Bad Sisters – Missing

By starrymag | November 27, 2024

By: Kelly Kearney

 

 

Episode 3 picks up in the aftermath of Grace’s (Anne-Marie Duff) shocking death. The Garvey sisters are devastated, trying to cope with their loss while juggling two relentless detectives investigating their past crimes and one meddling woman who just can’t keep her nose out of their business. John Paul might be dead, but they now face a new threat in Angelica, who has inserted herself into their lives under the guise of caring about Grace. These “Bad Sisters” have always drawn strength from one another, but now, with Grace gone, the chain of their tight-knit sisterhood feels irreparably broken.

Irish Eyes are Crying

The episode opens with raw grief. All the sisters are reeling, but Ursula (Eva Birthistle) is particularly shattered. On top of mourning her older sister, she’s grappling with her addiction to pills and a gnawing guilt over whether the medication she gave Grace contributed to her death. Outside of Eva’s (Sharon Horgan) house, Ursula collapses into her arms, and Bibi (Sarah Greene) and Becka (Eve Hewson) join in as the four surviving sisters cling to one another in shared sorrow.

But grief isn’t their only burden. As they prepare for Grace’s funeral, the sisters are aware of the dangerous implications of her death. While it might temporarily stall the investigations into JP’s murder and his father’s suitcase-bound body, there are still forces working against them. Their grief leaves them vulnerable, and dropping their guard now could be catastrophic.

Inside Eva’s house, the sisters listen to the voicemail Grace left her before the accident. They play it on repeat, desperate to understand where Grace was going and what help she needed. At first, they wonder if it’s connected to Ian, Grace’s new husband, who recently went missing. But now, they’re starting to believe their suspicions about Ian’s disappearance might have been more hysteria than fact. Grace killed JP because he was an abusive rapist, and she was done being his victim. Ian, by contrast, had no reason to be in her crosshairs; they are newly married and seemingly in love. So, if Grace wasn’t fleeing some black widow-style crime, what caused her accident?

Ursula, wracked with guilt, is quietly panicking as the sisters debate Grace’s accident. She remembers their last interaction—both women on edge—and how she’d offered Grace one of her pills to help her calm down. Now, she has no idea if Grace took the pill before driving or if she warned her not to mix it with alcohol. After learning of the accident, Ursula rushed to Grace’s house to look for the pills, but they were nowhere to be found. She hasn’t shared any of this with her sisters, but the combination of guilt and grief is eating her alive.

When the police call to ask the sisters who will identify Grace’s body, the obvious choice is Ursula, being a nurse. She agrees, but part of her motivation is selfish—if she’s involved in the medical investigation, she might gain early insight into the toxicology report. Ursula isn’t thinking clearly. She’s overwhelmed with loss and terrified of what might come to light.

She decides to lean on her connection with lead detective Fergal Loftus (Barry Ward). Maybe their brief relationship will give her an edge in finding out the details of her sister’s autopsy.. But it quickly becomes clear that just because they’ve slept together doesn’t mean he’ll break protocol. Especially since Loftus and his partner, Detective Houlihan (Thaddea Graham), are increasingly convinced that Grace—and possibly her sisters—were involved in JP’s murder and now Ian’s disappearance. In fact, they suspect Grace’s late-night car ride was an attempt to escape their growing scrutiny. For the Garvey sisters, this mounting pressure isn’t just a test of their resilience—it’s a fight for their survival.

While Ursula is at the hospital identifying Grace’s body, the other sisters begin to unravel. Eva, overwhelmed with emotion, calls her boss and quits in dramatic fashion, declaring, “Stick this job in your hole.” Meanwhile, Becka notices that Bibi hasn’t shed a single tear. Instead, she falls back on her usual sarcasm, using humor as a shield to block out the pain.

One Last Goodbye

The sisters, despite their grief and disagreements, come together for one task: deciding on the perfect outfit for Grace to be buried in. They gather in her bedroom, sifting through her closet while reminiscing about their sister. The conversation turns lighthearted as they debate whether Grace should be buried in something sexy, honoring the confidence she recently embraced. Ultimately, Blanaid (Saise Quinn) makes the decision, choosing a dress that Grace loved and that brought her joy. She does, however, question if the dress matters since her mother will be cremated. It’s a dark and emotionless observation that seems odd falling out of the mouth of a teenager who lost both of her parents.  After Blanaid leaves the room, Bibi breaks her tough exterior for a moment, voicing her regret: “Grace would still be alive if we’d never gone after The Prick.” Every choice they made since JP’s death has haunted them, and now it might have cost them their sister.

