Season 01

[twoods]

Wow, dead husband is a prick. Good riddance. I am liking it so far. I am loving the relationship between the sisters.   Wondering if they will get caught by the insurance guys- I find myself somehow rooting for both sides. 
 

I am very distracted by insurance guy’s brother. Damn. Go get it Bekkah. 

Edited August 19, 2022 by twoods

[PWHCHCH]

Sandwich boy is very very attractive. 
I have just watched the first episode and I am hooked. So good. 

[ichbin]

I figured if Horgan was involved it would be okay.  Not disappointed. Really liking this one after watching the first two episodes.  

[PWHCHCH]

Just finished episode 2. The prick was totally watching gay porn on the laptop, right ?

[chocolatine]

I really enjoyed Sharon Horgan in Catastrophe, so I decided to give this show a go, and the first episode didn't disappoint. I'm a huge fan of Irish novelist Marian Keyes and her Walsh sisters books, and this show reminds me a bit of that with the dynamic between the Garvey sisters, but of course it's much darker. The other actresses are pretty good as well, although when Sandwich Guy was telling Bekah about his band, all I could think was "you're not going to impress Bono's daughter with that."

[twoods]

When the insurance guy mentioned that Prick guy had four insurance claims in a year, I’m wondering if they were all attempts on his life like the cabin exploding. 

[FlowerofCarnage]

Watching the Prick scream "what the actual fuck?!" and looking totally devestated just tickled me! LOL

I have a feeling the Prick had something to do with Bibi losing an eye.

Hello Hot Younger Brother with the mesmerizing eyes!

[chocolatine]

Just watched the second episode. I feel the worst not for Grace or any of the sisters, but for Blánaid. The control and intimidation John Paul has over her is just sickening. The way her face fell when Grace answered JP's call at the Lizzo concert just broke my heart.

I still like the show, but wish we had been given more backstory for each sister first before learning their motivations for wanting to kill JP. I know almost nothing about Ursula other than that she is married with three kids and having an affair with her photography teacher (how cliche!), and I don't know much about Bibi either other than that she's lost an eye, is married to a woman, and seems to hate JP the most out of everyone. Also, why does she choose to ride in the back of Eva's convertible when there are no other passengers? I hope future episodes spend more time developing the characters, and less on the particulars of the murder attempts. We already know from the first episode that JP's body and face looked good enough for Grace to put him in an open casket, so it was obvious that he didn't die from an explosion.

Finally, I don't really understand how a small business like Claffin & Sons would be able to underwrite such large insurance policies. I could see them acting as agents for a large insurance company, but in that case they wouldn't be on the hook for the payout, and also wouldn't be the ones investigating potential fraud, would they? If anyone reading this thread understands the insurance industry better than I do, could you please enlighten me?

[DoubleUTeeEff]

I'm totally into it so far. I loved Sharon Horgan in Catastrophe and This Way Up so I'm excited to get to see more of her. Two of the sisters look older than she does so I was surprised that she was the one who raised the sisters after their parents died.

I completely missed that The Prick is gay or bisexual or at least was looking at gay porn.

I wonder why the sisters didn't go pick up Grace for the Christmas swim? They were all driving out there together anyway. I thought all 5 of them lived in the same small town.

Beckah was annoying me with regards to Sandwich Boy. She was acting like a Nice Guy when she was getting upset that Sandwich Boy wasn't immediately responding to her advances. It's like she thought she was owed a phone call just because she gave him her number and asked him out. And I'm pretty sure this happened over the course of 24 hours. Like, let someone have a life, Beckah.

The life insurance stuff didn't make much sense to me, either. I get that they aren't really supposed to investigate but are anyway because they are desperate not to lose the business. But, I don't understand how the accounting of the business works. I'm thinking I'm just going to have to hand wave it.

[aghst]

Seems like the age range of the 5 sisters could be as much as 20 years?

Maybe not so uncommon in Ireland.

Looks like only two of the sisters are married so the married ones with children may not be as tight with the sisters, especially the younger ones?  Grace seems relatively isolated from the sisters, mainly because of her husband being so controlling.  But the other blond mentioned having 3 kids yet she's hanging out with the group all the time.  Maybe the young single ones will tend to do their own thing.

This life insurance run by a couple of brothers seems like an oddity.  Maybe another Irish thing?

Or maybe one last way the Prick screws over his wife and daughter, taking out life insurance with some small family firm (won't say dodgy yet) instead of big international carrier.

