Bad Sisters is a 10-episode mini-series from Apple TV+. It’s a bit of a whodunit, and not really a howdunit, but mostly a… dunwhat? The series begins with a funeral and from the start, you’re pretty sure you know who killed him, but until the very last episode, you don’t know the cause of death.
Here’s the official show description from Apple TV+:
The tight-knit Garvey sisters have always looked out for each other. When their brother-in-law winds up dead, his life insurers launch an investigation to prove malicious intent— and set their sights on the sisters, all of whom had ample reason to kill him.
Intrigued? Bad Sisters is easily one of the best mystery shows I’ve ever seen and I highly recommend you just abandon this review to go watch it, but If that’s not enough to convince you, it’s impossible to discuss properly without some spoilers, so you’ve been warned.
Now, Bad Sisters is categorized as a dark comedy, but it’s not laugh-out-loud comedy. It generally strikes a fairly dark and serious tone, and at the same time the events are hilariously absurd. The series is full of murder attempts gone awry in the most ridiculous ways. It’s like watching a gruesome adaptation of the roadrunner cartoons. While it has its funny moments, we mostly see the gritty, clumsy nuance of the average person trying to murder someone, which isn’t typically explored in this genre.
Whodunits generally have two primary sets of cast members: the investigators and the suspects. In Bad Sisters, the impetus for investigating the death as suspicious comes from the life insurance company, because they don’t want to pay out the claim. It’s certainly a unique spin on the idea of investigating a murder, and lends lots of creative freedom to the story. As insurance agents, the investigators aren’t bound to the same regulations and procedures we’d expect from a police detective, but they’re much more personally invested than a private detective or amateur sleuth might be.
As the title suggests, the show centers on the primary suspects, the sisters of the widow. And over the course of the show, you can’t help but cheer on these probably-murderers as they evade the questioning of those pesky insurance agents. Until suddenly you’re also hoping that the brothers at the insurance company don’t have to pay out the claim. It’s a journey unlike any other I’ve been on as a viewer, simultaneously hoping that the investigation is a success and that the murderers get away with it.
Speaking of the probably-murderers, I love that the show spends ample time exploring each sister’s identity and relationships - with each other, with the victim, with their spouses and children. They all feel like real people with agency and personalities. We are given the time and space to understand their experiences, their flaws, and their motive for killing their brother-in-law. Without their parents, the sisters have formed a very tight protective family unit, and this series explores what happens when that unit is threatened.
After weeks of cultivating my hatred for the murder victim and seething in frustration each time he only almost died, I was starting to doubt if they would really be able to conclude the story successfully in the final episode. But they did, and it didn’t feel particularly rushed, either. I would certainly welcome a bit of an epilogue to check in on the sisters a little further down the road, but that’s not a criticism of anything lacking in the ending as it stands. (Though there is one plot line with the youngest sister that I wish had a bit more attention.) All in all, this is a wonderfully crafted series with a satisfying conclusion.
