Things have quickly gone from a wedding to a funeral in Bad Sisters season 2 episode 3. In the immediate aftermath of Grace’s (Anne-Marie Duff) death, the Garvey sisters struggle to process the events that led to this tragedy. Their grief is raw, but Ursula (Eva Birthistle) is dealing with a personal crisis that she believes could’ve caused Grace to crash. Instead of turning to her siblings, Ursula finds Angelica (Fiona Shaw) is all too happy to listen and offer words of wisdom. However, is Angelica collecting secrets to extort money from the Garveys?
Even though Grace is dead, Detective Inspector Lofthus (Barry Ward) and Detective Houlihan (Thaddea Graham) continue to investigate the various parts of Grace’s story about JP’s (Claes Bang) suicide that don’t add up. They turn their gaze to the Garveys, who they believe helped Grace with the cover up. Elsewhere, Eva (Sharon Horgan) struggles to connect with her niece Blanaid (Saise Quinn), and we find out what happened to Grace’s new husband, Ian (Owen McDonnell).
Read on for our full Bad Sisters season 2 episode 3.
Dealing with the fallout
The Garvey sisters have gathered at Eva’s house to comfort each other and speculate about what Grace was doing out at that time of night. The four siblings keep listening to Grace’s voicemail to Eva, in which Grace apologizes and asks for help without specifics. It's as if they think they will crack an unspoken code if they keep listening.
Eva continues to try to contact Ian, but Bibi (Sarah Greene) is still concerned Ian might be dead and perhaps Grace killed him. When they talk about Grace’s mental state, Ursula suddenly remembers giving Grace anti-anxiety pills the last time she saw her. The problem? Ursula acquired this medication from the hospital without a prescription. Ursula drives to Grace’s house and searches for the pill packet but comes up empty.
Back at Eva’s, Blanaid wants to know where Ian is, suggesting her mum drove him away because she was “psycho.” It gets a little heated, and Blanaid isn’t going to turn to her aunts for comfort soon.
Someone needs to formally identify Grace’s body so it can be released to the family, which Ursula volunteers to do because she is a nurse. Yet, Ursula also wants to find out the results of the toxicology screen to see if there are any pills in Grace’s system, but the results are not available yet.
The funeral
As the sisters pick a final outfit for Grace, going through Grace’s closet leads to reminiscing and laughter about the time Grace made leather trousers. This conversation cements the idea that they can’t sum up Grace in four paragraphs as part of a traditional eulogy. Instead, they will remember Grace after everyone else has left.
Bibi has been using humor to deflect her emotions, but she also voices regret, saying they should’ve left Grace and JP alone. If they had, none of this would’ve happened.
At the funeral, Angelica tries to sit on the front pew, but the sisters make it clear this seating is for family only. Matt Claflin (Daryl McCormack) attends but stands at the back and doesn’t approach his ex Becka (Eve Hewson). Less welcome are the two detectives, who also clock that Matt is there.
It's impossible to understand the priest, which makes the lack of a traditional eulogy more pointed. Thankfully, Roger (Michael Smiley) stands up and sings “Grace” by The Wolfe Tones. Bibi joins in to make a beautiful moment.
Ian makes a surprise return at the end of the funeral, much to the sisters’ short-lived relief. Ian tells them about Grace’s confessions, and they worry he will spill everything to the police. Instead, he tells Lofthus and Houlihan nothing incriminating. They must trust Ian for now.
Ursula's confession
At the wake, Angelica shared with Ursula that she knew what Grace was going through because her own husband died young. She then adds she knew what JP did to Grace and about the murder. Is Angelica implying she killed her husband? Either way, Angelica pulls at Ursula’s guilt, and Ursula admits giving Grace pills to calm down. Now, Ursula thinks this caused the crash.
A week later, Ursula tracks Angelica down at the sports club (doubling as a community center) because Angelica has been dodging her calls. Instead of addressing Ursula’s concerns directly, Angelica talks about how much Grace loved volunteering with Angelica, which included making “meals on wheels” for those in need. Angelica brings up a broken window that is too expensive to fix, implying that if Ursula pays for the repairs, she will keep her confession secret.
Meanwhile, Eva struggles to get Blanaid to move in with her, so she talks to Ian about this issue. Eva borrows Grace’s coat, and inside the pocket she finds bank receipts that reveal Grace had withdrawn €20,000 the day she died.
When Eva tells her sisters, Ursula spirals further and walks off without explaining. Things get worse for Ursula when she finds out the hospital is conducting an audit due to missing pills.
Was Angelica blackmailing Grace?
Ally (Ursula’s ex-husband’s new girlfriend) approaches Ursula at the hospital about her involvement in the pharmacy discrepancy. Ursula admits to taking the pills (which were initially for her son) and immediately panics about losing her job. It suddenly occurs to Ursula that Angelica might have tipped off the hospital, which Ally doesn’t confirm or deny.
Now that Lofthus and Houlihan think the sisters have something to do with JP’s death, they keep a closer eye on their movements and reactions. They use the tox report as an excuse to poke further. When Houlihan reveals the tox screen is clean (“not even half a shandy”), Ursula cannot contain her emotions.
While Ursula is being comforted, Houlihan asks Becka if she dated Matt and if this was the reason Grace dropped the claim. Becka lies about this romance but wonders if Matt spilled all to the cops at the funeral.
Ursula finally admits to her sisters about the pills and her theory that Angelica was blackmailing Grace. They realize they must stay one step ahead, but little do they know that Angelica has already connected with Blanaid. What does Angelica want from the Garvey family, and how dangerous is she?
New episodes of Bad Sisters premiere Wednesdays on Apple TV Plus.
