Started August 19, 2022 · Ended · Based on 2 seasons, 18 episodes through December 24, 2024 · TV-MA
Bad Sisters is an Irish black comedy drama about five sisters who band together when one is trapped in an abusive marriage to a controlling man. The sisters plot against him and face the consequences after his sudden death, with the story unfolding across two seasons in dual timelines. The show adds a lesbian sister married to a woman who has an adopted black son as part of the core family, and the lead creator has described the story as catharsis for hating a monstrous religious man who hurts women.
Community feedback
Was our 53% Woke rating accurate?
Breakdown
These are the editorial factors and ratings behind our score for Bad Sisters.
Woke representation / casting
One of the five main sisters is lesbian and married to a woman; they raise an adopted black son with an IVF storyline in season 2. A mixed-race love interest for another sister and a gay supporting character are visible. These elements were added to the adaptation.
42%
Woke political dialogue
Characters repeatedly call out the husband's misogyny, control, and religious hypocrisy. The tone stays personal and comedic rather than delivering activist lectures.
22%
Identity-driven story themes
The narrative centers on women protecting each other from a toxic man and standing together as sisters. The prominent queer family for one sister and emphasis on female solidarity add weight.
38%
Western institutional / cultural critique
The villain is framed as a religious patriarch who uses faith and traditional roles to abuse his wife. The creator has publicly linked the story to institutional sexism and bigotry.
48%
Woke character or canon changes
The adaptation from the original Belgian Clan added a lesbian sister with a wife and black adopted child plus a mixed-race boyfriend; these identity elements were not in the source.
28%
Anti-woke backlash and complaints
There is almost no documented backlash accusing the show of pushing woke, DEI, or identity politics. Viewer and critic comments focused on story quality and the abuse themes.
5%
Creator track record context
Sharon Horgan has described her work in terms of resistance to abusive men and institutional sexism and has backed progressive causes like abortion rights. The other main creators have mainstream comedy or storytelling backgrounds with limited activist records.
22%
Production
TV Show · 2019
Two detectives are dispatched to investigate the murder of a young girl on the outskirts of Dublin, but as the case of the missing children intensifies, both are forced to…
TV Show · 2019
Gypsy Blanchard struggles to deal with the toxic relationship with her overprotective mother, but her attempts to free herself lead to murder.
TV Show · 2021
In a small Michigan town where the business of incarceration is the only thriving industry, the McClusky family are the power brokers between the police, criminals, inmates…
TV Show · 2022
New York mafia capo Dwight "The General" Manfredi is released from prison after 25 years and exiled by his boss to set up shop in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
TV Show · 2018
Ray Shoesmith is a father, ex-husband, boyfriend and best friend: tough roles to juggle in the modern age. Even harder when you’re a criminal for hire.
TV Show · 2025
In the working-class suburbs of Philadelphia, an FBI agent heads a task force assembled to put an end to a string of violent robberies led by an unsuspecting family man.
TV Show · 2019
Loosely based on infamous crime boss Bumpy Johnson, who in the early 1960s returned from ten years in prison to find the neighborhood he once ruled in shambles.
TV Show · 2025
When a prison transport plane crashes in the remote Alaskan wilderness—freeing dozens of violent inmates—the region's lone marshal must protect the town he's vowed to keep safe.
