Bad Sisters - General Discussion

[aghst]

The dog died from the poisoned liver.

Paintball, guy lost his eye maybe, Bibi needs to get rid of the frozen pellets.

I can't even remember the other attempts now.

JP gets the kitten killed and makes Grace take the fall.

And he totally was at fault for Bibi losing her eye.

What's the deal with Eva and the closeted guy, he just wanted a buddy?

Other thing they seem to be trying to depict are that these are all good people, good parents, good sisters, etc.

So they were driven to homicidal lengths by this villain.

Speaking of bad people, Matt and Thomas' father was a cheat who defrauded people for years.  So now, JP probably wasn't insured and the Claffins can't pay.

Edited September 9, 2022 by aghst

[AngieBee1]

12 hours ago, FlowerofCarnage said:

hope we never find out JP's villain origin story. Sometimes a prick is just prick, no traumatic experience needed

Same here. I don't want him to have a tragic backstory to explain his cruelty. I rather it's jut be who he is. No rhyme or reason.

I am so relieved that Roger isn't a badun and wasn't interested in falling into JP's trap.

I like how they resolved the Gabriel reveal to Eva. I wanted her to come back to his boat because they have an amazing friendship  and I am glad she didn't toss it aside because it is not a romantic one.

Working on a theory that Gabriel is involved with JP's death.

Edited September 10, 2022 by AngieBee1

[aghst]

Thing is though, what would they do in second or future seasons?  Presumably the actors and the cast would want to do several seasons, get a good payday.  Unless I missed that this is suppose to be a limited series, one season and done?

If they show how JP died by the season finale, what happens in future seasons.  Are they going to commit other bad acts?

Or will they be constantly evading people questioning how JP died, even if the Claffins give up on trying to find out that JP may have been murdered?

[FlowerofCarnage]

The Prick posing like a...prick! Why does this look like an album cover? LOL

[chocolatine]

Wow, that last scene with the paintball instructor most likely losing an eye was really hard to watch, and made it much harder to root for the sisters. They need to be a lot more careful.

I don't understand why JP caused that accident with Bibi, since he was in the same car and also sustained a serious injury. And the show didn't give us a "motive" like Ursula's infidelity or Eva competing for the same promotion as him.

[DoubleUTeeEff]

I think the only motive JP needs to mess with people is that he gets off on terrorizing people. He uses his knowledge of Eva's infertility to make fun of her, his knowledge of Ursula's infidelity to mess with her, and his knowledge of the parent's car wreck to terrorize Bibi. I don't think he meant to crash the car and injure himself--it was truly an accident--but he was recklessly driving in order to mess with Bibi.

Frozen paint balls is a pretty smart strategy. By the time anyone would look into it, the paint balls have thawed.

As to there being no explanation to JP's villainy, um, his mother dressed him up in his dead sister's clothes. That doesn't necessarily turn one into a Prick but it sure isn't healthy.

I found it pretty sad that Grace couldn't even enjoy a dance class. I was leaning toward her being the one to kill JP in the end but now I'm not sure she is capable of it. It will probably end up being a total accident.

What is wrong with Eva's coworker? Wasn't it like 1000% clear that she was flirting with him? He should have disclosed his status before their "date." I bet she would have still hung out with him and then wouldn't have felt like a fool.

[gesundheit]

Wow, this is a brutally dark comedy, the hits just keep on coming. It's sometimes quite painful to watch, but also entirely brilliant. 

I kind of hope we get to his actual death before the finale. I can't watch another five episodes of his monstrousness! We need satisfaction!

[Ceindreadh]

I'm feeling a bit more sympathy for Thomas now.  I'm glad they finally explained why the firm was on the hook for so much.  (a one and two man operation like that would never have been underwriting the policies themselves, just earning a commission by selling them for the main insurance companies).

I wonder has Thomas been paying out on all JPs other claims to keep the firm out of trouble.  He'd have been better off making a clean breast of it as soon as he realised what his father had been up to.  Now he's just as complicit as his old man.