Grace’s funeral begins with an awkward, if unintentionally comedic, tone. Angelica (Fiona Shaw) once again intrudes on their pain, seating herself in the family pew until the sisters force her to move. The priest, recovering from a stroke, struggles to deliver a coherent eulogy angering Eva and confusing the rest of the mourners. Instead of being outraged like her older sister, Bibi bursts into laughter, dubbing the whole thing laughable. She also refers to Angelica as a “grief thief” for her relentless attempts at inserting herself into their family drama. Angelica’s shamelessness isn’t the only issue they’ve been dealing with; she’s been quietly collecting information to use against the Garvey sisters and it seems to be working.

While all of this is happening at the front of the church, in the back, Matt Claflin (Daryl McCormack) arrives to pay his respects, much to Becka’s surprise. Detectives Houlihan and Loftus notice him immediately, knowing he could tie Grace to her husband’s  insurance policy and possibly connect her to the body discovered in the suitcase. Matt’s presence at the funeral raises eyebrows, as he seemingly has no relationship with Grace or her sisters. Only the audience knows the truth: he and Becka were romantically involved, a secret even her sisters don’t know, but the detectives soon might.

As the priest struggles through the eulogy, he opens the floor for anyone who’d like to say a few words in Grace’s honor. Roger (Michael Smiley) stands and begins to sing, and surprisingly, Bibi joins him. By the final verse there isn’t a dry eye in the church. Their heartfelt performance brings a semblance of dignity to an otherwise chaotic service.

Just as the funeral seems to be winding down, Ian (Owen McDonnell) makes an unexpected appearance. Alive and well, he clears up the mystery of his disappearance when he speaks to the Garvey sisters after the service: He tells them Grace had confided in him about killing JP, and their conversation became so heated that he left to clear his head. He stayed with a friend, not at the golf tournament Grace had claimed, and insisted her death had nothing to do with him. He then asks the sisters if they were involved in JP’s murder, and Eva admits they helped her cover it up. Before the conversation can go any deeper, Detectives Loftus and Houlihan appear, probing Ian with questions he has no answers for. The grieving husband reminds them that this is a funeral and emphasizes that he only met Grace’s sisters last year. He also never met JP or his father, so he deflects their inquiries, leaving the detectives to pursue their suspicions elsewhere.

Trust No One

After the funeral, family and friends gather at Grace’s house for the traditional wake. Ursula sits alone in the sunroom, looking completely despondent over her loss but also worry over what caused Grace’s accident. Angelica, ever the opportunist, notices she is alone and makes her move. She starts by offering Ursula some chocolate, then shifts to sharing her own sob story about loss. Apparently, Angelica was married once, and her husband died when she was young. It’s all carefully crafted to make Ursula think she understands her pain. And it works—Ursula lets her guard down and blurts out that she feels guilty about Grace’s death, though she doesn’t elaborate. Angelica, like a hungry shark sensing blood in the water, seizes the moment. She pretends to confide in Ursula, mentioning that Grace had told her about JP. She doesn’t give any details, but the insinuation is enough to make Ursula think Angelica knows what they did to the man. This puts Ursula at ease, and in her vulnerable state, she confesses to giving Grace pills the day of the accident. She breaks down, saying she feels responsible for Grace’s death. Angelica, ever the manipulator, comforts her by saying, “That which is done in love cannot be bad.” She even kisses Ursula on the forehead before tucking this new piece of information away with the other secrets she’s been collecting about the Garvey sisters.

A week later, reality hits Ursula, and she realizes the mistake she made. Frantically, she tries to call Angelica, but her calls go unanswered. Panicked about what the nosey woman might do with the information about the pills, Ursula tracks her down at the community center where Grace used to volunteer. Cornering Angelica, she demands to know if she’s told anyone about the pills. Her response is as slippery as ever, as she dodges the question and instead rambles on about a broken window at the center, and how expensive it’ll be to fix. The noise from the outside world disrupts her peace and quiet inside. Ursula gets the message loud and clear: Angelica is blackmailing her. Reluctantly, the frantic sister, delivers an envelope of cash with the words “For Quiet” written on the front and shoves it in Angelica’s mail slot. Whether the money is for fixing the window or for the woman’s silence, Ursula can only wait to see what she does next.

