‘Bad Sisters’ Recap: ‘The Prick’ & ‘Explode a Man’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

Caution: This article contains spoilers for the series premiere of ‘Bad Sisters’.
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One particular aspect of the human condition that continues to captivate us after all this time… is our ability to actively choose to end the life of another human being. And that act draws us in, simply because… it doesn’t make any sense for us to take part in such matters. After all, we are supposedly the most evolved species on the planet, and our enhanced sensibilities should allow for us to understand that killing another human being is wrong and unnecessary. Yet that doesn’t stop people from doing just that, sometimes in a remorseful and angry manner, and all we can do is reflect upon the act and ponder upon that age old question… why?
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Thankfully though, there are answers we can receive, and often times they are found through storytelling. Since within the world of words and visuals, we can safely work to understand what motivates a person to cross the ultimate line and teach another person the ultimate lesson and it just so happens that Apple TV+ is now host to a story in this vein. For earlier today, Bad Sisters debuted on the network and well… this appears to be a story that is eager to explore what drives people to at the very least… think about murdering another human being and that makes ‘The Prick’ and ‘Explode a Man’ a pair of fascinating tales. The kind that plunges us into quite the unique situation. 

For when we catch up with the Garvey sisters, one of them at least… is in mourning. For Grace’s husband, John Paul has passed away at an extremely young age and well… Grace’s siblings seem fine with this. For John Paul was nothing short of a Grade A, a-hole. The kind that deserved a fate worse than a simple death, but he is dead none the less, and his passing has caught the attention of the men that set up his life insurance policy. Because it just seems suspect to them that a man so young would die when he seemed healthy. Which in turn, motivates the two of them to try and solve the mystery now floating about in their minds. In that, did John Paul die in the manner that the coroner said he did, or is foul play at hand here and if so… was it someone from the family that managed to kill this young and vibrant ass of a man?

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Which is a question that brings forth the grand and unique exploration regarding the show’s central question. Because this is a story spends a fair chunk of time in the past, where we can see what a righteous jerkwad John Paul actually was, and his actions are what puts the potential for murder in play. Because he is downright rotten to everyone in his life and says and does horrible things to people. To the point where several of the sisters ponder aloud upon murder and plan to potentially bring him down. Making it clear that consistent abuse and being harmed on a deeply fundamental level, can indeed push a person to think about taking part in some horrible actions, especially when they feel they have no recourse or relief from the situation at hand.

Which will indeed lead to a season of deep musings on the matter, since it seems that everyone has their own reasons for indulging in the darkness. Which should in turn provide us with a supremely bleak and powerful story. One that we should come away from feeling a bit down in the dumps. But alas, this series offers more than a steady and unsettling examination regarding motivations of murder, it’s also a dark comedy, and believe it or not… the jokes here work. Because the funny stuff is genuinely funny and outlandish and unexpected and for proof… just look at the opening moments of this tale and how ‘hard’ they are to get through.

But the humor doesn’t end with erection centric sight gags and goofball moments, there are a lot of awkwardly hilarious conversations and shenanigans that the characters to get into and some amazing twists when it comes to murder plots and well… in the end, the intelligence of this series and its ability to transform a grand exploration into murder into something fun and chuckle worthy, makes this an absolute must see. Because it is a refreshing and unique and fun series. One that engages you with a grand mystery as well, since we don’t quite know if any of the sisters are indeed responsible for the ultimate act and that… will keep all of us glued to our screens as this dynamic season of storytelling, plays out. Until next time.

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