Count me in as another one who hopes JPs death on screen will come sooner rather than later.  Even if they don't show us who did it just yet, I need the satisfaction of watching him die!

[aghst]

I wonder if life insurance fraud is a thing in Ireland.

I don't know if it's a thing in the US.  Like do most life insurance claims get paid or do insurers investigate and deliberate before paying out claims in the millions?  I guess it would make sense if they did, but what kind of investigation is performed?

Because right off the bat, the Garveys call them "insurance c****" so maybe insurance agents have a certain reputation in Ireland or UK or Europe?

I wouldn't say they're hostile to Thomas but right off the bat, it is adversarial.  I get the sense that that's to be expected in the culture, even if the Garveys had nothing to hide.

The writers may be assuming that American audiences would get that insurance people are shady or untrustworthy.  But it may be something lost in translation.

[MaggieG]

On 9/10/2022 at 2:15 AM, chocolatine said:

Wow, that last scene with the paintball instructor most likely losing an eye was really hard to watch, and made it much harder to root for the sisters. They need to be a lot more careful.

Honestly, I think Bibi would have made the shot if Becka hadn't nudged her. 

14 hours ago, aghst said:

I wonder if life insurance fraud is a thing in Ireland.

I don't know if it's a thing in the US.  Like do most life insurance claims get paid or do insurers investigate and deliberate before paying out claims in the millions?  I guess it would make sense if they did, but what kind of investigation is performed?

Because right off the bat, the Garveys call them "insurance c****" so maybe insurance agents have a certain reputation in Ireland or UK or Europe?

I wouldn't say they're hostile to Thomas but right off the bat, it is adversarial.  I get the sense that that's to be expected in the culture, even if the Garveys had nothing to hide.

The writers may be assuming that American audiences would get that insurance people are shady or untrustworthy.  But it may be something lost in translation.

I'm not sure if they have a reputation but I think the issue is that they are dragging their feet and doing all of these interviews instead of paying Grace. Bibi's wife basically said that. The guys are suspicious to the sisters either way because they have something to hide, but to Bibi's wife it looks like they are doing everything to get out of paying. I'm really curious to see how JP actually dies. 

[lovinbob]

I wonder if JP was somehow involved in the Pa Claffin's fraud. 

The Bibi actress is so good. And I love her hair.

Anne Marie Duff really sells it as the weak, gaslit wife. I haven't seen the actress elsewhere -- is she always so gaunt with such fine/straggly hair? She looks very unhealthy to me but it's very fitting for the character.

The worst crime in the show might be JP calling her Mammy or however he pronounces it. Followed closely by letting her believe she killed the cat. How incredibly cruel. 

[chocolatine]

52 minutes ago, lovinbob said:

The worst crime in the show might be JP calling her Mammy or however he pronounces it. Followed closely by letting her believe she killed the cat. How incredibly cruel. 

Not just letting her believe she killed the cat, but making her scrape it off the road and bury it.

[AngieBee1]

1 hour ago, lovinbob said:

haven't seen the actress elsewhere -- is she always so gaunt with such fine/straggly hair? She looks very unhealthy to me but it's very fitting for the character.

Yes, she always looks like that. Which is why, sadly, people couldn't understand why James McAvoy married her.

[aghst]

Interview with Sharon Horgan.

Someone at Apple TV +, with whom she worked on Catastrophe, sent her an episode of the Belgian series Out-laws, on which Bad Sisters is based.

Normally she's not interested in doing adaption, has had pitches to do a lot of them after Catastrophe but she looked at this one and decided it could be done.

She talks about how in the world of streaming, it instantly goes out to a global TV audience whereas in the Catastrophe days, she worried about references which Americans might not get but would be obvious to Londoners.

Read in Vogue: https://apple.news/AjzqolrxYTpG_wU9uBBa0eQ

[ichbin]

On 8/22/2022 at 1:17 AM, Clawdette said:

I remember Sarah Greene (Bibi) from Penny Dreadful and Ransom. 

Dublin Murders also.

