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Good news for 'Bad Sisters': They're just as fearless in Season 2

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Good news for 'Bad Sisters': They're just as fearless in Season 2

The first season of Bad Sisters was adapted from a 2012 Belgian series called Clan. But Season 2 is all-new, Apple TV+ territory. Above, Eva Birthistle, left, Sharon Horgan, Sarah Greene and Eve Hewson as the Garvey sisters.

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It’s a dark-hearted relief to know from the very beginning of the first season of the Apple TV+ black comedy series Bad Sisters, which was released in 2022, that John Paul ends up dead. It might be too much to take if you didn’t.

John Paul (or JP), played with breathtaking vileness by Claes Bang, is the cruel, emotionally and physically abusive husband of Grace (Anne-Marie Duff). Grace makes excuses for him; her sisters will not. Eva (Sharon Horgan), Ursula (Eva Birthistle), Bibi (Sarah Greene) and Becka (Eve Hewson) have hated him — each for reasons of her own — for a while before he ultimately dies. The series is told both in the present, where two insurance agents are investigating his death, and in extended flashbacks, where we learn that Grace’s sisters have been actively trying to kill JP for a long time without success. Presumably, something finally worked — but what?

The Emmy-nominated, Peabody-winning first season is gripping and very funny. (And, I’ll warn you, quite brutal to both people and animals.) As it develops, the desperation of these women to rid themselves and their sister of this vicious man reaches a fever pitch. And then, at last, we learn how John Paul finally bit the dust, and how the sisters will try to move on. It is as good a distillation as you’ll see of the ways in which, in certain situations, rage and love can fuel each other even among people who are striving to be good.

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Up to the end of Season 1, Bad Sisters is an adaptation of a Belgian series called Clan that aired all the way back in 2012. Clan wrapped up its story, it answered the big questions, and it ended. But Bad Sisters, despite concluding in essentially the same way 10 years later, is returning for a second season, and now the Apple show is on its own to provide the story. Even for those who loved the first round, it’s fair to wonder whether this is a good idea. After all, we know what happened to John Paul; what’s left to find out? Can coming back do anything besides ruin a good thing?

We pick up the story two years later, with Grace trying to move on from her awful marriage. Once again, viewers will begin by learning that something terribly serious (well, at least one thing) has happened, and they will not know exactly what it is. But they know that it is trouble for the Garvey sisters. They do something frightening under the cover of night. And again, we move back in time to see how they arrived at that place, doing that thing.

As if that weren’t enough, new law enforcement personnel are sniffing around about JP’s previously resolved case, which left behind a few, well … loose ends. In a suitcase. In a pond.

Eve Hewson, left, and Sarah Greene in Bad Sisters.

Eve Hewson, left, and Sarah Greene in Bad Sisters.

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The biggest addition to the second season is the imposing Fiona Shaw (Andor, Fleabag, Killing Eve), playing a new character whose connection to Grace — via another familiar face — is complex and grows more troubling. There are other characters from Season 1 whose involvement (or lack thereof) it’s probably fair to let you discover for yourself.

You can certainly say this about Bad Sisters: It is fearless and it is merciless, and that’s what makes it feel so unexpected. Despite Season 1 having what might pass for a happy ending, nothing is that simple. Nothing stays happy for this family — which just might be a little bit cursed. Did they need to make another season? Perhaps not. Do they find ways to keep digging into the crevasses of these characters and discovering new things? They do. Whether you’re ready or not.

This piece also appeared in NPR’s Pop Culture Happy Hour newsletter. Sign up for the newsletter so you don’t miss the next one, plus get weekly recommendations about what’s making us happy.

Listen to Pop Culture Happy Hour on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

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In ‘No Other Choice,’ a loyal worker gets the ax — and starts chopping

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In ‘No Other Choice,’ a loyal worker gets the ax — and starts chopping

Lee Byung-hun stars in No Other Choice.

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In an old Kids in the Hall comedy sketch called “Crazy Love,” two bros throatily proclaim their “love of all women” and declare their incredulity that anyone could possibly take issue with it:

Bro 1: It is in our very makeup; we cannot change who we are!

Bro 2: No! To change would mean … (beat) … to make an effort.

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I thought about that particular exchange a lot, watching Park Chan-wook’s latest movie, a niftily nasty piece of work called No Other Choice. The film isn’t about the toxic lecherousness of boy-men, the way that KITH sketch is. But it is very much about men, and that last bit: the annoyed astonishment of learning that you’re expected to change something about yourself that you consider essential, and the extreme lengths you’ll go to avoid doing that hard work.

Many critics have noted No Other Choice‘s satirical, up-the-minute universality, given that it involves a faceless company screwing over a hardworking, loyal employee. As the film opens, Man-su (Lee Byung-hun) has been working at a paper factory for 25 years; he’s got the perfect job, the perfect house, the perfect family — you see where this is going, right? (If you don’t, even after the end of the first scene, when Man-su calls his family over for a group hug while sighing, “I’ve got it all,” then I envy your blithe disinterest in how movies work. Never change, you beautiful blissful Pollyanna, you.)

He gets canned, and can’t seem to find another job in his beloved paper industry, despite going on a series of dehumanizing interviews. His resourceful wife Miri (Son Ye-jin) proves a hell of a lot more adaptable than he does, making practical changes to the family’s expenses to weather Man-su’s situation. But when foreclosure threatens, he resolves to eliminate the other candidates (Lee Sung-min, Cha Seung-won) for the job he wants at another paper factory — and, while he’s at it, maybe even the jerk (Park Hee-soon) to whom he’d be reporting.

