Apple TV’s 18-Episode Dark Comedy Thriller Is the Perfect ‘Big Little Lies’ Replacement

Image via Natalie Seery/©Apple TV+ / Courtesy Everett Collection Published Oct 23, 2026, 8:33 PM EDT Molly DeCastro is a New York-based emerging film and entertainment journalist with a personal passion for poetic prose and impactful storytelling. She graduated from Pace University with a degree in English and a concentration in creative writing. While film analysis is at the heart of her work, she is especially interested in exploring cinema through an anthropological lens and in examining how creative themes reflect cultural identity. She aims to forge a deep connection between audiences and film through thoughtful and evocative writing. She also enjoys keeping up with all things film! That means specializing in industry news, emerging directors, and stand-out projects. Sign in to your Collider account When it comes to emotional depth, few things strike a chord quite like sisterhood. A prime example of this notion is Apple TV's stunning black comedy Bad Sisters. Set in Dublin, the heavily decorated series, developed by Sharon Horgan, Dave Finkel, and Brett Baer, captures the five Garvey Sisters at a particularly tumultuous juncture in their lives. As they suspect one of their own could have blood on her hands, they band together as they find themselves at the very center of a life insurance investigation. The streamer's most recent hit combines intriguing yet puzzling timelines with an effortlessly charming cast, winning over audiences with incredible ease. The first season was so outstanding, in fact, it deservedly received a Peabody Award. For context, other recipients include TV legends such as Breaking Bad, Game of Thrones, and Succession. In just two seasons, this series has firmly established itself as a true masterwork. Plus, in 2023, the show was awarded a BAFTA for Best Drama Series and Best Supporting Actress, specifically for Anne-Marie Duff, who played Grace Williams. On top of that, it won a plethora of IFTAs, and on a slightly smaller scale, season 1 received a 100% on Rotten Tomatoes, and Season 2 received a slightly lower yet still positive 88%. Overall, it's safe to say everyone was (and still is) completely enraptured by this series. Why is Everyone Obsessed with Apple TV's 'Bad Sisters' In an attempt to express the watching experience that is Bad Sisters, fans have referred to it as a pitch-black comedy, in reference to its oxymoronic balance of drama and humor. To quote the iconic Fleabag creator, Phoebe Waller-Bridge: "Disarm the audience with comedy, then punch them in the gut with drama when they least expect it." It appears both the showrunners and cast held a similar philosophy. An example of this philosophy at work can be found at the very beginning of the series. Collider Exclusive · 8 Questions · 2 Minutes Which Iconic Fandom Should You Join? Harry Potter · Lord of the Rings · Star Wars · Star Trek Eight honest questions about how you actually are: what you put on when you need cheering up, how deep you go into the things you love, what you argue about, what you keep on your shelf. Answer them and we will tell you where you belong. Four of the biggest fandoms on earth are taking new members, and they could not be more different from one another. ⚡Harry Potter(Wizarding World) 💍Lord of the Rings(Middle-earth) ⚔️Star Wars(A Galaxy Far Away) 🖖Star Trek(The Final Frontier) FIND YOUR PEOPLE → 01 What do you put on when you need cheering up? Nobody is brave about this one. AThe same thing I have watched a hundred times. BSomething long, slow and beautiful. CSomething big and loud with a great score. DOne clever episode of something hopeful. NEXT QUESTION → 02 How deep do you go into something you love? There is no shallow end here, only different deep ends. AI know every character and all the gossip. BI have read the appendices and studied the maps. CI have a ranked opinion on every instalment. DI want to know how the world actually works. NEXT QUESTION → 03 What do you and your friends actually argue about? Every fandom has one argument it has been having for years. AWhich one of us is which type. BWhether the adaptation got it right. CWhether the new stuff ruined the old stuff. DWhether the right thing was actually done. NEXT QUESTION → 04 How do you feel about a room full of strangers? Every one of these comes with a very big room. AGreat, and I will know everybody by the end. BFine, as long as they take it seriously. CBrilliant, especially if there is something to dress up for. DHappy, provided the conversation is interesting. NEXT QUESTION → 05 Where would you rather spend a week? Pick on instinct rather than on budget. AAn old castle somewhere rainy. BMountains, long walks, no phone signal. CA desert with an unbelievable night sky. DA city built around a university. NEXT QUESTION → 06 What do you believe about people, mostly? All four of these stories have an answer, and they disagree. AMost of them turn out better than expected. BThe smallest ones decide the biggest things. CAnybody can change, even very late on. DWe work it out if we keep talking. NEXT QUESTION → 07 What is actually on your shelf? Look over at it before you answer. AEverything I owned when I was twelve. BHardbacks, in order, read more than once. CFigures, posters, and a few things still boxed. DBooks about how things work, plus a model or two. NEXT QUESTION → 08 What do you actually want from a story? Eight questions in, this is