They're spending some money with those drone shots of the gorgeous countryside.  Hope they have more, though they seem kind of out of place in this type of dramedy.

[chocolatine]

3 hours ago, aghst said:

Seems like the age range of the 5 sisters could be as much as 20 years?

It seems like the four elder sisters are relatively close in age, with Becka much younger and possibly a result of an unplanned pregnancy. Age-wise I think Eva is supposed to be in her late 40s, Grace in her mid-40s, Ursula in her early 40s, Bibi in her late 30s, and Becka in her late 20s. Their parents must have died when Eva was 19 or 20, with all other sisters still being minors at that time, based on what was said about Eva taking care of them all, Grace not having had a chance to go bra shopping with their mother. Then Becka must have been a baby or toddler at the time.

3 hours ago, aghst said:

Looks like only two of the sisters are married so the married ones with children may not be as tight with the sisters, especially the younger ones?

Bibi also seems to be married, or at least in a committed long-term relationship. There was also a young, biracial boy in the family picture Ursula took at Blánaid's confirmation, whom I understood to be Bibi and her wife's son. (Unless I'm mistaken and Ursula has four children instead of three.)

Edited August 20, 2022 by chocolatine

[AngieBee1]

Quote

I have a feeling the Prick had something to do with Bibi losing an eye.

Oh, definitely.

Quote

Finally, I don't really understand how a small business like Claffin & Sons would be able to underwrite such large insurance policies. I could see them acting as agents for a large insurance company, but in that case they wouldn't be on the hook for the payout, and also wouldn't be the ones investigating potential fraud, would they?

From what Thomas has dropped about their father it seems their father wasn't on the up an up anyway so it's very likely if took on policies and would fight them to keep from paying them out or just rob Peter to pay Paul to pay out policies. Now Thomas is running the business and while he is definitely acting sketchy in regards to how he's acquiring information from Grace, he's not a total fraudster like their father. I think he's keeping everything in house and not having someone else investigate the claim because his intention is to find a reason to deny the claim no matter what. He can't risk an outside party coming in and saying it's a valid payout.
 

Quote

I have a feeling the Prick had something to do with Bibi losing an eye.

Oh, definitely. 

Quote

Finally, I don't really understand how a small business like Claffin & Sons would be able to underwrite such large insurance policies. I could see them acting as agents for a large insurance company, but in that case they wouldn't be on the hook for the payout, and also wouldn't be the ones investigating potential fraud, would they?

From what Thomas has dropped about their father it seems their father wasn't on the up an up anyway so it's very likely if took on policies and would fight them to keep from paying them out or just rob Peter to pay Paul to pay out policies. Now Thomas is running the business and while he is definitely acting sketchy in regards to how he's acquiring information from Grace, he's not a total fraudster like their father. I think he's keeping everything in house and not having someone else investigate the claim because his intention is to find a reason to deny the claim no matter what. He can't risk an outside party coming in and saying it's a valid payout. 

Quote

I completely missed that The Prick is gay or bisexual or at least was looking at gay porn.

Typically when there's porn playing underneath a scene you will hear a woman but throughout the whole scene it was just a guy/guys. 

I think maybe he and the neighbor played by Michael Smiley had a fling and that's why JP doesn't want Grace to engage with him and why he keeps telling the guy that he's not taking the boat out (maybe that's where they'd hook up). 
I also thought maybe JP had a fling with Becka which is why he was so quick to basically call her a slag to Grace and Eva and why Becka was crying at the funeral. 

Quote

I wonder why the sisters didn't go pick up Grace for the Christmas swim?

I was so sure they were on their way to snatch her up when Eva got the text. I was disappointed in them that they didn't go to her.

Edited August 20, 2022 by AngieBee1

[Clawdette]

I remember Sarah Greene (Bibi) from Penny Dreadful and Ransom.  She was also in a long relationship with Aidan Turner before they went their separate ways.  I think she is stunning.

[lovinbob]

Discovered this last night. I have three sisters and one has lost herself in a terrible marriage with a prick, so I'm feeling very attached to this. 

I adore Sharon Horgan so I love this. (She is so beautiful BTW!) I didn't know the rest of the sisters but I like them all. Younger Claffin brother is so handsome. Brian Gleeson never disappoints. 

I generally don't like shows with disjointed timelines but this is working for me. 

