Editor’s note: The below recap contains spoilers for the Bad Sisters Season 2 finale.
The second season of Bad Sisters has revolved around the big mystery of what Grace (Anne-Marie Duff) got herself mixed up in before her death. The Garvey sisters were committed to discovering what led to her accident, which meant they became even more ensnared in criminal activity. But in the season finale, the sisters finally get their questions answered and are able to move forward in a way that perhaps signals the end of the series altogether. However, in true Garvey sister fashion, the road to that peace of mind was one filled with danger and some pretty funny hijinks.
The Truth About Grace Comes To Light in the ‘Bad Sisters’ Season 2 Finale
The finale opens with the flashback scene from Episode 1 where Grace tells Ian (Owen McDonnell) about killing John Paul. When he starts to leave, she hits him on the back, and he shoves her to the ground. This is the first sign we see of the real Ian (whose true identity is ex-cop Cormac Sweeney). Ian tells Grace that if she wants him to keep her secret, she’ll have to make it worth his while. Grace doesn’t understand this switch from the loving man she married to this cold monster, and after he leaves, she looks at the phone that he left behind. There’s one number he’s called over and over, so she dials the number. A woman answers (Cormac’s wife, whom we learned about in the previous episode), and Cormac is talking in the background. He gets on the phone and Grace tries to inquire about what’s going on. He tells her to bring money to him at the local pub or else he’ll spill what she’s confessed to the police. Grace kisses a sleeping Blanaid (Saise Quinn) goodbye and hides the money in the turtle habitat, which is where Detective Inspector Fergal Loftus (Barry Ward) finds it after Grace’s death.
Grace shows up at the bar to meet with Cormac. When she states that he won’t be getting a dime from her, he threatens that he’ll tell Blanaid what Grace did to John Paul if she doesn’t pay up. He’s incredibly cruel to her, saying he’ll disappear after this and will just be “another husband you carelessly lost.” When Grace asks if any of their love story was real, he responds with the harsh truth: “You were just a mark, Grace… nothing personal.” She falls apart and demands that Cormac stay away from her and her family. She drives away, and we see the car crash happen again, just like in Episode 2. But now we know that Grace was fleeing the horrifying meeting with Cormac when the accident happened.
The ‘Bad Sisters’ Confront Cormac in the Season 2 Finale
The next scene features Eva (Sharon Horgan) as she walks into her home to find Cormac standing in the kitchen. She quickly texts her sisters to come over and tells Blanaid to go to a friend’s house. Cormac tries gaslighting Eva and acts friendly at first. When he says he’s sorry, Eva spits back, “[For] being a thieving scam artist or killing my sister?” She calls him a psycho for preying on a woman in a bereavement group and demands he give Blanaid’s money back. The rest of the sisters arrive, and Cormac tells them that all he ever did was try to help the family. Blanaid comes back and Ursula (Eva Birthistle) is tasked with taking her to a local restaurant, Casa Romano’s, to shield her from what’s going on with Cormac. He then tries to manipulate the sisters more, saying that Grace actually crashed her car because she was upset after he had to tell her that Eva was flirting with him. This is a disgusting accusation reminiscent of John Paul saying Eva hit on him (when he was the one that raped her). Cormac then takes it a step further and says that the sisters were actually in danger since Grace “had a habit of killing her loved ones.” Becka (Eve Hewson) lunges at him, and he pushes her into the counter. She hits her head (which explains why Becka has a black eye in the first episode).
Cormac then confesses to being a cop and says, “I used to deal with women like you all the time.” Eva asks if he ever loved Grace (because she loved him very much), and Cormac responds with the heartless comment, “How could anyone love a murdering nut job?” Right as he gets the words out, there’s a loud thwack as Cormac is hit over the back of the head. In a daze from the head injury, he falls forward and strikes the edge of the table. As he lies motionless on the floor, who should step forward as the person who hit him but Angelica (Fiona Shaw) herself!
Ursula drops Blanaid off at the restaurant, where she runs into her ex-husband and his new girlfriend, Ally (Deirdre Mullins). Ursula is obviously freaking out about what’s happening back at the house and starts to ramble incoherently that she has to head off to work, “I’ve gotta earn the euros to buy the churros!” As she speeds away, Ally shakes her head, and mutters the very true statement: “Jesus Christ, that family is insane.”
The Garveys Come Up With a Plan in the ‘Bad Sisters’ Season 2 Finale
Angelica is clearly in shock from what she’s just done. Her explanation is a simple one: “Sorry. I didn’t like what he said about Grace.” She hilariously asks if Cormac is “winded” as he’s bleeding out on the floor. Just at that moment, there’s a knock at the door. Detective Una Houlihan (Thaddea Graham) has come over to look for Cormac. She had tried to ring the alarm that Cormac was a crooked cop (who we learn was also accused of sexual harassment in this episode), but her supervisor tells her to drop the case if she wants to maintain her reputation. Even Houlihan’s mother is surprised that she’d give up easily, saying, “You never did what you’re told… You do what’s right.” Eva doesn’t let Houlihan near where the sisters are hiding Cormac’s body, insists that she hasn’t seen him, and Houlihan leaves.
Ursula arrives back at the house, shocked to see Cormac wrapped up in some blankets on the floor. She explodes, “How’d you kill a man in the time it takes to get to Casa f*cking Romano’s?” She’s furious that the sisters are in this much trouble again, and exclaims, “We cannot keep killing the men who wronged us!” Ursula wants to tell the cops what Angelica has done, but then they agree it’s too dangerous. Becka realizes, “There is no Ian Reilly. It’s Cormac Sweeney who’s dead, and we’ve never even met him.” They decide to drive him to the cliffs and dispose of his body there. The sisters drag his body out to Bibi’s (Sarah Greene) car. Angelica, still quite out of touch with reality, explains that she’s made sandwiches for their journey. After they leave, Houlihan catches Angelica driving Cormac’s car back to his house.
