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After another impressive, delightfully gripping batch of episodes, Apple TV+‘s hit dark comedy Bad Sisters ended Season 2 on a high note and finally answered the burning question that’s been on fans’ minds since the premiere: “Whose body is in the Garvey girls’ trunk?”
Based on Malin-Sarah Gozin’s Belgian series, CLAN, Bad Sisters returned for its sophomore season with the goal of tying up Season 1’s loose ends. Despite the Season 2 finale’s title, “Cliff Hanger,” Sharon Horgan’s series wrapped Episode 208 with a satisfying sense of closure for characters and viewers alike.
When we left Eva (Horgan), Bibi (Sarah Greene), Ursula (Eva Birthistle), and Becka (Eve Hewson) in Season 2’s penultimate episode, they’d learned that Ian (Owen McDonnel) was a con man whose real name was Cormack Sweeney. Using his lucky number five, Eva cracked the passcode on the phone they found hidden in Grace’s bathroom earlier in the season, then she used it to track down his home address. When she knocked on the door hoping to find him, however, a woman answered and claimed she had no knowledge of Cormack or Ian. Eva left feeling like she hit a dead end, but the woman walked upstairs where Ian was playing with their son and daughter. “You said they’d never come to our house or anywhere near our kids,” his wife furiously told him. “You need to sort this out.”
Meanwhile, after digging into Ian’s past, Houlihan (Thaddea Graham) uncovered his true identity and learned that Cormack was a former police sergeant with domestic abuse, embezzlement, and fraud charges against him. As if things couldn’t get worse for the Garvey girls, the episode ended with Ian unexpectedly picking Blanaid (Saise Quinn) up from school and showing up at Eva’s home.
So what goes down between Ian and the Garvey sisters in the Bad Sisters Season 2 finale?Who’s in the trunk — or should I say the boot? And does the season really end with another murder? Decider’s Bad Sisters Season 2, Episode 8 recap has all the answers.
Bad Sisters Season 2 finale spoilers ahead.
Bad Sisters Season 2 Ending Explained: Season 2, Episode 8 “Cliff Hanger” Recap
Before we learned what Ian had in store for Eva in present day, Bad Sisters traveled back in time to fill in some crucial gaps in the days after Grace told Ian she killed John Paul. A flashback to that very night showed Ian pushing Grace to the ground before he left the house. Grace sliced her hand open and her blood got on Ian’s shirt, which explained the earlier scene in which the sisters tried to hide bloody laundry from the guards.
When Ian disappeared, he retreated to his real hometown, and Grace had contact with him several times without her sisters knowing. She called him crying and begged him to return, saying, “I’m so sorry. My sisters are gonna talk to Roger and it will be like it was.” Ian crushed any hopes of trying to make their marriage work, telling Grace he didn’t trust her anymore and no longer wanted to be with her. In another heartbreaking blow, he told Grace that if she wanted him to keep her secret she had to make it worthwhile for him financially.
Photo: Apple TV+Desperate for answers, Grace unlocked Ian’s mysterious bathroom phone and called the sole number in the call log. A woman — the same one who answered the door for Eva — picked up and asked why Grace was calling from her husband Cormack’s phone. When Ian hopped on the line, he told Grace never to ring the number again, and demanded she meet him at a bar with money. When Grace kissed Blanaid goodbye and apologized, that’s where she was headed — but she had every intention of returning home. Rather than bring Ian the money, Grace stashed the bag with the turtles, then she went to the bar to demand answers. There, Ian threatened to expose her and tell Blanaid everything. When he told her she was just a mark and he was never really in love with her, Grace ordered him to stay away from her family and refused to give in to this financial demands. She stormed out, drove away, left Eva that voicemail asking for help, and got into her fatal car crash running from him.
In present day, Eva walked into her house to find Blanaid safely on the couch fully unaware of any issue with Ian. After they encouraged her to go to her friend’s house so they could have a chat, Ian apologized for leaving without saying goodbye, and Eva put him in his place, revealing that she knew he targeted Grace and had a whole other identity and life. When Eva’s sisters arrived, the Garvey girls demanded that Ian give back Blanaid’s money. Before the group could argue about it, Bla returned home, and to get her out of the house and keep Ian from fleeing, Ursula grabbed Ian’s car keys and drove her niece to pizza night with Molly and her ex.
Photo: Apple TV+While the Garvey sisters were facing Ian in the flesh, Houlihan was digging up more dirt on him. She went to her boss and begged to reopen the case in hopes of nailing the disgraced ex cop accused of sexual harassment and more, only to be told that if she turned on a fellow Guard she’d be denied future promotions. Disheartened by the unjust reality of her job, Houlihan headed home and sulked, until her mom reminded her that she never does what she’s told, she does what’s right. The words re-lit Houlihan’s fire and she set out to locate Ian, unafraid of the consequences.
