Bad Sisters

It will be of little surprise from a Horgan project that the series’ women are written incredibly well and portrayed with humor and heart—the excellent cast shines in individual scenes and when they are together. But Claes Bang is also phenomenal as a man you not only want to see murdered, you’d like to do it with your own bare hands.

We love spending time with the Garvey sisters and enjoying the exquisite work by Horgan, et. al., and we marvel at Claes Bang’s ability to play one of the most memorably despicable, love-to-hate-him characters in recent memory. This is one of my favorite series of 2022.

Quibbles aside, the show is a rush of dark wit and fierce familial love.

The more you get to know J.P., the more you'll want to see him dead. ... If you’re smart, you’ll tag along for the ride. Few things are more satisfying than a guilt-free guilty pleasure. [29 Aug - 11 Sep 2022, p.6]

The deft weaving of comedy and drama is not an easy feat, especially when handling a subject matter as real as abuse. But Bad Sisters makes it look as easy as a brisk walk along the picturesque Irish coastline.

The conclusion is not unpredictable, and, really, all the more satisfying for being so. ... Its characters — barring the dead one — are reaching for the light, and the talented cast makes them easy to love.

Beyond the smart construction and tart dialogue, especially in the episodes (four of 10) written or co-written by Horgan, “Bad Sisters” succeeds because the five lead actresses convince us that they’re a family unit, sometimes for worse but mostly for better.

It’s not hard to imagine a version of “Bad Sisters” that would double down on the sheer drama of the situation and look a lot like “Big Little Lies.” What keeps this version afloat and makes it more singular is its finely honed (and extremely Irish) sense of humor.

Bad Sisters is a brilliantly engaging thriller, with lots of laughs and an unpredictable storyline. While murder is never the answer in the real world, here you won’t be able to stop yourself rooting for whoever you have pegged as the murderer.

Bad Sisters is a deliciously dark series you'll look forward to week in, week out, and one you'll think about long after.

One of Horgan’s best, Bad Sisters manages to be both a clever murder-mystery and a hilarious farcical comedy, played by an absolutely killer cast.

Bad Sisters is wonderful. It is also superbly constructed, perfectly paced and brilliantly performed, with Horgan on top form as both writer and actor, surrounded by a cast who don’t put a foot wrong.

Twists that keep various mysteries alive throughout a 10-episode series (one that probably should’ve run just six or eight) can vary in believability. At one point, the show turns a corner from darkly comic to full-on macabre and nearly goes off the rails. When we get to the finale, it doesn’t come as much of a surprise. And yet, I never stopped having fun.

All the actors playing the Garvey sisters are excellent, and they make the sometimes prickly, but always loving, five-way family rapport endlessly enjoyable to watch.

As a dramedy of errors, “Bad Sisters” doesn’t always feel like the freshest or most elegant execution. But as a family showcase, the engine is there to power this show through an ordeal of any length.

Sometimes Sisters' plotting overexerts itself on the way to the big reveal, adding little to the story but an extra hour or two to the runtime. The resolution is largely satisfying — a bit overblown, perhaps, but definitely not Bad.

Danish master of pitch Bang and the finest Irish cast this side of “Normal People” create vivid personalities snarled in believable relationships, aided by chewy dialog, eye-catching blocking and a killer soundtrack of murder ballads. Every wacky, excruciating predicament the Garveys get themselves into seems as natural as fraught family gatherings around their upscale kitchen tables.

It’s a good show, and an impressive entry into Horgan’s filmography, which by now includes a number of stories about thorny, complex family dynamics. It offers gutsy humor, great performances, and a deeply interesting premise about the persistent, inexplicable success of terrible men and the strength and savvy of the women who put up with them – until they don’t.

Too long, but satisfying at the end -- plays like the never-made third season of "Big Little Lies"...

The procedural element is actually the most tedious. ... Bad Sisters has stakes (Fraud! Explosions! Animal deaths!) while retaining a jaunty tone. It shoots for Coen Brothers absurdity, but the best scenes are the grounded ones with the Garvey sisters.