the one that picks your fandom. AA place I can go back to whenever I need it. BA world complete enough to get lost in. CSomething huge I can share with everybody. DAn idea that changes how I think. REVEAL MY FANDOM → Membership Confirmed Your Fandom Is…Four of the largest communities on the planet, and four completely different reasons to belong to one. Here is yours, what it would give you, and the argument you would be having within a week. Harry PotterYou belong to the fandom that is really about comfort. Hogwarts works on people because it is a place rather than a plot, and the pull is not the wizard war so much as the corridors, the food, the weather and the sense that somebody is expecting you. You are drawn to belonging, which is why this fandom sorted itself into houses within about five minutes and has never stopped. This is the most social of the four, and the one most likely to know which type every single person in your life would be. The books are built to be reread rather than analysed, and rereading is exactly what you do with things you love. The new HBO series is bringing the whole thing back one book at a time, which means the arguments are about to start all over again. Lord of the RingsYou belong to the deepest fandom on this list, the one where somebody has always read further than you and is quietly delighted to say so. Middle-earth rewards patience more than any other world in popular culture. You like the sense that the story you are reading is only the visible part of something enormous, which is precisely how Tolkien built it. This fandom takes adaptation seriously to a degree that other fandoms find slightly alarming, and it has good reasons for that. Your favourite thing about the books is probably the bit that is not action at all, which is the walking, the songs and the long goodbyes. Nobody here thinks heroism belongs to the powerful, and the whole story exists to make that argument. Star WarsYou belong to the loudest and largest tent of the four, the one where three generations are all watching the same thing and none of them agree about any of it. That disagreement is not a flaw in this fandom, it is the main activity. You want something you can share with absolutely everybody, from a six year old to a grandparent, and this is the only one on the list that really does that. Nobody argues like Star Wars fans argue, and the argument has been running since roughly 1980 with no sign of resolution. The pull here is sensory before it is narrative, since it is the sound design, the score and the look of a used and dented galaxy. You would be first in the queue, in costume, with strong opinions and a genuinely good time. Star TrekYou belong to the thinking fandom, the one that turns up for the argument rather than the explosion. Trek has always been a series of ethical problems in space, and the people who love it love being asked what they would have done. You are an optimist in a way that is currently unfashionable, and this is the only major franchise still willing to say the future might be better. The best episodes are the ones where nobody fires anything, which is a sentence that makes perfect sense to this fandom and to nobody else. Starfleet Academy brought the franchise back to a classroom in 2026, which is appropriate, because Trek has always been a bit of a seminar. You would want the conversation afterwards more than the episode itself, and here you will always find somebody willing to have it. ↻ RETAKE THE QUIZ The show opens as a recently widowed Grace Garvey is violently pressing down on her deceased husband's genitals, as she tries to dampen an erection he is somehow maintaining posthumously, as he lies in his coffin. Interjecting, her sister Ursela (Eva Birthistle) explains: “Post-mortem priapism... it’s not uncommon. Especially after a violent death.” Immediately, with exquisite ease, a layer of intrigue and a hint of debauchery sets a deeply entertaining precedent for what's to come as the plot moves forward. ‘Bad Sisters’ Is More Than Just a Darkly Funny Murder Mystery Their parents passed; thus, all the Garvey sisters have left is each other, and they will stop at nothing to protect one another. Each of them serves a different role, and each of their characters is incredibly well written, thus making their rights and wrongs lovable nonetheless. Upon meeting Grace's late husband, John Paul (Claes Bang), the audience is then shown why he is—well, late. With such thoughtful poignancy, it becomes clear he's coercive, controlling, and undoubtedly abusive, not only to Grace, but also to their daughter. In any Good-for-Her-esque series, the audience must be given reasonable justification. The Bad Sisters is a masterclass in doing so. Through this skillful execution, right off the bat, the audience knows what they're in for: an occasionally stirring, truly wild ride. By all accounts, this show is perfectly constructed. From Season 1 to 2, it has only matured in its already well-established way. Evidently, each moving part of the series, from the cast to the directors to the writers, has done their due diligence in crafting a truly compelling and well-thought-out story. It is relentlessly funny and surprisingly moving, while still leaving one at the edge of their seat. Truly a flawless cocktail of everything good modern television has to offer. Bad Sisters is available to stream on Apple TV. Bad Sisters Release Date 2022 - 2024-00-00 Network Apple TV Cast Eva Birthistle Ursula Flynn