[gesundheit]

I watched the first episode yesterday and wasn't so sure. Appealing cast and dialogue, but I was thinking there wasn't enough comedy in this dark comedy for me to get the aesthetic distance to be on board with a murder, no matter what a prick The Prick was.

Tonight I watched the second episode and I'm now ready to murder him myself if they don't get on with it! And there's absolutely enough comedy. This is excellent, and now I'm sad because the way Prime does their layout I absolutely thought three episodes had already been released. Damn!

[Pamela]

Daryl McCormack (Matt Claffin aka Sandwich Boy) also stars in Good Luck to You, Leo Grande with Emma Thompson and he’s very good in it (and so, so attractive).

[aghst]

3 minutes ago, Pamela said:

Daryl McCormack (Matt Claffin aka Sandwich Boy) also stars in Good Luck to You, Leo Grande with Emma Thompson and he’s very good in it (and so, so attractive).

He was actually raised and educated in Ireland.

So it's not an actor putting in an Irish accent.

[AngieBee1]

The only non-Irish cast member (playing Irish) is Anne-Marie Duff...though she has Irish parents.

Edited August 23, 2022 by AngieBee1

[chocolatine]

10 hours ago, AngieBee1 said:

The only non-Irish cast member (playing Irish) is Anne-Marie Duff...though she has Irish parents.

Claes Bang, who plays John Paul, is also not Irish (and doesn't have Irish parents, either). English is not even his first language.

[scatteroflight]

They're obviously setting up Matt (aka "Pretty Eyes") with Becka (who also has pretty eyes) so Matt will be conflicted between saving the family company and the Garveys.

I'm a U2 fan so I knew Eve Hewson before this (she's actually a good actress) but the others are new to me (except Daryl McCormack from Good Luck to You, Leo Grande), but I really like this cast so far. 

[AngieBee1]

5 hours ago, chocolatine said:

Claes Bang, who plays John Paul, is also not Irish (and doesn't have Irish parents, either). English is not even his first language.

Note where I wrote "playing Irish". If JP is supposed to be Irish than Claes is not even trying to put on an accent 

[FlowerofCarnage]

17 hours ago, AngieBee1 said:

Note where I wrote "playing Irish". If JP is supposed to be Irish than Claes is not even trying to put on an accent 

The character is supposed to be half-British,  half-Swedish.

[twoods]

At least we know how Ursula got roped into it. I absolutely hate infidelity so don’t pity Ursula at all but Prick is the worst, following her like a freak and then having her send him a pictuere of her vagina. He’s the worst.

Poor Oscar.

Edited August 26, 2022 by twoods

[chocolatine]

5 hours ago, twoods said:

At least we know how Ursula got roped into it. I absolutely hate infidelity so don’t pity Ursula at all but Prick is the worst, following her like a freak and then having her send him a pictuere of her vagina. He’s the worst.

I'm kinda impressed with how Ursula manages to raise three children (one with special needs), work as a nurse, nurture her photography hobby, and still have time/energy for an affair. I would be passing out from exhaustion around 7pm every night. And her husband seems like a good man, so I don't have much sympathy for her either.

I don't remember seeing JP's mother in the funeral scenes. I wonder if one of the sisters' attempts on JP's life ended up killing his mother instead of him. The collateral damage does seems to escalate - first the cabin, then the dog.

[AngieBee1]

The comedy rule of three is a real thing because when JP hit Ursula with that third, "disgraceful, vile and disgusting" I was cracking up. What a vindictive and odious nutter he his.

Another hint to me that JP is bisexual: In his text to Donal in his attempt to out Ursula's affair he suggests that he and Donal go out for drinks. JP doesn't seem like anyone who pals around with people unless it's advantageous for him. There's no way that he would want to spend time with someone like Donal.

I saw Barry Ward (the man Thomas called re: the post-mortem) in the credits and hoped that he was going to play a potential love interest of Eva. I completely forgot about Eva's coworker Gabriel and the prospect of their romance.

[FlowerofCarnage]

Yeah, Ursala doesn't deserve our pity but  I don't think she deserved to be  exposed by the Prick He isn't doing it out of some concern for Donal, he is doing it to torture Ursula and put her in what he perceives as her place. I wouldn't put it past him to believe that stepping out is a man's perogative. 

Everytime The Prick calls Grace, "Mammy", I csn't help but think he doesn't call her that when they're...you know! LOL

I can't imagine winning a dildo in the office raffle.