2 hours ago, lovinbob said:

Anne Marie Duff really sells it as the weak, gaslit wife. I haven't seen the actress elsewhere -- is she always so gaunt with such fine/straggly hair?

She's the original Fiona Gallagher on the British (and best) Shameless.  She also played Elizabeth I in The Virgin Queen.  She's good at playing strong characters as well.  

[scruff]

Just    another   streaming  show  that is just  yet another   example of  a show  that   promotes,   encourages,  excuses,  justifies,  rationalizes,  glorifies  and  Romanticizes   ADULTERY/INFIDELITY ...

How  sad,  Cliche  and Unoriginal .

Once can only   hope   that   this  show   gets  CANCELLED. 

[Paws]

New episode is up! So funny!  Wonder what all the suicide attempts they refer to are…I’m guessing these are the attempts that go awry?

[PWHCHCH]

6 hours ago, scruff said:

Just    another   streaming  show  that is just  yet another   example of  a show  that   promotes,   encourages,  excuses,  justifies,  rationalizes,  glorifies  and  Romanticizes   ADULTERY/INFIDELITY ...

How  sad,  Cliche  and Unoriginal .

Once can only   hope   that   this  show   gets  CANCELLED. 

JP, I thought you were dead and buried…

[FlowerofCarnage]

The raging germaphobe in me is still grossed out that JP didn't wash his hands after going to the bathroom.

 I couldn't stop laughing at the sisters beingpp colectively grossed out watching JP try to get into the boat with his cash and prizes just hanging in the wind.

[aghst]

It's only episode 6 so maybe this isn't the one that finally kills JP.  Do roofied people sleepwalk?  They certainly didn't expect it.

I don't know how often people drown in their own bath tubs though.  Or do men take baths?

Also, shouldn't they go back and get rid of his inhaler?  Ursula says the roofie drug isn't detectable in the body but it may be detectable in that inhaler.

The writers also need to remember that this show is on Apple TV +.  Their iPhone records could be subpoenaed and they would show that all the sisters other than Grace were at the home when JP drove out to the dock and they were also there observing him.

Not to mention Bibi calling Eve right at the time they were at Grace's home.

Thomas seems to have found some evidence that he liked, maybe about JP attempting suicide?  Presumably they wouldn't have to pay out a life insurance claim if they could allege that JP committed suicide.

Matt sleeps with Becka but spies on her, takes a picture of the generous 8k Euros check from Min.

BTW, the actress playing Becka is Bono's daughter.  But she can act, this isn't a celebrity casting.

[Paws]

3 hours ago, aghst said:

The writers also need to remember that this show is on Apple TV +.  Their iPhone records could be subpoenaed and they would show that all the sisters other than Grace were at the home when JP drove out to the dock and they were also there observing him.

But why would anyone suspect the sisters of having anything to do with his drowning off the side of his own boat? 

[aghst]

15 minutes ago, Paws said:

But why would anyone suspect the sisters of having anything to do with his drowning off the side of his own boat? 

Sure unless there's a reason to suspect foul play, police investigators won't go to those lengths.  Or even order an autopsy, though the roofie wouldn't be detectable.

I'm just saying that there is evidence out there.

Only the insurance c**** are investigating and they have to convince the authorities to take these kinds of measures.

The sisters are trying to rescue Grace and Blanid but they haven't thought through the implications.

[chocolatine]

I don't think JP is dead, I think this is the "suicide attempt" that Thomas was talking about. JP and Grace had a fight about the vibrator right before she left on the overnight trip with Blanaid, and later he left her a voicemail telling her "if you don't come home right now, God knows what I'll do." 

[aghst]

1 hour ago, chocolatine said:

I don't think JP is dead, I think this is the "suicide attempt" that Thomas was talking about. JP and Grace had a fight about the vibrator right before she left on the overnight trip with Blanaid, and later he left her a voicemail telling her "if you don't come home right now, God knows what I'll do." 

I think you're right, I forget it's jumping back and forth in timelines.

When they show that film strip or view master scenes it's suppose to indicate a time jump but you don't know until there's some dialog that they're in the older timeline unless JP is in the scene.

