and the sisters have a delayed reaction to the news that JP killed his father. Of course, they already know this, having found George Williams’ corpse in the freezer before JP stuffed the remains in a suitcase.

Everyone is concerned when Grace says she lied to the police about why she dropped the insurance claim, saying JP had died by suicide. Grace also says Roger is considering going to the police, which is a bigger surprise as none of them knew about Roger’s involvement in the cover-up.

Can Roger and Angelica keep secrets?

Eva, Bibi, Ursula and Becka wait for Roger to leave his house so they can convince him to keep quiet. They follow him to the pub and make it clear that if Roger goes to the cops then it will get them all into trouble. “We can all be quiet together,” says Eva.

Roger’s sister Angelica wants to track Grace down. Failing to find Grace at home, she successfully locates her at church. Angelica says Roger confessed to her, but as we didn’t see this happen, we can’t be sure Angelica hasn’t just made an educated guess.

“I know you killed your first husband,” Angelica says. She then says she's not here to chastise but to understand and offer peace or penance. Grace doesn’t admit to anything, simply telling Angelica that she will call her.

More clues 

Eve Hewson, Sharon Horgan and Sarah Greene in Bad Sisters

Eve Hewson, Sharon Horgan and Sarah Greene in Bad Sisters (Image credit: Apple TV Plus)

All the sisters are spiraling about these recent events. Bibi is concerned about Grace’s lies. Meanwhile, we're concerned about Ursula taking some pills from the dispensary for herself without a prescription while working at the hospital.

Later, at Grace’s house, Becka finds a phone hidden in the back of a cabinet that they think could be Ian’s. A bloody shirt in the washing machine adds to the growing list of red flags. Before they can get into it, the detectives are back with more questions about JP. It's a fishing expedition as they know that JP did chop up his dad (his DNA is on the hacksaw), and Grace got this house in the will. Grace lies about Ian being at a golf tournament.

Grace drives Blanaid to a hurling match, with Bibi going to keep an eye on their sister. At the sports club, Angelica tries to get Grace to open up, but Angelica pushes it too far. “That is hysterical behavior,” Angelica responds to Grace’s outburst.

Bibi’s wife Nora (Yasmin Akram) comforts Angelica in the bathroom. For that, Angelica tells Nora Bibi is concerned she can’t unconditionally love a child that isn’t biologically hers for the first years of their life — using information she overheard at Grace's wedding.

Grace spirals and then crashes 

After the match, the sisters hurl questions at Grace, who orders them to leave her house. Grace has an anxiety attack, so Ursula leaves some of the pills she took from the hospital.

Earlier in the day, Grace excitedly showed her daughter that she was wearing the special earrings Blanaid gifted her for the wedding. Blanaid acts unbothered, so Grace snaps at her. When Grace arrives home later, she acts suspiciously, stashing thousands of Euros in plastic bags before heading out again. First, she stops by Blanaid’s room to tell her sleeping daughter that she loves her and is sorry. But for what?

Grace is driving and tearily calls Eva but gets her voicemail: “I really need your help. I’m so sorry.” Grace then realizes she is missing one of the earrings and starts looking in the back of the car. In doing so, she has swerved onto the wrong side of the road; she narrowly avoids hitting two cars but flips at high speed.

The next thing we see is flashing blue lights outside Eva’s house. A police officer has Blanaid in the back of the car, and Eva knows her sister is dead. As Eva and Blanaid both cry, the scene of the crash is shown, and Grace’s car is completely smashed up. Where was Grace going, and why did she have so much money on her? What are the Garveys going to do without their sister? It is a heartbreaking end to Grace’s journey.

New episodes of Bad Sisters premiere Wednesdays on Apple TV Plus.

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Emma Fraser

Emma Fraser spends most of her time writing about TV, fashion, and costume design; Dana Scully is the reason she loves a pantsuit. Words can also be found at Vulture, Elle, Primetimer, Collider, Little White Lies, Observer, and Girls on Tops. Emma has a Master’s in Film and Television, started a (defunct) blog that mainly focused on Mad Men in 2010, and has been getting paid to write about TV since 2015. It goes back way further as she got her big start making observations in her diary about My So-Called Life’s Angela Chase (and her style) at 14.