[gesundheit]

The second the dog got screen time in this episode I knew he wasn't long for the world. The Prick certainly deserves death, but is it wrong that I feel like the sisters have lost rootability now that they've killed a dog, even though I was all for them killing a human being? 

I'm wondering if perhaps John Paul ends up dying not by the sisters' hand at all, but they still just need to cover up their many attempts.

15 hours ago, chocolatine said:

I'm kinda impressed with how Ursula manages to raise three children (one with special needs), work as a nurse, nurture her photography hobby, and still have time/energy for an affair. I would be passing out from exhaustion around 7pm every night. And her husband seems like a good man, so I don't have much sympathy for her either.

I don't remember seeing JP's mother in the funeral scenes. I wonder if one of the sisters' attempts on JP's life ended up killing his mother instead of him. The collateral damage does seems to escalate - first the cabin, then the dog.

TV wives having affairs always do seem to have considerably more energy and hours in the day!

I don't remember his mother either, that really surprised me.

[anniebird]

Now that I've watched the first 3 episodes, I had to go back and watch the 1st episode again just to make sure The Prick is dead.

[aghst]

JP is going to be in most of the season in these flashbacks.

He’s trying to control Ursula the same way he controls his wife.

[QQQQ]

Something about John Paul's mannerisms and general smarminess brings to mind Billy Mack (portrayed by Bill Nighy) in Love Actually.

[MaggieG]

Wow, The Prick really is a prick and gets prickier every episode. I'm really liking this show.

They didn't really answer this but the night Bibi and Eva were at the cabin, JP called Eva. It startled her, she was all "why is he calling me?" and then the cabin blew up. For a second, I thought maybe JP saw them, either inside or outside and was calling her to see what they were doing there. Otherwise, why would he call Eva that late at night? They weren't friends. Unless he was calling to yell at her about getting the Lizzo tickets for Grace.

[Paws]

Well, JP is more and more a prick each episode. That scene where Becka tells Grace how vile it is that he sends her to tell the news…the expression on Graces face was quite something. She realizes she’s being controlled and then decides not to accept that reality, and storms away like it’s Beckas fault. Great acting by Ann Marie duff 

[chocolatine]

Another solid episode, but I wish there was more nuance to JP than just a one-note villain. He must have some charm to have attracted Grace, and has to be able to get at least some people to like him in order to have a successful career. I don't understand why he's so consumed with hurting people, in big and small ways (did anyone notice him oh-so-casually calling Bibi "cyclops?"). Apparently there was some childhood trauma from losing his sister, but that in itself doesn't explain why he became such a raging asshole. His mother seems like a nice woman.

It looks like JP is setting up their neighbor for something truly horrible, so I wonder whether it's he and not the sisters who ends up killing JP.

BTW, while what JP did to Becka was incredibly cruel, she should have waited until she received the funds from him before signing a lease and paying the deposit. In business, nothing is guaranteed until the check/bank transfer/credit card payment clears.

[FlowerofCarnage]

The Prick is deeply insecure.  He reneged on the loan and decided to set up his neighbor as a pedophile all because they dared suggest Grace work outside of the home.

[anniebird]

13 hours ago, chocolatine said:

It looks like JP is setting up their neighbor for something truly horrible, so I wonder whether it's he and not the sisters who ends up killing JP.

That's exactly what I'm thinking.

[scatteroflight]

16 hours ago, chocolatine said:

It looks like JP is setting up their neighbor for something truly horrible, so I wonder whether it's he and not the sisters who ends up killing JP.

I was speculating about this with my stepdaughter last week and we both think it's Blánaid who ultimately kills him. The Garvey sisters protect each other fiercely; what lengths would they go to for their niece?

Quote

BTW, while what JP did to Becka was incredibly cruel, she should have waited until she received the funds from him before signing a lease and paying the deposit. In business, nothing is guaranteed until the check/bank transfer/credit card payment clears.

Sure, but Becka was excited and she doesn't seem particularly business-savvy. They've made her out to be somewhat irresponsible and "flighty" until now so it doesn't surprise me in the least that once she had John Paul's word, she went full steam ahead. She even said that she was the only one of the sisters who didn't hate him prior to his screwing her over. 

Can't wait to find out what happened to Bibi's eye!

[Clawdette]

Yes, I think next week we'll get Bibi's JP story as she's the only one we haven't heard from (aside from Grace, of course).  I would love it if Grace did the deed or they all gave him a Murder on the Orient Express send off.