So yeah this is one of his suicide attempts.

Does Thomas figure out that the suicide attempts were failed attempts to murder The Prick?  From his POV it may not matter, they may invalidate the claim because he has been determined to have attempted suicide, maybe more than once.

[anniebird]

On 9/15/2022 at 10:48 PM, scruff said:

Just    another   streaming  show  that is just  yet another   example of  a show  that   promotes,   encourages,  excuses,  justifies,  rationalizes,  glorifies  and  Romanticizes   ADULTERY/INFIDELITY ...

How  sad,  Cliche  and Unoriginal .

Once can only   hope   that   this  show   gets  CANCELLED. 

I would think those sins pale in comparison to all the attempted murder that's going on but maybe that's just me.

Edited September 17, 2022 by anniebird

[SoMuchTV]

On 9/16/2022 at 11:21 PM, anniebird said:

I would think those sins pale in comparison to all the attempted murder that's going on but maybe that's just me.

And the attempted (fictional) murder pales in comparison to the successful (fictional) murder (or at least manslaughter [petslaughter?]) of the poor dog and cat.  But maybe that's just me 🙂

[abbyzenn]

Really enjoying this show.  

Have they said what Bibi does for a living?  That is one really gorgeous house she's living in plus it's in a beautiful location.  Grace's house is also  nice and I like the neighborhood (what little we've seen of it) but Bibi's is like out of a magazine. 

[aghst]

They're all upper middle class looks like.

Eve with the house and the Audi convertible, JP also with nice car, home and boat.

Becka is the only one struggling to get her massage business off the ground.

I guess Ursula is doing okay, maybe with the kids they live a more modest lifestyle.

[twoods]

That’s why I don’t understand why Becka didn’t go to her sisters first for the money for her massage business instead of the prick. She knows what a jerk he is, and she expected him to lend her money? What a dumb plot point, just to show that JP has screwed over all the sisters so them wanting to murder him made some sense.

[chocolatine]

1 hour ago, aghst said:

They're all upper middle class looks like.

Eve with the house and the Audi convertible, JP also with nice car, home and boat.

Becka is the only one struggling to get her massage business off the ground.

I guess Ursula is doing okay, maybe with the kids they live a more modest lifestyle.

I think Eva is living in the house that belonged to their parents. JP made some snide comments in the first episode as to why a "spinster" would need so much space. I'm guessing the sisters all decided to let Eva have the house since she apparently sacrificed a lot to raise them after their parents died. So she can afford the nice car and clothes because she has no mortgage payments (although I imagine that property taxes and maintenance costs would be quite high for a house like that).

Ursula and Donal seem to have the most realistic lifestyle for a two-income, middle-class family.

JP seems to have a similar job to Eva, but I think he also has some family money, considering how casually Min wrote the €8k check to Becka (I know Min has some sort of cognitive decline, but still). I don't think he'd be able to have that nice of a house, plus two cars and a boat, on his salary alone.

How Bibi came about her house/lifestyle is the biggest mystery, since we haven't seen her work yet. Maybe she made a lot of money in the Irish tech boom, or her wife is wealthy.

55 minutes ago, twoods said:

That’s why I don’t understand why Becka didn’t go to her sisters first for the money for her massage business instead of the prick. She knows what a jerk he is, and she expected him to lend her money? What a dumb plot point, just to show that JP has screwed over all the sisters so them wanting to murder him made some sense.

I agree. If it was only €8k she needed, I'm sure Eva or Bibi could have easily lent it to her.

[Ceindreadh]

1 hour ago, chocolatine said:

I think Eva is living in the house that belonged to their parents. JP made some snide comments in the first episode as to why a "spinster" would need so much space. I'm guessing the sisters all decided to let Eva have the house since she apparently sacrificed a lot to raise them after their parents died. So she can afford the nice car and clothes because she has no mortgage payments (although I imagine that property taxes and maintenance costs would be quite high for a house like that).

