Not every thing wants a second season.
“Dangerous Sisters,” created by Sharon Horgan, Brett Baer, and Dave Finkel, and primarily based on the Belgian sequence “Clan,” was one such sequence, neatly wrapping up the eponymous Garvey sisters’ story with ten episodes that premiered on Apple TV+ in 2022.
However of these many exhibits that ought to have left properly sufficient alone, a uncommon few handle to tug off that second installment (if no more past that) with — if not resounding success, then aplomb. “Dangerous Sisters” didn’t want a second season, however Horgan and her group execute the near-impossible process of selecting up, constructing out, and well persevering with the story, even when Season 1 stays superior.
Season 2 catches up with the sisters — Grace (Anne-Marie Duff), Eva (Horgan), Ursula (Eva Birthistle), Bibi (Sarah Greene), and Becka (Eve Hewson) — a number of years after the opposite 4 deliberate to kill Grace’s husband, just for her to finish up killing him herself. Life with out “the Prick” agrees with Grace and daughter Blanaid (Saise Quinn), till the nosy Angelica (Fiona Shaw) begins digging up the previous.
Angelica is one among a handful of recent gamers within the “Dangerous Sisters” world; there’s additionally Grace’s new beau Ian (Owen McDonnell), detective inspector Leftus (Barry Ward), his associate Houlihan (Thaddea Graham), and Becka’s new love curiosity Joe (Peter Clafley). Shaw’s character is the one one barely shoehorned in — she performs the sister of Roger (Michael Smiley), Grace’s form neighbor from Season 1 — however she’s additionally Fiona Shaw and he or she’s feasting, so it doesn’t really feel price a grievance. The others fill within the lacking years and gaps from Season 1, the place the primary homicide investigation was carried out by an insurance coverage firm.
In Season 1, the viewers a minimum of knew who died earlier than the present pieced collectively the way it occurred and the Claflin brothers (Daryl McCormack and Brian Gleeson) tried to catch up. Season 2 opens with Eva, Ursula, Bibi, and an injured Becka driving what seems to be a lifeless physique to the sting of a cliff — and spends the subsequent 9 episodes revealing who, how, and why. The place Season 1 spent needed time establishing who everybody was and the way they slot in, Season 2 is compelled to begin at a quicker clip and rely closely on plot twists in lieu of character work. Gone is the quirky flashback machine that seems to rewind or quick ahead via frames of time; as a replacement, the story spins circles across the similar questions and character beats for longer than needed (even with 9 episodes as a substitute of ten). Every sister’s arc for the season will be kind of summed up in a single sentence that’s stretched out into too many scenes, beats, and moments the place they get flustered and exit a dialog mid-thought.
However man, the sisters are sister-ing. Horgan, Birthistle, Greene, and Hewson specifically crafted a rock-solid dynamic in Season 1 that continues right here with out lacking a beat. There are extra scenes with all of them collectively — once more, a shift from Season 1’s calmer pacing, by which completely different combos of sisters revealed their interpersonal relationships whereas staying true to the fact of sibling dynamics. However with one homicide below wraps, one other ostensibly on the horizon, and the one they tried (time and again), you possibly can’t fault the Garveys for wanting to keep up a powerful, united entrance.
“Dangerous Sisters” nonetheless makes for a high quality week-to-week viewing expertise, with new mysteries and cliffhangers and solid members to understand. Ward and Graham’s odd-couple police work showcases each actors, and whereas there’s notably much less comedy than in Season 1, sight gags and punchlines are subtle all through. It could be a spoiler to say whether or not Season 2’s conclusion is open-ended, so for now suffice it to say that these sisters are welcome any time they arrive again.
Grade: B-
“Dangerous Sisters” Season 2 Episodes 1 and a couple of at the moment are streaming, with new episodes each Wednesday (and the finale on Monday, December 23).