[aghst]

I missed that JP became the asshole after his sister died.

His mother was saying he was killing kittens as a child?  Was that suppose to be after his sister died?

If he was doing it before then, he's some kind of a psychopath.

Regarding the pussy picture, are they all using iPhones, this being an Apple TV + show?

That means it's up on iCloud.

Also, why was the quiz such a big deal?  It featured workers at Eva and JP's company?  But it's somehow related to the promotion that both are going after?

[SoMuchTV]

I could barely watch; I was too worried about the cat. Especially after they were looking through the album with pictures of his sister(?) and her cat(s?). I was watching on my phone so I’m not sure I got all the details. I hope that’s one loose end they do not tie up. 

And his mother talked about how he drowned frogs, in glasses of milk. I didn’t catch anything about kittens there. Hope I’m not proven wrong. 

[Ceindreadh]

21 hours ago, aghst said:

Also, why was the quiz such a big deal?  It featured workers at Eva and JP's company?  But it's somehow related to the promotion that both are going after?

The quiz itself wasn't a big deal except for that JP can't stand the idea of losing and especially not to one of his sisters in law.  He likely also saw it as a chance to impress their boss and when that failed he tried to nobble Eva by telling the boss she'd had a lot to drink. 

17 hours ago, SoMuchTV said:

I could barely watch; I was too worried about the cat. Especially after they were looking through the album with pictures of his sister(?) and her cat(s?). I was watching on my phone so I’m not sure I got all the details. I hope that’s one loose end they do not tie up. 

And his mother talked about how he drowned frogs, in glasses of milk. I didn’t catch anything about kittens there. Hope I’m not proven wrong. 

There was a picture of JP with the sister's cat.  I'm not sure what Becca saw in the picture but she wasn't impressed. 

At this stage I'm thinking that either somebody else killed JP or that it was actually an accident, but that the sisters might have been making another attempt and that's why they can't say anything.

I also wouldn't put it past JP to have faked an attempt on his life in order to frame the sisters and it just went wrong. 

I'm just very grateful that they started out with him already dead because if I was waiting and hoping for him to die at some point I would have probably thrown something at the screen by now. 

I'm also happy that when Matthew found out that Becca was a Garvey that he actually came clean to the brother almost immediately rather than it dragging on.  That doesn't usually happen in dramas!

[Alexander Pope]

I think Jean Paul killed his sister and took her cat.  That's what Becka's gaze at the photo implied, for me at least.

[SoMuchTV]

Just now, Alexander Pope said:

I think Jean Paul killed his sister and took her cat.  That's what Becka's gaze at the photo implied, for me at least.

Oh I could deal with that.  Killing sisters and brothers-in-law on a tv show is one thing, killing cats is enough to drive me away!  (Drowning frogs is borderline.)

[chocolatine]

1 hour ago, Alexander Pope said:

I think Jean Paul killed his sister and took her cat.  That's what Becka's gaze at the photo implied, for me at least.

Would his mother still have any contact with him if that had been the case? I can see a scenario where the sister died in an accident that somehow involved her cat, and that young JP blamed the cat and killed it.

BTW, I wonder how long Eva and JP have been working together. I would hate working with a family member, especially if that person treated me the way JP does Eva. If I were Eva, I would have gotten a different job a long time ago, and been honest with my family at to the reason.

[Alexander Pope]

Did JP's mother have dementia?  the blithe way she was talking about him drowning frogs made me wonder. He could have killed the sister without the mother knowing perhaps?  Just a thought!

[pasdetrois]

On 9/2/2022 at 1:18 AM, chocolatine said:

Apparently there was some childhood trauma from losing his sister, but that in itself doesn't explain why he became such a raging asshole

I wonder if the show is trying to sell him as a very religious, self-loathing gay man.

[twoods]

They are really making JP one dimensional by screwing over Becka along with everyone else. Just awful. Still wondering why she couldn’t have gone to her sisters for a loan when they obviously have more money than her. I also wonder if Grace ended up killing JP but the sisters thought that they did it so everyone is busy covering their tracks.

Edited September 8, 2022 by twoods

[Enigma X]

I am loving this show. I have seven sisters and can relate to the sister dynamic. JP is the worst, and the actor playing him is nailing it.

[FlowerofCarnage]

How many more people  have to be collateral damage in the Garvey sisters quest to dispatch the Prick?

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

[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