'Bad Sisters' villain started 2024 as a guilty frozen corpse: Did he die again in finale?

Spoiler alert: AppleTV+'s "Bad Sisters" ending is discussed here. And, while we're at it, HBO's "True Detective: Night Country" ending is revealed too. But if you haven't seen that series, that's on you.

"Bad Sisters" star Owen McDonnell is having a great 2024 playing the most terrible men on TV.

The Irish actor, 50, started the year as a murderous researcher in HBO's "True Detective: Night Country" before playing Ian Reilly in Season 2 of AppleTV+'s "Bad Sisters." The seemingly soulful Ian worked his way into the hearts of the five Dublin-based Garvey sisters in the black comedy before he was revealed as the most sinister scoundrel in last week's game-changing Episode 7.

No one messes with the beloved Garvey sisters in the Emmy-nominated series without facing real-world consequences. "I watched the episode with my wife, and afterward she said, 'I don't want to talk to you; I can't even look at you,'" says McDonnell. "The moms at school used to smile and wave to me when I dropped the kids off. People who were quite friendly are no longer quite so friendly."

As "Bad Sisters" wraps up Season 2 with a finale titled "Cliffhanger" (now streaming), McDonnell explains himself to USA TODAY.

McDonnell was a 'True Detective' killer who got cold in 'Night Country'

McDonnell's wretched TV year started with his pivotal role in January with HBO's "True Detective" as Tsalal Arctic Research Center scientist Raymond Clark. Clark looked on in horror when the other male scientists stabbed his Native American girlfriend Annie Kowtok, who had discovered the isolated center's terrible secrets. Clark smothered his lover in the final heartbreaking blow.

"He ends up killing the woman he loves, in his mind, through mercy," says McDonnell. "But then he becomes complicit in the coverup."

Ennis, Alaska police detective Liz Danvers (Jodie Foster) and state trooper Evangeline Navarro (Kali Reis) investigated the eerie and mysterious frozen deaths of the six guilty scientists, horrifyingly struck together in a "corpsicle." Clark initially survived his colleagues' cold fate, but ended up dying in a solo version.

"It's a shame. I wasn't part of the corpsicle," says McDonnell, "But Raymond did have his own frozen 'True Detective' moment."

Ian gets in with the Garveys for 'Bad Sisters'

In Season 1 of "Bad Sisters," the four Garvey siblings — played by Eve Hewson, Eva Birthistle, Sarah Greene and co-creator Sharon Horgan — conspired to kill John Paul (Claes Bang), the abusive and evil husband to their sister Grace (Anne-Marie Duff). John Paul came to a deservedly nasty end, revealed fully in the Season 1 finale.

Grace starts a happy new life in Season 2, marrying the seemingly perfect Ian (McDonnell), whom she meets in a bereavement group. Ian fits right into the raucous family, too. But after Grace's mysterious death in a car accident, everything unravels. Ian's true darkness and real identity are revealed in the episode titled "How to Pick a Prick." Ian Reilly is not even his name. He's actually the married Cormac Sweeney, a disgraced and abusive former police officer who trolls bereavement groups looking to scam vulnerable people like Grace.

Ian threatens to reveal all the deadly family secrets unless he's paid by the Garveys and is left alone forever. "Ian is actually more despicable than John Paul," says McDonnell. "John Paul never hid his prick-ishness, whereas Ian is one of those master manipulators who has no empathy. He can gauge what's missing in people's lives and fill in those gaps."

What happens to Ian in 'Bad Sisters'?

Even the busybody snooping neighbor, Angelica (Fiona Shaw), knows not to trust Ian. When Ian insults Grace to the sisters during a pitched discussion, Angelica appears and slams his head with a bat. The sisters throw the near-dead Ian into the car trunk to dump his body into the dark sea off a nearby cliff. Ian rallies to life when the sisters are distracted, but then woozily falls off the high rocks, landing on a ledge.

After a heated debate, the sisters alert emergency services and leave the lifeless, marooned body. "I spent three hours basically chained to a rock with the Irish sea smashing around me while the girls did their scenes up on the cliff top," says McDonnell. "I was wearing thermals with a dry suit and there was this lovely sense of peace down on this rock at 4 a.m."

Somehow, Ian manages to survive — again — and make his way to the hospital. But he's silenced from filing charges against the Garveys or revealing their secrets to protect his own guilty ways. He even has to pay the money back that he conned from the family.

"Before we started filming, I had the impression that Ian would end up dead at the end," says McDonnell. "But later, (producers) said, 'Oh no, actually, you're going to survive and get your comeuppance at the hospital.' I was delighted. Maybe Ian will come back and terrorize the sisters again."

Even if there is a Season 3 of "Bad Sisters," Ian will likely stay out of the Garvey picture. This is fine, as McDonnell is enjoying the buzz around the hit show and the massive WhatsApp chat group where the "Bad Sisters" cast and crew post updates and pictures. He's waiting until after the holidays to finalize his next acting job.

"There's a few things floating around," says McDonnell. "But maybe going forward, I'll try to get away from playing people who are killers."

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: 'Bad Sisters' finale: Did Garvey sisters kill Season 2 villain Ian?