Sarah Goldberg, as Sare, and Susan Stanley, as Suze, in SisterS. The six-part, character-driven series follows two sisters born continents apart, in Canada and in Ireland, as they discover that they are half-sisters and embark on a road trip to find their alcoholic father.Courtesy of Crave
SisterS
Created by Sarah Goldberg and Susan Stanley
Starring Sarah Goldberg, Susan Stanley and Donal Logue
All six episodes premiering on Crave May 17
Critics have spilled plenty of ink over the rise (and potential overstay) of messy white female characters on television. Sarah Goldberg and Susan Stanley are here to prove that these nuanced portrayals are just getting started with their dark comedy, SisterS.
The Canadian and Irish duo are the creatives behind and in front of the six-part Crave offering, which debuts in full on May 17. Goldberg, whom many will recognize from HBO’s Barry, plays Sare, an optimistic but apologetic Canadian who learns the truth about her birth father upon her mother’s death. So she journeys to Ireland to find him, discovering her half-sister Suze (Stanley) along the way.
Suze drinks too much, makes bad decisions and is about to be vacated from her apartment. Add in her abrasive mother Sheryl (played by a scene-stealing Sophie Thompson), and Suze has little reason not to drive her newly acquired sibling across the country in search of their deadbeat dad, Jimmy (Donal Logue).
Goldberg and Stanley in SisterS. The show is best described as a character study that looks at family trauma and how it can affect your adult life.Courtesy of Crave
Road trips are the ultimate comedic setup when you’re forcing two extreme characters to interact. Long stretches on the road mean ample time for these sisters to get to know each other, and for audiences to discover their subtle but matching idiosyncrasies. Concurrently, forced stops and unforeseen circumstances allow other characters to weave in and out, teaching the leads something about themselves along the way.
There’s plenty for them to learn, by the way. This show is a love child that’s been more than six years in the making for Goldberg and Stanley, who first met two decades ago in theatre school and have been best friends ever since. Their easy chemistry is apparent in every scene, but what’s more obvious is their desire to craft “messy” female characters who are more than just one thing.
While Sare seems to have her life together (a caring fiancé, financial security, a good job), Suze is a hot mess who is about to be homeless. But as the episodes progress, the characters reverse roles, with Sare spiralling and Suze making important life decisions. That progression extends to other female characters, too. A spiteful widow the sisters meet along the way is also heartbroken, for example. Or Sheryl, who appears glib and uncaring in early episodes, evolves into so much more by the finale.
It’s a refreshing break from the female tropes that such comedies so easily fall into, and is further emphasized by the show’s seemingly intentional lack of evolved male characters. That translates into women who feel familiar and relatable.
And boozy. There are plenty of drinks to go around in each episode, as the whiskey and wine flow into frequent hangovers and vomit. The amount of fake vomit truly is impressive and worth noting, particularly for those who have a hard time watching such scenes without feeling queasy themselves.
SisterS may be quick to chuck it up, but if you’re looking for a hard chuckle, this show doesn’t exactly deliver. Sure there’s some situational comedy (the sisters’ unconventional vehicle, for example) and recurring gags, such as everyone constantly pegging Suze as older than she is. There are also plenty of character stereotypes that are peppered in but never called out. Those are smaller moments set against the more serious, slice-of-life series SisterS strives to be.
Instead, the show is best described as a character study that probes family trauma and the effects it can have on your adult life. Depending on your point of view, that can be funny or tragic, as the show veers into some dark territory – in particular toward the end.
That end comes before you know it. With only six episodes that clock in at 25 minutes each, SisterS is an easy binge. But it also packs too much into those instalments, setting up so many threads and then letting them fall before they can ever really weave together. Abortion, domestic abuse, alcoholism, family culture and repressed trauma are all topics that Goldberg and Stanley lay on the table, then walk away from for viewers to draw their own conclusions.
At times, that translates into a show that is muted and understated, particularly against some of the gorgeous Irish locations, which are captured in full by series directors Declan Lowney (Father Ted) and Alicia MacDonald (Flack). So, it’s almost surprising when you reach the open-ended finale and realize you really are rooting for these siblings to have a relationship. Whether they can is also open to interpretation.
In the end, SisterS doesn’t pop or uplift, but if you’re looking for a dark comedy with characters whose motives you’ll understand and recognize, pour yourself some whiskey and zip through this series. Barf bag optional.
Special to The Globe and Mail