[Editor’s note: The following contains major spoilers for Season 2 of Bad Sisters.]

The Big Picture

Season 2 of the Apple TV+ series ‘Bad Sisters’ finds the Garvey sisters facing new challenges after the death of Grace’s husband.
Co-Creator Sharon Horgan discusses the pressure to deliver in Season 2, losing one character while adding another.
‘Bad Sisters’ explores challenging themes, as the audience takes a ride with the sisters through the chaos of their lives.

From co-creator/showrunner Sharon Horgan, Season 2 of the Apple TV+ drama series Bad Sisters finds the Garvey sisters two years after the death of Grace’s (Anne-Marie Duff) abusive husband. But Grace’s newfound happiness doesn’t last long after her wedding and the sisters find themselves at a funeral, trying to piece their lives back together. Staying out of trouble never seems to come easy for the Garvey sisters but love always holds them together through the chaos.

During this one-on-one interview with Collider, Horgan, who also plays the eldest and most responsible Garvey sister Eva, talked about the extra pressure to deliver on Season 2 after the success of Season 1, taking the story to some dark places, learning how much people hate it when you kill animals, making sure to keep the audience 100% the sisters, losing one character in Season 2 while adding another, her favorite Garvey sister moments, and whether there could be a third season.

Sharon Horgan Put Pressure on Herself to Make Sure Season 2 of ‘Bad Sisters’ Lives up to the First
Image via Apple TV+

Collider: With Season 1, no one knew what to expect from the show. But then, it became this hit, which means all these eyes are on it now and you’ve raised your own bar for Season 2. Does that just get you more excited? Is it more nerve-wracking to do it again? Do you feel extra pressure to deliver or do you put that pressure on yourself?

SHARON HORGAN: Oh, I definitely put the pressure on myself. I can’t tell you how nice everyone was to me about the show, after it came out, and how many messages I got from women who’d been in that situation, but hadn’t seen it on screen before, and just people on the street. People were so lovely about it, so there is that thing of not wanting to let them down. That is a big pressure I put on myself. But then, you have to forget about that. You have to just tell the story that you think is the right way to tell for eight hours. That’s a lot of time to fill and the best laid plans, you have to take what the story gives you, along the way. It’s a really weird thing, writing a show. You start out knowing exactly what you wanna do, and then all of that changes by the time you start shooting. But I feel like we got to a place where, emotionally, it feels very right. It still feels like it has the DNA of the show. There’s still funny, there’s still caper and, there’s thriller, and there’s bodies. Even though it goes to dark places, it still feels like you wanna be with those sisters, I think or I hope.

Related ‘Bad Sisters’ Season 2 Review: Apple TV+’s Dark Comedy Returns With an Even Twistier, Better Follow-Up The new season of the Apple TV+ series improves on almost every level.

Was there anything that you were particularly nervous about doing with the show? Was there anything that any of the characters did or anything that happened where you wondered how the audience would receive it?

HORGAN: Oh, all of it. But actually, weirdly, people hate when you kill animals. So, the killing of the dog and the killing of the kitten, I was more worried about those two things than I was the killing of his mother. I was really nervous about that. But in a way, I thought, “Well, it’s gonna make them hate him more, and that’s a good thing.” Then, you’re so behind the sisters. That was the thing, we had to make sure that the audience was 100% behind these girls as they tried and tried again. With the second season, I’m nervous about how people will respond to what we did. But when the story progresses, I think they’ll get it and they’ll understand why.

Related What Sharon Horgan’s ‘Bad Sisters’ Teaches Us About Emotional Abuse It may be a dark comedy, but the emotional abuse is no laughing matter.

When you do something like this, where you are creating this ensemble of actors that eventually have to fill these characters, what had you hoped this dynamic would be? Did you have a moment when you realized that this was even better than that?

HORGAN: Yeah. Well, what I hoped it would be, actually, was that I’ve got a big family of brothers and sisters and when we go out, all of us together, it’s like a whirlwind. I hope it’s infectious and fun, and it’s a party on five pairs of legs. That’s what I wanted to recreate, that feeling of just wanting to be around these sisters and that they bring the joy with them. Hopefully, I did that.

Fiona Shaw Is the Perfect Substitute Garvey Sister in ‘Bad Sisters’ Season 2
Image via Apple TV+

On a TV series, new characters always come in while previously known characters can leave at any time. You’re saying goodbye to Grace this season, but you’re also throwing Fiona Shaw into the mix. Frankly, if you’re going to have a show and throw anyone into the mix, you want to throw her into the mix. What was the dynamic and the vibe like, to pull out one of the sisters, and then throw in somebody new?

HORGAN: [Fiona] just took to it like a duck to water. She loved the show anyway, so coming into it felt a little surreal to her. We just felt so lucky, all the time. She’s such an amazing person to work with. She’s so much fun. She cares so much. All the character really wants is to be accepted by these sisters, and she made a pretty awful bigot of a character quite vulnerable. You feel for her, and she managed to do that in a short space of time. With Anne-Marie [Duff], it was so intense the first few weeks because we were getting all that stuff shot, so it was odd. We did these really intense sister scenes with her, and all the stuff she did on her own and with Owen [McDonnell] was so beautiful, and then suddenly she wasn’t there. Fiona was a great substitute Garvey sister.

Related Fiona Shaw Leaves Quite an Impression in ‘Bad Sisters’ Season 2 Sneak Peek [Exclusive] Things are getting brutal at the bouquet toss.

What was your favorite sister moment this season?

HORGAN: I love the wedding because of how Derbhla [Walsh] shot it, and because we were dealing with hurricanes and all sorts of terrible weather and we managed to still make it work on screen. And then, I love the karaoke moment in episode five with the sisters together when they get to miss Grace. That scene happens just before all hell breaks loose on the boat, and I just love that scene. I love that song and I love that moment where the music brings them together and Becka says she’s pregnant. I did so many spoilers in that one sentence, but you started it!

Sharon Horgan Is Open to the Possibility of ‘Bad Sisters’ Season 3

Is there a third season of the story in the plan anywhere? I know there was no plan for a second season originally, but could you do this again?

HORGAN: There was no plan for a second one. Genuinely, I’m so happy that I did the second season of this because I felt like we dealt with stuff that we didn’t really get a chance to deal with in Season 1, which was the aftermath of something like this happening to someone like Grace. But I would have to have a similarly good idea and know the right way to execute it. It’s a wait and see kind of thing.

Bad Sisters Release Date August 19, 2022 Seasons 2

Bad Sisters is available to stream on Apple TV+. Check out the Season 2 trailer:

Watch on Apple TV+