The second episode picks up the morning after the sisters’ fireside chat, six months in the past. Eva’s house is becoming a character of its own, silently bearing witness to the many secrets within its walls. Eva rips a photo of JP in half and tosses it in the smoldering fire pit, then realizes Thomas and Matthew are nearly on her doorstep. Not a great look to be burning potential evidence, she quickly cleans up around the fire and rushes into the house.
The two men ask Eva if she and JP got along. Eva is honest, they clearly had disagreements a lot and clashed at work. It’s hard to see how Eva could like JP, with his constant digs at her infertility. Eva reiterates that all five sisters were together the night JP died, which is eventually going to come back to bite them if Thomas and Matthew find evidence proving otherwise. Eva watches out the window as Thomas steals the trash bag from her wheelie bin for evidence. Thomas wants to exhume JP’s body and do an in-depth postmortem, despite there being no evidence JP’s death was a homicide.
I love the transitions between time periods in this show. We’re now back six months in the past, with JP making everyone miserable again. He treats Grace like a maid, having her iron his socks and ordering her to break in his hiking boots around the house. When Eva comments to a work friend that she’s putting herself up for the Financial Director promotion, JP gleefully informs her he’s putting his hat in the ring too. It seems JP just can’t allow anyone in his life to be happy, except himself. Ursula’s secret is revealed: An affair with her photography tutor, Ben. When JP happens to see the two leaving a hotel, the joy upon realizing he has something he can threaten Ursula with is obvious.
Eva spends a lot of time with Grace and JP’s daughter, Blanaid. She takes her shopping and buys her expensive gifts, much to JP’s chagrin. Eva definitely sees Blanaid as the daughter she can’t have, and it becomes an issue in this episode when Eva buys the twelve-year-old her first bra. JP is horrified at the thought of his daughter growing up, and Grace is angry Eva “stole the moment” from her. I can see where Grace is coming from, but JP’s possessiveness is disturbing. After Blanaid’s confirmation, JP, Grace and Eva clash again over the bra incident. Blanaid overhears and is embarrassed. Grace tries to go after her, but JP grabs her arm and calls her weak. JP tells Eva to have a kid of her own, then cruelly reminds her she can’t and calls her a frigid bitch. Eva is so angry she can’t even speak. This is Eva’s turning point: she’s all in on murdering JP. I’m with her!
Eva and Bibi drive up to the cabin JP intends to stay in during his hike. They draw a floor plan of the cabin and measure it out with a tape measure, intending to leave the oven on and ignite the gas with a candle. Simple enough. There’s a picture of Eva and a man in the cabin, apparently from ten years ago. His name is Kieran, and it’s not yet apparent how he fits into this story… but in this show, photos are often an important hint.
We return to the present day as Thomas and Matthew question the medical examiner, who took JP’s case himself and is offended when they doubt him. Thomas points out JP had a blood alcohol level of 1.6 percent, but JP didn’t drink. The ME informs the men they need to take it up with the police and get Grace’s permission to exhume JP’s body. JP’s exact cause of death is not yet revealed to us. They decide to visit Grace, asking her if Eva would harm JP. Grace says Eva wouldn’t do anything to hurt her… Grace is very cautious with her wording here. She’s not lying to the investigators, but they already think Grace was with her sisters when she wasn’t. Was Grace in on the murder or not? The men trick Grace into signing an exhumation order and leave. Matthew keeps getting calls from Becka, not knowing she’s one of the Garvey sisters. They’re in for a shock when Becka realizes Matthew is investigating JP’s death.
In the past, Eva and Bibi are heading up to the cabin on the day of JP’s hike. Eva is terrified, Bibi is totally ready to blow JP to bits. Not even the members of JP’s hiking group like him, as he lags behind and whines like a tired child. He leaves the cabin to get cell service to call Grace and complain about his blisters, no doubt because she didn’t break in his boots well enough. Eva and Bibi wait an hour for him to fall asleep, then carry out their plan. They leave the cabin and hide in the woods, just as Eva gets a call from JP. Meaning he’s outside the cabin. It explodes, and the sisters are devastated to see JP standing on the edge of the clearing, cellphone in hand, unharmed. The cabin must be one of the four insurance claims mentioned in the first episode, as it is completely destroyed. I was as disappointed as Eva and Bibi to see him standing there alive and well.
I really enjoy watching the sisters plotting and am definitely on their team, JP is a vile man. I understand Eva’s motives to kill JP not just for her own professional gains, but because she sees the negative effects JP has on the mental health of not only Grace, but Blanaid too. I can’t wait to see what the sisters come up with next week!