Property taxes wouldn't be all that expensive.  The Local Property Tax on a place like Eva's probably wouldn't be more than €1,000 a year which she could easily pay monthly through her employment. 

[chocolatine]

1 minute ago, Ceindreadh said:

Property taxes wouldn't be all that expensive.  The Local Property Tax on a place like Eva's probably wouldn't be more than €1,000 a year which she could easily pay monthly through her employment. 

That's fantastic! In the US the annual property tax in some states can be as high as 2.49% of the assessed property value. In my state it's "only"  0.98%, but the property values in my city are so high that most homeowners are paying well over $10k a year. Some of it is deductible from income taxes, but it's still a lot of money.

BTW, do you know where in Ireland the show is set? I'm not very familiar with Irish geography, but it seems like they're in a smaller city, not a large urban area like Dublin.

[Ceindreadh]

11 minutes ago, chocolatine said:

That's fantastic! In the US the annual property tax in some states can be as high as 2.49% of the assessed property value. In my state it's "only"  0.98%, but the property values in my city are so high that most homeowners are paying well over $10k a year. Some of it is deductible from income taxes, but it's still a lot of money.

BTW, do you know where in Ireland the show is set? I'm not very familiar with Irish geography, but it seems like they're in a smaller city, not a large urban area like Dublin.

It's set in or around Dublin.  The 'Forty Foot' where the sisters go swimming is on the South end of Dublin Bay.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forty_Foot  So they're all within driving distance of it. 

[anniebird]

20 hours ago, SoMuchTV said:

And the attempted (fictional) murder pales in comparison to the successful (fictional) murder (or at least manslaughter [petslaughter?]) of the poor dog and cat.  But maybe that's just me 🙂

And I always think the fictional murder of a person is worse than the fictional murder of an animal.

Edited September 19, 2022 by anniebird

[SoMuchTV]

3 minutes ago, anniebird said:

And I always think the fictional murder of a person is worse that the fictional murder of an animal.

In real life, you’d get no argument from me. But in a work of fiction where murder (of people) is the main theme, I hate to see the pets being collateral damage. But I do like the occasional dark comedy, so I guess I shouldn’t complain. 

[chocolatine]

9 minutes ago, SoMuchTV said:

In real life, you’d get no argument from me. But in a work of fiction where murder (of people) is the main theme, I hate to see the pets being collateral damage. But I do like the occasional dark comedy, so I guess I shouldn’t complain. 

It seems like killing pets is Sharon Horgan's thing. I remember on Catastrophe the family dog was hit by a car in a very dark-comedic manner, and a lot of the PTV commenters were very upset.

[MaggieG]

The scene where they are all crouching around the bed and JP wanders around with no pants on was hilarious. I rewound a few times, their faces were cracking me up.

[sadie]

Am I the only one that is ready for things to move along. I’m guessing him falling into the water won’t actually be his demise and we’re onto weeks and weeks more of them “trying” to kill him before we actually find out how it ends. If they end this season without revealing that mystery I’m out. 

[Ceindreadh]

8 hours ago, sadie said:

Am I the only one that is ready for things to move along. I’m guessing him falling into the water won’t actually be his demise and we’re onto weeks and weeks more of them “trying” to kill him before we actually find out how it ends. If they end this season without revealing that mystery I’m out. 

I think he must survive last episode's splashdown.  When Claffin was asking Grace about where she was when JP died, she lied and told him she was with her sisters.  But she'd have had no reason to lie if this was when he died, because she was with the basketball team on the way to Galway and there's nothing suspicious about that. 

[Alexander Pope]

I am only 1/3 of the way through episode five and JP just killed the cat.  I am now 1000% sure he killed his sister's cat!! and maybe also his sister!

Edited September 20, 2022 by Alexander Pope
I remembered my earlier theory.

[MicheleinPhilly]

On 9/18/2022 at 3:33 PM, twoods said:

That’s why I don’t understand why Becka didn’t go to her sisters first for the money for her massage business instead of the prick. She knows what a jerk he is, and she expected him to lend her money? What a dumb plot point, just to show that JP has screwed over all the sisters so them wanting to murder him made some sense.