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Things Come Full Circle in the ‘Bad Sisters’ Season 2 Finale
Just like in the very first episode of this season, the sisters drive along a windy road in the pitch black. When they park the car at the cliff’s edge, the trunk pops open, and the girls scramble. Ursula whispers comically, “Is he alive? He’s going to be so cross with us.” Bibi explains that sometimes the trunk just pops open like that for no reason, but when they go back to the car, it is indeed empty. They watch, in shock, as Cormac stumbles around in a daze, and then falls straight off the cliff. Somehow, rather absurdly, Cormac is still alive on the cliff ledge below! Bibi yells, “Oh, come on!” while Eva exclaims, “This is f*cking ridiculous!” Bibi goes over to try and push Cormac even further down off the cliff, but she slips. It’s at this point that Becka also realizes that Cormac is wearing her robe (which could link them to this whole incident). Eva takes control as the eldest, pulls Bibi back to safety, and says, “This ends now.” She calls for help and stays anonymous, but notes that someone has fallen over the side of the cliff. She adds wryly that he has “a couple of head injuries.” The sisters leave Cormac there, and drive away with a pop song, “I’m in the Mood for Dancing,” cheerfully playing on the radio. Even after going through such a terrifying sequence of events, the scene ends on a slightly hopeful note.
In the morning, the sisters drive up to Eva’s house to see Angelica is still there, but with a guest. Houlihan explains that Angelica has confessed to everything, but when she checks the trunk of Bibi’s car, there’s no Cormac. After some further questioning, the sisters tell her that Cormac isn’t dead and that they called an ambulance for him. During the conversation, the sisters learn that Houlihan has figured out who Cormac really is. They start to realize that maybe Houlihan will help them instead of turning them in. Houlihan explains, “I tried to help Grace. And I wanna help you now.” Eva is still trying to avoid jail time for all of them, and responds, “Our sister is dead. What more punishment do we need?”
Cormac Faces (Some) Justice in the ‘Bad Sisters’ Season 2 Finale
Houlihan leaves the sisters, sits in her car, and screams in frustration. Then she makes a phone call, telling the person, “I need your help.” The next scene is Angelica arriving home. When she sees Roger (Michael Smiley), she doesn’t give him any information about the past 24 hours, insisting that he’s helped enough. She seems to be in great spirits, saying “what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger,” and adds that the Garvey sisters are “great girls.” Despite Angelica seeming like the villain throughout the season, it turns out that she was actually willing to kill for the sisters (including Grace).
Houlihan shows up at Cormac’s hospital. He’s extremely bruised and his leg is in a cast, but miraculously, he’s alive. He spits out that “the Garveys tried to kill me…twice.” Just then Loftus shows up (so that’s who Houlihan called for assistance), and explains that he knows the Garveys were nowhere near Cormac (and that they would have succeeded if they’d actually wanted him dead). Loftus states that Cormac is going to give all of Blanaid’s money back, and that speaking from one dirty cop to another, he would make Cormac’s life very difficult if he doesn’t do what’s being asked. The threats seem to work, and Houlihan has somehow managed to free the Garveys from Cormac’s web. As the two cops leave, Loftus assumes that he and Houlihan are even now (and that she won’t turn him in for stealing Grace’s money). When she mentions that she’s thinking of quitting the police force, he finally shows up as the mentor she always deserved, and says that the place would only get more broken if she left. They part ways, but Houlihan seems to take his advice to heart, and will likely remain one of the good guys on the police force.
The ‘Bad Sisters’ Finally Get Closure in the Season 2 Finale
The final scene of the season shows the sisters walking to the water’s edge together. Becka is there with Joe (Peter Claffey) and she has her baby with them (marking a time jump). Bibi’s wife, Nora (Yasmine Akram), is also pregnant, which seems to symbolize that each of the sisters has been able to move forward with their lives. Blanaid walks with Eva and mentions that she knows there has been a lot going on in the family that no one talks to her about. But she’s mature in understanding her place in the world. She admits that her father was not necessarily a good person, but she adds that “I know how good my mam was, and that’s who I am.” Even though there’s been so much trauma and toxicity around her, she’s still grown to be a level-headed teenager. In between flashes of the sisters as young girls at the Forty Foot, the Garveys now weave together flowers by the water. They make a wreath and set it in the water, yelling, “We love you, Gracie,” as they blow kisses out at the sea.
The final moment is a fitting end to the story of these lovable sisters. Even though they were pushed through the wringer by both John Paul and Cormac, Angelica was right that they were able to come out as stronger women in the end. Although there were a few loose ends in the season (why did Angelica wear chains in penance? What really happened to her husband? Why did the police give up looking into the murder of John Paul’s father? What happened to Ursula’s addiction and suspension from her job?), the series always stayed committed to telling the moving and captivating story of these sisters and their incredible bond. The Season 2 finale does seem like it could serve as a series finale as well, but any fans of the show will be heartbroken to say goodbye to the Garveys for good.
All episodes of Bad Sisters are available to stream on Apple TV+ in the U.S.
The Bad Sisters Season 2 finale brings closure to the Garvey family.
- The entire cast has moments to shine in this episode (including Anne-Marie Duff in those flashback scenes).
- There is a perfect blend of pathos and comedy during the whole episode.
- If the series isn’t picked up for a third season, the finale offers a way to say goodbye to these characters.
- There were several loose ends that didn’t get explored by the end of the season.
