Pay attention now, I’m not going to go through these names more than once.

There’s Grace (Anne-Marie Duff) and her four sisters: Eva (Sharon Horgan), the level headed eldest; Ursula (Eva Birthistle), a nurse and mother; Bibi (Sarah Greene), the one-eyed plotter of the bunch; and Becka (Eve Hewson), Rocker Bono’s daughter in case you’re interested.

“Bad Sisters” is like “Little Women” from purgatory, and they all have one important thing in common: They hate JP, Grace’s evil, domineering, controlling husband (Claes Bang).

JP is the center of this series, even though he’s dead. We will meet him again in future chapters, because he has a contract, and we need to enjoy his sordid acts.

At opening, JP is in his coffin where his wife Grace is weeping over him. JP is smiling as though his death was a happy one.

Sure it was, because, in addition (send the children out of the room now until further notice) he sports a full erection. Yes, an erection, that’s what I said.

JP it seems, died truly happy and truly dead.

And so it begins.

When we meet JP alive for the first time we hate him instantly. He’s insufferable, arrogant, totally evil. If he were your brother-in-law, you would kill him right away.

JP, well-suited with good taste and manners, as monsters in literature usually are, treats Grace like a petulant third grader, and her sisters., of course, despise him, especially Bibi with the eye patch (she lost an eye because of JP) and seethes with plans of revenge.

How did JP die? That’s gonna take 10 Fridays to unfold. You’ll stick around because it’s fun, complicated but fun.

You’ll also meet the Claffin brothers born of different fathers, one is white one is black. Thomas (Brian Gleeson) a moronic, scurrilous clod. Matt (Daryl McCormack), a sweet, considerate man soon to be involved with one of the sisters.

The brothers Claffin run a down on its heels local insurance company that’s about to have to come up with a lot of money for JP’s widow, so much it seems, that it will close their company down.

Thomas is determined, with no evidence, to make a murder case of JP’s demise, so as to save his father’s insurance company. It’s an Irish thing, forget it.

As the series floats along, you’ll get to watch sister Bibi drag her reluctant sisters into a plot to murder JP.

Several attempts will be made. As we opened with JP in the box, we can assume one attempt was successful. Or was it?

The writers (including star and co-creator Horgan) adapted the show from Malin-Sarah Gozin’s Belgian series “Clan.”

“Bad Sisters” was filmed in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland, specifically in areas of County Dublin and Belfast, and streams on Apple TV+.

 

J.P. Devine of Waterville is a former stage and screen actor.

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‘Bad Sisters’: A second look