I forget which episode it happened in (maybe 2 or 3) but Eva did tell Becka that she would have given her the money but it would take her a couple of months to get it together. Becka comes across as rather impulsive and doesn't seem to have loads of patience. 

[aghst]

IIRC, she saw a studio space available and seemed to think it might not be available later.

[Paws]

Omg that was such a creepy ending! Ursulas husband is beyond patient. I’m wondering if the pregnant wife will solve what happens as she’s delivering. Girls gonna pop any sec.

[AngieBee1]

In a real life situation I am decidedly on the side of "see something, say something" but in this situation I am disappointed in Gabriel for grassinng on Eva to the Brothers Claffin. I assume the Gabriel / Eva fallout is because JP outs Gabriel and he will wrongly assume Eva told JP that he was gay.

Ursula subconsciously wants you get caught by her husband because she is the sloppiest cheater. You don't kiss your sneaky link in public nor hold hands with them. 

Poor Minna offed her husband, I see.

[aghst]

How is the check damning?

The oblivious old woman wrote Becka a check which she didn't even try to cash.

Thomas thinks the check shows Becka needs money so since the check is no good, ergo she must be after the insurance money?  The insurance money goes to Grace and there's no indication she'd give any to Becka or anyone else.

JP thinks someone is trying to kill him, does he suspect the sisters?  If he really believed someone was trying to kill him, Ursula would be one choice since he's blackmailing her.

He throws Eva under the bus, referring to her drinking problem.  Well they're at some restaurant and Eva is peeved that there's no alcohol served at the establishment, doesn't want anything.

Blanid is at that age where a child might be disillusioned by a parent especially the way she sees her father gaslight her mother and this episode, getting physical with Becka.

[chocolatine]

Right before JP came to in the hospital, he had a brief dream sequence of Gabriel speaking to him in French ("Tu nous as fait tellement peur." - "You gave us such a scare.") and kissing him, so whoever said in the beginning of the season that JP is a repressed homosexual was probably right. 

I also don't see how an uncashed check from Minna is damning, but the fact that Gabriel saw Eva and Becka at the scene where JP nearly drowned certainly is.

1 hour ago, AngieBee1 said:

Ursula subconsciously wants you get caught by her husband because she is the sloppiest cheater. You don't kiss your sneaky link in public nor hold hands with them. 

And her lover even hangs around the hospital where both she and her husband work! I'm glad that Donal is suspicious, otherwise I would question his intelligence.

That taxidermy basement was creepy enough on its own even without George in the freezer. I wonder if he had been as abusive to Minna as JP is to Grace, and one day Minna snapped and killed him.

[MicheleinPhilly]

While I am still enjoying this for the most part, I really need JP to just freakin' die already. It's beginning to feel a bit farcical at this point and I would really like that physically and emotionally abusive asshat to just croak. 

Every time he calls Grace "Mammy", I want to kill him myself.

And then he he goes and wears his shoes ON THE BED??? Oh no, you must die. 

[FlowerofCarnage]

35 minutes ago, MicheleinPhilly said:

While I am still enjoying this for the most part, I really need JP to just freakin' die already. It's beginning to feel a bit farcical at this point and I would really like that physically and emotionally abusive asshat to just croak. 

Every time he calls Grace "Mammy", I want to kill him myself.

And then he he goes and wears his shoes ON THE BED??? Oh no, you must die. 

OMG! Yes! I winced when I saw the shoes on the bed and just the whole outfit. No outside clothes on the bed.

[Enigma X]

I am also ready for JP's demise. I get a feeling we will learn that none of the sisters killed JP by the end or it was Grace.

[MicheleinPhilly]

2 hours ago, Enigma X said:

I am also ready for JP's demise. I get a feeling we will learn that none of the sisters killed JP by the end or it was Grace.

At this point I'm hoping it was Blanaid. 

Edited September 23, 2022 by MicheleinPhilly
Despite being Irish, I can't spell Blanaid.