Bad Sisters creator and star Sharon Horgan has said that Grace’s death was a “brutal thing” but a necessary decision for the second season as it felt right for the character in the situation they were in.
Based on the Belgian series Clan and adapted by Horgan for Apple TV, the Motherland writer stars as eldest sister Eva, alongside Anne Marie Duff as Grace, Eve Hewson as Becka, Sarah Greene as Bibi, and Eva Birthistle as Ursula.
The black comedy follows the death of Grace’s abusive husband John Paul, played by Danish actor Claes Bang, in season one, with flashbacks showing the various plots and schemes that led to his murder, along with the final reveal of how he really died.
Season two begins two years after the events of the first season, with the second episode ending with the death of Grace.
Horgan explained in a new interview that the idea for Grace’s death was rejected at first for being too dark, but it felt right for the character.
“We had the idea about what would happen but then we dropped it, because we thought, ‘I don’t know if we can continue the tone of Bad Sisters with Grace dying.’ It felt too dark,” Horgan told The Hollywood Reporter.
“Then we ended up going back to it because we couldn’t really see a world where all five sisters would just be on this kind of paper – the whole first season was about protecting her. Then to lose her and to want to get to the bottom of what happened, and for there to be so much to be unveiled and revealed along the way felt like there was so much to play with.
“It felt real. It felt true to the situation that she was in. And, how do you get back from that if you’re a character like Grace, so raw and exposed? It felt like a brutal thing to do, but it felt right for the story.”
Director and executive producer Dearbhla Walsh added: “We met five orphans in season one. We never really go into the loss of their [parents], but death is all around them. So it really feels that you get to explore that again through Grace.”
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Speaking to The Independent, Sarah Greene described working with the cast on season two, saying instead of feeling pressure about meeting audience expectations they felt more in control this time around.
“In a way, we were more comfortable,” she said. “We knew what the tone was, and the impact it had had on audiences. We weren’t trying to find our characters for the first time, so it was like meeting old friends again.
“We annoy the crew because we talk so much. They’d be like, ‘We said action!’ And we’d still be chatting.”
The Independent’s Amanda Whiting gave the first season five stars, describing it as a series “about the profound lifelong bonds that can grow in place of so-called healthy boundaries”.
Bad Sisters can be watched on Apple TV.