As if things couldn’t get worse, Ursula learns that her ex-husband’s new girlfriend, Ally (Deirdre Mullins), is running an audit at the hospital—specifically in the pharmacy—because of missing medications. Panicked, she rushes to the hospital to rifle through the logs in an attempt to cover her tracks. That’s when Ally catches her in the act. Feeling cornered, Ursula admits everything. She says she originally took the pills for her son, who was struggling with nightmares. But then, she started using them herself to help her sleep. Ever since childhood, she’s had trouble settling down at night, and the pills finally gave her relief. She knows it was wrong, but for her, getting some rest seemed worth the risk.Everything got out of hand after that and she seems apologetic, and Ally does feel sorry for her but makes it clear that she can’t cover this up. She tells Ursula she’ll need to leave the hospital while the investigation is ongoing, which sounds like Ursula, much like Eva, is about to lose her job. Before leaving, Ursula asks Ally how she even knew about the missing drugs. Did someone tip her off? Specifically, someone named Angelica? Ally’s reaction makes it clear that, yes, Angelica was involved.

The Parasite

Back to Loftus and Houlihan, who are still trying to come to terms with Grace’s death, which complicates their already messy investigation into George—the suitcase body. Through her digging, Det. Houlihan discovers that Bibi is a semi-pro poker player, which explains her talent for deception. She also suspects Becka and Matt Claflin had a relationship based on their flirty social media activity—likes, hearts, the works. Becka denies ever being involved with Matt, but her posts tell a different story. How this all ties together—one dead abusive husband, one floating suitcase father-in-law, and now their lead suspect is also deceased—is still unclear. But by the end of the episode, things start to come into focus.

Speaking of clarity, Eva is struggling to understand the shift in Blanaid’s attitude. The teenager is avoiding Eva–her new guardian, which is surprising given how close they used to be. In Season one, Blanaid was closer to her Aunt Eva than to her own mom, and now she’s pulling away from everyone. Sure, she’s grieving, but she’s also refusing to move back into Eva’s house. Instead, she’s staying at her childhood home with Ian, her stepfather. This pushes Eva to confront Ian about what’s going on as he insists he’s not trying to keep Blanaid away—he’s just trying to give her space to process her grief. She’s already lost both parents, and Ian feels moving her out of her home would be too much change. Eva reminds him that Grace wanted her to step in if anything happened to her or JP, and he can’t  argue with that; he just wants what’s best for Blanaid. Heartbroken, he admits, “I wish I could’ve saved Grace.” He then helps Eva with a stress-induced knot in her chest—a tension he recognizes from his own grief after losing his sister. Ian guides her through breathing exercises to release the pain, and Eva is touched by his kindness. Before leaving, she grabs one of Grace’s coats from the rack, wanting to feel closer to her sister. Inside the pocket, she finds a bank slip showing a withdrawal of over €20,000 made on the day Grace died. What was the money for? Where is it now? It wasn’t found at the crash site, which raises even more questions in this tangled mystery.

The Shocking Twist

At least one thing is resolved by the end of the episode. When the detectives meet with the sisters to share the toxicology report, Ursula looks like she’s about to collapse. But luckily for her, the results are clean—Grace hadn’t taken any pills or alcohol. The accident doesn’t appear to be her fault. Ursula bursts into sobs, which the detectives interpret as grief, but her sisters know better. Once the detectives leave, Ursula admits her breakdown was because she thought Grace had died from pills she’d given her. She’s relieved her mistake didn’t cost her sister’s life but is now panicked about what Angelica will do next. She tells her sisters Angelica knows about the pills, and now that woman is blackmailing her. It also might have led to an investigation of her at work. No wonder the sisters call Angelica “The Parasite”—she’s feeding off their trauma and causing chaos in their lives. Becka suggests the Garvey sisters need to stay one step ahead of Angelica before she does even more damage.

But the sisters don’t realize just how dangerous Angelica is. In a jaw-dropping twist, we see Blanaid secretly meeting with the woman and the two seem thick as thieves. They are clearly working together, but why? How did this partnership happen? Is Angelica manipulating Blanaid like she has done to her aunts, or has the observant teen learned the truth about her father’s death and is now seeking revenge on her aunts and her mother?

One thing’s for sure: taking on the Garvey sisters is risky business. They’ve already handled one major threat—JP—and getting rid of Angelica wouldn’t be out of the question. When it comes to these Bad Sisters protecting their family and their freedom, anything is possible.