How to Get to Heaven from Belfast Recap ‘The Secret’: It Doesn't Stay Buried

Warning: This recap contains SPOILERS for the second episode of How to Get to Heaven from Belfast.

The strong bond of friendship could involve burying the body of your friend’s alleged stalker. It could also involve lying to their ex — who recently got married and had a baby — about how they got a promotion at work, are planning to purchase a house in France, and are having lots of sex, painting a fabulous fantasy that was in stark contrast with their reality. In an episode that was for the most part a buddy comedy, the bond amongst the girls was the through-line, from Robyn snapping at her husband for how he spoke to Saoirse, to the three girls reuniting at the Cabin of Secrets (this is what I’m calling it until we get more information), to Saoirse reminding them of how they used to create anagrams of their names and how Gaye Hearten was Greta, to Robyn and Saoirse immediately going to Dara’s side when they recognised her ex Niamh walking towards them at the parking lot, providing her not just with moral but physical support. As comfortable as How to Get to Heaven from Belfast is in juggling the comic with the gothic with the ever present mystery, it reaches its heights on moments of insistent humanity, with all its frailty and practical limitations. 

Back in the halcyon days of youth, there was a boy named Jason Meadows who seemed to be stalking Greta. We don’t have much solid information yet – this is only the second episode – but the implication was that the girls were involved in either killing him or getting rid of the body. They seemed to have initially tried to burn the cabin with the body, but it rained that night which doused the flames, so they ended up burying the body. With Saoirse insistent that Greta was reaching out to them – via the email using an anagram she might have thought they would recognise and later, the red envelopes with the message Please find me – Robyn sadly murmured that she was not certain she could help Greta again. It was a small human moment that contrasted with Robyn’s frequently large, dramatic personality. Robyn was a mother with three young children; there was artistic exaggeration in how Robyn’s struggles with motherhood and being a stay at home wife was portrayed, but the core of it was authentic and achingly familiar. 

In the end, Robyn agreed to help prove that the body was not Greta’s, but made it clear that was the extent of her involvement. That meant driving back to Knockdara with party supplies for her son’s birthday at the back of her mangled vehicle. Dara, still reeling from the encounter with her ex, came up with the plan to wear princess party masks and interrupt the funeral at church. Only, it was the wrong funeral, and the girls ended up at the police station. 

Greta's husband Owen had apparently moved the funeral to a crematorium, which of course would make ascertaining the identity of the body impossible. Hot Liam went to the funeral, and it was clear from Greta’s family’s reaction, especially her mother, that his presence was an unwelcome surprise. Thankfully, Liam had an excuse to get out of there when he received a phone call about the girls who were arrested for interrupting the other funeral. 

Liam talked to Saoirse alone at the police station, which paralleled how earlier in the episode Liam only checked on Saoirse following the accident though clearly all three were involved. Saoirse was hesitant about answering his questions, but she did get information from him on what happened the night Greta died. Her body was taken to the morgue; there was no one on duty that night who actually knew her. Liam later realised that he was supposed to be on shift that night. He found out from Pol that it was Owen who swapped the schedules. He went to check the log at the morgue, and when he helped the cleaning lady open the body freezer, he found what looked like a fabric bracelet stuck in there. 

Owen appeared involved in what happened to Greta, though whether he was harming her or trying to get her back, it was not yet clear. The girls actually came comically close to Greta and the lady who had her. After the car accident that happened after Owen chased them from the house (Owen said it was because Saoirse left her bag), they got into another car accident. They side swiped a car which just happened to have a bound Greta in its boot. The lady who got out was named Booker, and Robyn never even knew how close she came to getting shot. It was only because Saoirse and Dara also got out of the car that Booker changed her mind. She did trick Robyn into handing her phone, supposedly so they could exchange information, and she used that opportunity to delete the photos Robyn took of her car.

Owen met Booker at the hotel bar/ club, where they had the same rude waitress who previously waited on the girls, and I’m beginning to think/ hope we’ll see her in all the episodes (I am watching each episode then writing a recap, so though Netflix dropped all the episodes at once, I haven’t seen them). Owen gave her a bag and a passport. Later, we saw him burn a photo of him and Greta.

That the incident in their youth was tied to whatever was happening to Greta, it seemed almost certain. As the girls prepared to leave the hotel again, someone had already paid their bill -- a young man who looked nearly identical to young Jason Meadows.

Rating: B+

Strays

🚐Booker: ‘Dolly Parton is one of the greatest artists ever to have graced this planet. A musical icon, storyteller, a philanthropist.’ You tell him, kidnapper assassin lady.

🚐Liam took his shirt off in this episode, which seemed like important information, so there you go. 

🚐Aw Saoirse’s show won the BAFTA.

🚐One of the many things Saoirse has not told her fiance was that she did not want children. 

🚐Saoirse had a vision of young Greta whilst Dara had a vision of young Jason. 

🚐All of Greta’s social media accounts were gone. 

Episode Title: The Secret

Episode Writer: Lisa McGee

Episode Director: Michael Lennox

Original Air Date: February 12, 2026