I am not going to pretend I came into Irish Blood without baggage. I loved Alicia Silverstone growing up. I had the posters, and I watched Clueless an irresponsible number of times. So yes, when her name popped up attached to a gritty mystery series set in Ireland, I was already leaning in. The good news is Irish Blood does not coast on nostalgia. The better news is that it actively works against it.
Silverstone stars as Fiona Sharpe, a ruthless Los Angeles divorce lawyer who has spent her entire adult life weaponizing control. Control over her clients, her career, and most importantly, her emotions. Fiona was abandoned by her father as a child, or so she has always believed, and that wound quietly drives everything she does. When a mysterious package arrives from that long-absent father, Fiona does not hesitate. She books a flight to Ireland, convinced she is finally going to confront the man who shaped her life by leaving it.
Naturally, Irish Blood does not let anything be that simple.
Once Fiona arrives in Ireland, the show quickly pulls the rug out from under her understanding of the past. Her father has built an entirely different life, complete with a family that never knew she existed. The story Fiona clung to for decades turns out to be a lie, one told not out of cruelty but protection. That revelation alone would be enough to fuel a solid drama, but Irish Blood keeps pushing deeper, tying Fiona’s family history to crime, corruption, and a web of secrets that refuses to stay buried.
What makes Irish Blood work is its commitment to character over gimmicks. This is not a flashy mystery built on constant shock value. It is a slow burn that lets tension simmer, trusting the audience to stay engaged without dangling a twist every ten minutes. Comparisons to Mare of Easttown and The Split make sense, but Irish Blood feels less interested in procedural beats and more focused on emotional fallout. Every discovery comes with a cost, and Fiona pays it repeatedly.
Silverstone is the series’s biggest asset. Fiona Sharpe is sharp, guarded, and emotionally sealed off in a way that feels lived in. This is not a reinvention stunt or a wink to the audience. Silverstone plays Fiona with restraint, letting cracks form gradually rather than pushing for big, showy moments. Watching her navigate Ireland, both the physical landscape and the emotional minefield she has stepped into, is consistently compelling. She does not soften the character to make her more likable, and that choice pays off.
The supporting cast helps ground the series. Jason O’Mara gives Fiona’s father a complexity that avoids easy villainy. Wendy Crewson, Dearbhla Molloy, Simone Kirby, Ruth Codd, and Leonardo Taiwo all contribute performances that make the town and its secrets feel dense and interconnected. No one feels like a disposable plot device, which is crucial for a story built around buried histories.
Visually, Irish Blood leans into its coastal Irish setting without turning it into a postcard. The scenery is beautiful, but there is always an undercurrent of unease. Wide shots feel isolating rather than comforting, reinforcing Fiona’s sense of being completely out of place. It is a smart choice that mirrors the show’s emotional tone instead of distracting from it.
That said, Irish Blood is not flawless. The pacing occasionally drags, especially when the series withholds information a bit too long for dramatic effect. A few twists land softer than intended, and viewers looking for nonstop thrills may find the approach a little restrained. Still, the emotional weight and strong performances keep the story from losing momentum.
Now that the full series is out, Irish Blood plays best as a binge. The episodes flow naturally into one another, and the cumulative effect of Fiona’s unraveling works better without long gaps between chapters. By the time the season wraps, the show has done enough to justify its mystery while clearly leaving the door open for what comes next.
For CineDump readers, Irish Blood is worth checking out if you like your crime dramas character-driven, your mysteries patient, and your performances doing the heavy lifting. Alicia Silverstone does not rely on her past to carry this one. She earns it.
Nostalgia might be the reason some people pressed play, but Irish Blood gives you something sturdier to hold onto. It is a grounded, occasionally unsettling series about family, lies, and the damage done when the truth waits too long to surface. And honestly, it is just nice to see Silverstone sink her teeth into a role that lets her bleed a little.
Jessie Hobson