The Walsh Sisters ending: What happened to Rachel, Anna and the family as they gathered for a funeral
After a whirlwind time for the family, the Walsh sisters had a suitably funny and heartbreaking goodbye to make
The Walsh Sisters did not have an easy time of it across this six-episode BBC series. There was death, divorce, rehab, a secret baby and a whole lot of squabbling – but also a whole lot of love as the show reached its ending.
Taking centre stage throughout the series were Rachel and Anna, whose lives collapsed in the blink of an eye. When a trip to pick up a drunk (again) Rachel resulted in a car crash that killed Anna’s fiancé Aidan, things needed to change.
With Rachel packed up and sent to rehab (or ‘a holiday’ if anyone asks), Anna navigated the loss of her husband-to-be – whom she discovered she didn’t know as well as she’d thought.
That was before we even got to Claire, Maggie and Helen, the other three siblings. While doing their best to support their sisters, they had their own big stuff to deal with. Mammy Mary and Daddy Jack weren’t proving that useful, either. In fact, sometimes they actively made things worse.
As Anna and Aidan’s fancy wedding was turned into a memorial, here is how The Walsh Sisters’ ending played out, and whether we’ll see them again in a second series.
***Warning: spoilers from The Walsh Sisters ending ahead***
What happened ahead of The Walsh Sisters’ final episode?
Before we reached the finale, things were bleak for the five sisters. Anna had been inconsolable over Aidan’s death, but the arrival of his former hook-up, Janie, made it worse. Oh, and Janie and Aidan’s newborn baby son!
The shock was at least enough to get her to see Rachel, who she’d been avoiding while she was in rehab. But it was far from a happy reunion. In a frank chat, Anna admitted she was co-dependent on her sister, unable to know how to react about Aidan’s son without consulting her.
With resentment still high over his death, Anna said she wanted Rachel at the upcoming memorial (which should have been her and Aidan’s wedding day), but at the same time didn’t. It was hard for Rachel to hear but she promised she’d be there.
Meanwhile, eldest sister Maggie was desperate for a baby – and on a rigorous sex schedule with husband Garv to make that happen. On the opposite side, Claire was balancing being a single mum after her divorce from James, and trying to date again.
Even Helen, the youngest sibling, had her own drama. After Mammy and Daddy caught her kissing a girl in the street, they’d had a massive fallout.
Going into The Walsh Sisters ending, there was a lot to wrap up. Here’s how they did it!
The Walsh Sisters ending explained: What happened in the finale?
Tensions were running high the morning of the memorial. Rachel was allowed to attend, albeit with a chaperone, but knew it was going to be hard. She admitted craving a joint, but unfortunately there was no luck with that in a rehab facility. At least roommate Chaquie gave her the perfect outfit to look sensible.
Claire took daughter Kate to the airport to hand her over to James for the weekend, but they quickly rowed. When he threatened to take her to court for custody, she snapped and told him he could take Kate permanently. She could have her on weekends instead of him. She was exhausted with the back and forth, and didn’t want to get swallowed up by motherhood. While Claire felt like a bad mum, she reckoned she’d be an amazing ‘weekend dad’.
At Mammy and Daddy’s, Mary was on the warpath. She scoffed at Rachel for needing a minder, and was still not talking to Helen. She spotted one ray of light though – clocking Maggie was pregnant. Mary wanted her to tell everyone, but Maggie was more cautious. It was also still early days into the pregnancy so she didn’t want to jinx it, didn’t want to make the day about her.
Meanwhile, Anna was having a full-on meltdown in a shop. When Helen called, she admitted she was panicking over getting the right shoes. Rachel figured out where she was and went to get her, but noticed Anna was wearing a tiny black party dress with a plunging neckline (her only black dress, as Rachel vomited on the other one).
Rachel switched outfits with Anna so she was more presentable, willing to take on the wrath of her mother for the inappropriate dress by doing so, and together they headed to the venue.
What happened to Anna as she faced Aidan’s memorial?
Aidan’s memorial went about as well as you’d have expected. It turned out Anna’s meltdown was a bit of a blessing. On arrival, Maggie and Claire entered crisis mode as they discovered the room was decked out to be a wedding. The organiser had not got the memo about the event change. The Walsh sisters ended up wrangling anyone they could to make the room look “less happy” ASAP.
Stripping the room of almost everything, Anna quickly burst into tears when she saw a slideshow of photographs of her and Aidan in happier times. Catching a breather outside, she spotted a staff member smoking, and asked him to take a sip of whiskey and blow smoke into her face. He was confused but did it for her and, for a second, Anna was reminded of Aidan drinking whiskey with a cigarette. She hugged the man in gratitude, feeling closer to Aidan for a brief moment.
