Everything comes to a head in this episode. We finally see what happened after Grace (Anne-Marie Duff) told Ian (Owen McDonnell) about killing her husband, and Ian's reaction is as cruel as you would expect. He pushes her to the ground and throws his shirt at her. Ian sees this as a way out of the relationship and blackmails Grace for money. He really is the villain of this story. Before Grace can pay him off, she finds Ian's secret phone and calls, who turns out to be Cormac’s, aka Ian, wife Colleen (Siobhán O'Kelly). Now Grace knows Ian's secret.
Grace is instructed to bring the money to Ian at the Dundalk bar. We now know that when Grace kisses Bla and says she's sorry, it's for bringing this a-hole into their lives. Grace hides the money with the turtles and makes her way to the meeting place with Ian.
Grace is strong and tells Ian she's not giving him anything—not the house, not the money, nothing. What's heartbreaking is Ian telling Grace that he never loved her; she was just a mark. The Garvey sisters have terrible taste in men. Grace takes off and calls Eva (Sharon Horgan) for help. Grace didn't want to die; she wanted help fighting Ian. Fergal (Barry Ward) got everything wrong about this situation.
Back to the present, Eva is alarmed to see that Ian has returned. She and Ian try to act normal around Blanaid (Saise Quinn) who asks for a ride to her friend's house, but Ian tells her to take her bike.
Eva wants Blanaid's money back, but Ian still thinks he has the upper hand. The arrival of the other sisters brings the stand-off we've been waiting to see. The exchange is halted when Blanaid comes back in whining that her friend would rather hang out with a guy than her. Watching the sisters kick into supportive aunt mode is what makes this show work. Eva has the idea for Bla to hang out with her cousin Molly (Kate Higgins) and head to Casa Romanos. The sisters show extreme enthusiasm for Casa Romanos, and Ursula (Eva Birthistle) offers to take Bla to the restaurant in Ian's car.
Backed into a corner, Ian lies to the sisters and says that he told Grace about Eva coming on to him and that Grace was going to confront Eva that night. The other thing I love about this show is that the sisters know this is a lie, and Becka (Eve Hewson) angrily comes after him. Ian throws her off, and she hits her head on the sink.
Ian then launches into a highly misogynistic monologue about women, revealing that he was once a police officer and calling the sisters "hysterical women crying wolf again." He then threatens them with going to the police about covering up JP's murder and telling Bla what really happened to her father.
Eva asks Ian the same question that Grace asked if he ever loved her. The sisters need to know that Grace felt love before she died. True to form, Ian tells them that Grace asked the same thing, and his response was, "How could anyone love a murdering nut job…" and then TWACK. Ian's hit on the back of the head. If that's not enough, he hits his head on the table on his way down. The sisters are horrified as they watch Ian's blood flow through the grout of the kitchen floor.
“Cliff Hanger”- BAD SISTERS, Pictured: Fiona Shaw as Angelica: Apple TV+ © 2024. All Rights Reserved
And there stands Angelica (Fiona Shaw), who knows how to wield a camogie stick, to the rescue. She didn't like what Ian said about Grace, and our view of her instantly changed.
Meanwhile, Houlihan (Thaddea Graham) is getting closer to the truth about Ian/Cormac. She knows he was a detective sergeant who was accused of sexual harassment and witness intimidation. She goes to her supervisor to tell him what she knows, but she's essentially told to back down and that Guards protect other Guards. She either backs down or kisses her career goodbye. Houlihan is disillusioned by everything she's experienced. Her mother reminds her that she does what's right; she can't help herself. Houlihan has seen the impact of domestic abuse and knows that Ian is dangerous.
The sisters panic when the doorbell rings, panicking about what to do with Ian. Houlihan is back on the case and is there to warn the sisters that Ian is dangerous. Will they pin Ian's death on Angelica, or does she become an honorary Garvey? While Eva and Houlihan are talking, the sisters move the body and clean up the blood, and he's wrapped in Becka's cow-spotted robe. They are going to dump him off the cliffs in Donegal. Ah! The answer to who is in the trunk, finally! They have to take Bibi's (Sarah Greene) car, although she's not keen on the plan saying, "I'm not into that," because she just cleaned it.
Angelica has made the sisters sandwiches for the journey and is now tasked with driving Ian's car away from the house, but she is caught by Houlihan, and we all know that Angelica isn't going to lie about Ian.
Here we are, full circle at the cliffs. The problem is that Bibi's trunk pops open, scaring the crap out of everyone until Bibi explains that the trunk tends to pop open. They return to the car, but Ian is no longer in the trunk. They really should've had Ursula check his pulse before assuming he was dead. He's up, and he's disoriented. In the end, Ian follows part of the plan and falls off the cliff but onto another ledge, still alive. Bibi attempts to climb down to push him into the water, but the sisters can't bear to lose another sister. They call for an ambulance. They are not murderers. They are protectors and advocates, but they can't murder Ian.
The sisters return home to find Ian's car still at the house, and Houlihan is there to look at the trunk. Angelica admitted that she killed Ian and that the sisters were going to dispose of the body. That's when Eva shares that Ian is not dead. Angelica views this as a miracle. Becka tells the truth about where they are and follows up on if Ian is in the hospital. The sisters discover that Houlihan knows about Ian's secret identity and accuse her of being just like the other police officers who couldn't keep Grace safe. This strikes a nerve with Houlihan. She doesn't want to be the type of police officer she's observed. Bibi asks her to help them. Houlihan makes a decision and calls in a favor.
At the hospital, Houlihan confronts Ian, accusing him of ripping off the Garvey sisters and causing Grace's death. Ian tells her she doesn't have any proof of that since she is there on her own. And when you think this POS will get away with his crimes, Fergal enters the room and details all of Ian's crimes. He also backs up alibis for the sisters and says that he will contradict every word Ian says against the Garveys and destroy evidence if he has to. The money will return to the Garvey sisters, and the ordeal will be called an accident. It was nice to see Fergal get a little bit of redemption both in backing Houlihan and telling her that she is the type of change needed in the police department.
We finally get some closure when the sisters gather by the sea to give Grace a proper send-off. Anjelica did get the water part right. As they walk to the seashore, Bla shares with Eva that she knows about her father and that she wants to be the good that her mother represents. Everyone was trying to protect Bla, but in the end, she knew what was going on in her house.
“Cliff Hanger”- BAD SISTERS, Pictured: Saise Quinn as Blanaid, Sharon Horgan as Eva, Peter Claffey as Joe, Eve Hewson as Becka, Yasmine Akram as Nora, Sarah Greene as Bibi and Eva Birthistle as Ursula. Photo: Apple TV+ © 2024. All Rights Reserved
We get flashbacks to the sisters as children swimming at Forty Foot and see that Becka has had her baby, Nora (Yasmine Akram) is pregnant, and they are remembering Grace's happy moments as they send her out to sea in a crown of flowers and say goodbye.
If season one was about the things we will do for the people we love, season two was about grief and the crazy things it makes us do. I'm happy to have spent some more time with the Garveys, but I hope this is the end of their journey.
What's next, Sharon Horgan? If you're creating it, I'm watching it.
Ursula gets the line of the episode, "I've got to earn the euros to buy the churros."
