It’s Becka who reminds the sisters that they’re not murderers and urges them to call the authorities. Why was she the right person to bring them back to earth?
Because she’s pregnant. It’s not just themselves they’re looking after. It’s Blanaid [Saise Quinn] and Becka’s baby. So, it felt really right that it was Becka who’s the voice of reason in the end, because she was so gung-ho in that first season. She was like, “Fuck it. Let’s just lock him in the freezer.” I think I wanted to give them all a position on the cliff of what you’d expect that character to do, then confound that expectation.
There’s a moment in the finale where Grace’s daughter Blánaid shares her perspective on all of the family secrets that are being kept from her. How will all of this impact her future?
What was really important to me was to bring her and Eva back together, because I have teenage daughters, and the greatest thing is when they don’t entirely close up on you. It’s so difficult to express what you’re really feeling when you’re that age. In the first season, Eva was her substitute mum in some way, like her favorite aunt. Then of course, when you go through something as difficult as losing a parent, you need to hit out at the person you think is not going to go away. And Eva gets the brunt of it.
Obviously the worst thing that could have happened has happened to her, but she’s surrounded by family—these women who love her and would do anything for her. And she’s got the memory of this incredible woman who she was everything to. There’s a sense that she’s going to be okay. The Garveys as young sisters were without parents, they had each other, and they got by. I wanted that to be the feeling that people are left with—that love.
This season, you explore institutional sexism and bigotry through the characters of Una and Ian. Where do you see them headed?
Oh, Ian can just go to hell. [Laughs] I never want to think about him again.
With Una and the police institution, I wanted to introduce a character who was just plain good, and would always do the right thing. This particular career meant everything to her. Starts off very much involved with Loftus [played by Barry Ward]—how he investigates, but soon realizes that there’s something really rotten there. Is she willing to turn a blind eye to the old guard for her career, or is she going to forsake it?