Soon she received another unexpected visitor: Janie and her son. Helen looked after the tot when Janie needed the loo, and all the family were quickly cooing over him – including Anna, who melted at the sight of the baby.
She invited Janie to stay for the memorial, aware how much Aidan meant to her, and Janie later asked her to stay in touch. Anna happily agreed, seeing Aidan in the little boy.
Did Rachel manage to stay sober?
Rachel held strong throughout the event, to her sisters’ pride. But Mammy tested her resolve, mocking Rachel for ‘looking like a prostitute’ in her now tiny dress, and failing to tell her she’d invited her ex-boyfriend, Luke.
After Mammy traded passive-aggressive barbs with her neighbour Ms Kilfeather, her obsession with keeping up appearances went into overdrive. Deciding a sister should make a speech about Aidan, she branded them all useless when they refused. Despite Anna’s pleas for no speeches, Mary decided to do one anyway.
It was a painfully awkward disaster. Having not actually known him, Mary had nothing to say, so made things up. Eventually Anna stepped in, berated the family for dismissing Aidan so quickly, and shared how much she loved him.
Trying to regain control, Mary raised a toast. When Rachel didn’t do it, she mocked her for “not having enough self-control to hold a glass of wine”, leaving everyone horrified.
Rachel later confronted her mother for choosing appearances over Anna’s feelings. Mary hit back, saying she was too “absorbed by emotions” and stormed off.
But it was the Walsh Sisters ending up in an argument that finally broke Rachel. She ignored chaperone Celine’s pleas to wait it out, and declared she couldn’t be part of her family sober. As Celine walked away, she downed a drink at the bar.
Luke later found Rachel outside; he admitted he loved her and they kissed. But tasting gin on her upset him, and he realised he couldn’t trust her to not drink. He left, telling her there was nothing anyone could do when she hated herself.
Heartbroken, she sneaked into the suite her dad had bought for the night, and raided the minibar.
Were Rachel and Anna able to make up?
In the row that tipped Rachel over, Claire shared her decision to give up custody of Kate with her sisters, and they were all furious that she would abandon her daughter. When she protested “being a mum is hard”, they noted that, between the five of them, they did most of the heavy lifting.
In a bid to make Claire see sense, Helen brought their mum into the fray, disrupting Mary’s night watching Strictly Come Dancing in peace in the suite.
Mary told her it gets easier, but they all reminded her that she hates them. She denied it, but decided to go home, leaving the girls to fight over the now-empty suite. As the argument with Claire got vicious, Anna slipped away to be alone.
En route, she found a half-cut Rachel, but was too drunk herself to care. Anna scared Rachel by pulling dodgy-looking pills out of her bag, which she claimed she’d been given to sleep. When Rachel tried to flush them, Anna begged her not to. Eventually she handed over one, and offered to stay with her as she drifted off.
Anna declared she hated Rachel, and blamed her for Aidan’s death. But she also hated herself for not hating her more. Heartbroken and defeated, Rachel looked at the remaining pills in her hand, contemplating what to do with them.
How did The Walsh Sisters end?
Before Rachel could decide, the rest of the sisters turned up. Rachel confessed she drank, and said she couldn’t cope being sad and sober, knowing Luke and Anna hated her. She questioned how any of the sisters remained sober, given their own problems. Worried, Helen sat in front of the minibar to stop Rachel getting to it.
As the family sat in sadness, Maggie decided to lift the mood – and told them all she was pregnant. While Claire said they should order champagne, the girls laughed at her for ignoring what Rachel had just said. Instead, Helen ordered every dessert available for room service so they could stuff their faces.
As they hugged on the bed, Rachel curled into a half-passed-out Anna, who lovingly leaned her head on hers. Although they were far from OK, we found the Walsh sisters ending up a little more hopeful for the future.
Will The Walsh Sisters return for series 2?
Currently, there is no news on whether The Walsh Sisters will return for a second series. There is definitely scope for it though.
Marian Keyes has seven novels to date about the Walsh family. Elements from each are present in the series, but the second novel, Rachel’s Holiday, and the fourth, Anybody Out There?, are the main two used.
Also, the series is only loosely based on the stories anyway. With author Marian Keyes being a writer on the show, she could easily decide to add more into the mix.
With Maggie now expecting a baby, Helen preparing to go to college, Rachel continuing her sobriety journey and Claire embracing single life, there’s certainly plenty to dig into.
Keep your fingers crossed the Walsh sisters end up back on our screens!