Back at Eva’s house, the sisters told Ian that Grace died running away from him, but when they discussed going to the cops to turn him in, Ian revealed he’s a police officer with “a lot of colleagues North and South who’d back me over a bunch of hysterical women crying wolf again.” As he cursed Grace out, saying no one could ever love “a murdering nut job,” someone out of frame smashed him in the head, causing him to fall, whack his head on the table, and start bleeding profusely. His attacker? The one, the only Angelica (Fiona Shaw), who came to apologize to the sisters but lost control after hearing the horrible things Ian said about Grace.
Horrified that yet another murder — this time of a cop! — took place in their orbit, the Garvey sisters spiraled, while Angelica sat in shock. Just when the women though they were “totally fucked,” Houlihan rang Eva’s doorbell looking for Ian. Classic Bad Sisters. Though Eva quickly got rid of her, things got worse after the sisters panic-moved Ian’s body and Houlihan spotted Ursula driving Ian’s car back to Eva’s house. Rather than turn themselves in, the Garveys decided to drive Ian’s body to the cliffs and dump it, which means that Ian was indeed the body in the trunk. As the sisters headed out, they tasked Angelica — still in shock and blissfully focusing on food — with moving Ian’s car, a job she royally messed up after running into Houlihan. But more on that later…
Photo: Apple TV+The sisters drove to the cliffs and popped the trunk of Bibi’s car, only to be spooked by an unexpected spring that made them fear Ian was still alive. After Bibi assured them the old trunk just pops open sometimes, they returned to find the body missing. Turns out, no one checked for a pulse and Ian WAS still alive. Wrapped in some blankets and Becka’s robe (with her name conveniently stitched inside), Ian fearfully backed away from the women and accidentally slipped off the cliff himself. Just when the Garvey girls thought they were finally in the clear again, they looked down and saw Ian survived the fall and was stuck on a rock. Bibi and Ursula wanted to finish the job to ensure Ian couldn’t hurt them anymore, but rather than commit murder, Eva and Becka thought it best to call for help and risk the consequences. Eva called an ambulance and the sisters fled the scene, but when they arrived back home, a new mess was waiting for them, courtesy of Angelica.
When Houlihan found her driving Ian’s car, Angelica spilled and told the detective everything. The Garvey girls explained that Ian wasn’t dead after all, that he had “an accident” at the cliffs, and that they called an ambulance to help him. Houlihan made a call to inquire which hospital Cormack Sweeney was checked into, which let the sisters know she was aware of his true identity. Though Houlihan initially claimed the Garveys were in serious trouble, after they explained that DI Loftus (Barry Ward) lied about Grace, she died running away from Ian, and the Guards were covering up criminal behavior, Houlihan teared up and said, “I tried to help Grace, and I want to help you now.” After learning that Cormack was still alive, Eva said, “He’s alive… our sister’s dead. What more punishment do we need?” The words resonated with Houlihan, who hopped in her car, made a call, and told the mystery recipient, “I need your help.”
Photo: Apple TV+Since Angelica didn’t kill anyone, she apologized to the sisters and headed back home to Roger, who she kindly kept in the dark about the latest Garvey chaos. Houlihan headed to the hospital to see Ian and shut down claims that the sisters tried to kill him before Loftus waltzed in to set him straight. “You’ve been a very naughty boy from what I hear,” Loftus told Ian, rattling off a list of his crimes. “[The sisters] were nowhere near you that night. I will contradict every word you say and destroy evidence if I have to. I’m dodgy like that. I’m a bit like you.” Before leaving, the detectives ordered Ian to give the Garveys Blanaid’s money and call the cliff dive and accident. Loftus told Houlihan they were even, and he even encouraged her to stick with the job, as the place would only get more broken without her.
With lingering loose ends tied and the law on their side for once, the Garvey girls were finally able to move forward — but not before giving Grace a proper memorial service. In Season 2’s emotional closing scenes, the family — including Joe (Peter Claffey), his and Becka’s baby, and a pregnant Nora (Yasmine Akram) — headed to the water with Grace’s ashes. Before she said goodbye to her mom, Blanaid had a heart-to-heart with Eva and explained, “I’m not deaf and I’m not blind. My dad — I know he wasn’t a good person, but that’s not me. I know who I am. I know how good my mom was, and that’s who I am. That’s what I think about, not all the other stuff.”
As “All My Tears” by Ane Brun played, Bad Sisters flashed back to the Garvey girls swimming at the Forty Foot when they were younger. In a final scene filled with love, laughter, and tears, the family let Grace’s ashes float out to see as they blew kisses, said goodbye, and yelled “We love you, Gracie.” Despite the episode title, the season wrapped without a cliffhanger in sight.
If the Garvey girls said goodbye for good, we’ll miss them terribly, but they had one heck of a run. Bad Sisters skillfully avoided the sophomore slump, and will remain one of Apple TV+’s greatest, most underrated shows.
Bad Sisters Season 2 is now streaming on Apple TV+.
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