So yes, No Other Choice is a scathing spoof of corporate culture. But the director’s true satirical eye is trained on the interpersonal — specifically the intractability of the male ego.

Again and again, the women in the film (both Son Ye-jin as Miri and the hilarious Yeom Hye-ran, who plays the wife of one of Man-su’s potential victims) entreat their husbands to think about doing something, anything else with their lives. But these men have come to equate their years of service with a pot-committed core identity as men and breadwinners; they cling to their old lives and seek only to claw their way back into them. Man-su, for example, unthinkingly channels the energy that he could devote to personal and professional growth into planning and executing a series of ludicrously sloppy murders.

It’s all satisfyingly pulpy stuff, loaded with showy, cinematic homages to old-school suspense cinematography and editing — cross-fades, reverse-angles and jump cuts that are deliberately and unapologetically Hitchcockian. That deliberateness turns out to be reassuring and crowd-pleasing; if you’re tired of tidy visual austerity, of films that look like TV, the lushness on display here will have you leaning back in your seat thinking, “This right here is cinema, goddammit.”

Narratively, the film is loaded with winking jokes and callbacks that reward repeat viewing. Count the number of times that various characters attempt to dodge personal responsibility by sprinkling the movie’s title into their dialogue. Wonder why one character invokes the peculiar image of a madwoman screaming in the woods and then, only a few scenes later, finds herself chasing someone through the woods, screaming. Marvel at Man-su’s family home, a beautifully ugly blend of traditional French-style architecture with lumpy Brutalist touches like exposed concrete balconies jutting out from every wall.

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There’s a lot that’s charming about No Other Choice, which might seem an odd thing to note about such a blistering anti-capitalist screed. But the director is careful to remind us at all turns where the responsibility truly lies; say what you will about systemic economic pressure, the blood stays resolutely on Man-su’s hands (and face, and shirt, and pants, and shoes). The film repeatedly offers him the ability to opt out of the system, to abandon his resolve that he must return to the life he once knew, exactly as he knew it.

Man-su could do that, but he won’t, because to change would mean to make an effort — and ultimately men would rather embark upon a bloody murder spree than go to therapy.

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Austin airport to nearly double in size over next decade

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Austin airport to nearly double in size over next decade

Austin-Bergstrom International Airport will nearly double in size over the next decade. 

The airport currently has 34 gates. With the expansion projects, it will increase by another 32 gates. 

What they’re saying:

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Southwest, Delta, United, American, Alaska, FedEx, and UPS have signed 10-year use-and lease agreements, which outline how they operate at the airport, including with the expansion. 

“This provides the financial foundation that will support our day-to-day operations and help us fund the expansion program that will reshape how millions of travelers experience AUS for decades to come,” Ghizlane Badawi, CEO of Austin-Bergstrom International Airport, said.

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Concourse B, which is in the design phase, will have 26 gates, estimated to open in the 2030s. Southwest Airlines will be the main tenant with 18 gates, United Airlines will have five gates, and three gates will be for common use. There will be a tunnel that connects to Concourse B.

“If you give us the gates, we will bring the planes,” Adam Decaire, senior VP of Network Planning & Network Operations Control at Southwest Airlines said.

“As part of growing the airport, you see that it’s not just us that’s bragging about the success we’re having. It’s the airlines that want to use this airport, and they see advantage in their business model of being part of this airport, and that’s why they’re growing the number of gates they’re using,” Mayor Kirk Watson said.

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Dig deeper:

The airport will also redevelop the existing Barbara Jordan Terminal, including the ticket counters, security checkpoints, and baggage claim. Concourse A will be home to Delta Air Lines with 15 gates. American Airlines will have nine gates, and Alaska Airlines will have one gate. There will be eight common-use gates.

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“Delta is making a long-term investment in Austin-Bergstrom that will transform travel for years to come,” Holden Shannon, senior VP for Corporate Real Estate at Delta Air Lines said.

The airport will also build Concourse M — six additional gates to increase capacity as early as 2027. There will be a shuttle between that and the Barbara Jordan Terminal. Concourse M will help with capacity during phases of construction. 

There will also be a new Arrivals and Departures Hall, with more concessions and amenities. They’re also working to bring rideshare pickup closer to the terminal.

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City officials say these projects will bring more jobs. 

The expansion is estimated to cost $5 billion — none of which comes from taxpayer dollars. This comes from airport revenue, possible proceeds, and FAA grants.

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“We’re seeing airlines really step up to ensure they are sharing in the infrastructure costs at no cost to Austin taxpayers, and so we’re very excited about that as well,” Council Member Vanessa Fuentes (District 2) said.

The Source: Information from interviews conducted by FOX 7 Austin’s Angela Shen

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After years of avoiding the ER, Noah Wyle feels ‘right at home’ in ‘The Pitt’

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After years of avoiding the ER, Noah Wyle feels ‘right at home’ in ‘The Pitt’

Wyle, who spent 11 seasons on ER, returns to the hospital in The Pitt. Now in Season 2, the HBO series has earned praise for its depiction of the medical field. Originally broadcast April 21, 2025.

Hear The Original Interview

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