The twisty, turny thriller delivered on a big ending – but just who killed Joe?
*Warning: This article contains full spoilers for the ending of Netflix’s Fool Me Once.*
The Harlan Coben adaptation is fast becoming a New Year tradition for Netflix.
Following in the footsteps of 2020’s The Stranger and 2021’s Stay Close, Fool Me Once is the latest thriller from the crime writing extraordinaire to get the binge watch treatment just in time for the cold January nights.
And like its predecessors, it’s written by BAFTA winner Danny Brocklehurst, stars Richard Armitage and contains more plot twists than an M Night Shyamalan box set.
If you’ve been left completely befuddled by the events in the eighth and final episode – and who could blame you? – here’s the lowdown. And as you’d expect, there are spoilers galore.
Who killed Joe?
Most of Armitage’s screen time consists of the same flashback of his nepo baby character Joe Burkett getting shot dead. So, who was responsible for putting those three bullets in his chest?
There were certainly plenty of credible suspects. Was it one of the two motorcyclists who’d earlier tried to rob wife Maya (Michelle Keegan)? Perhaps the informant threatening to burn his family’s pharmaceutical empire to the ground?
As it turns out, the culprit was the woman who’d spent the entire series investigating his death (and his apparent rise from the dead, too).
Yes, as disclosed in the seventh episode’s cliffhanger, the gun-wielding killer was none other than Maya. But why?
Well, the disgraced military pilot had discovered the bullet which took the life of sister Claire (Natalie Anderson) had come from the same gun only she and her husband had access to.
And after confronting him in the park, she learned Joe would quite happily kill his own wife in cold blood, as well.
Unfortunately for him, she’d replaced his weapon with a fake and kept the real thing for herself. Unfortunately for her, one of those pesky motorcyclists witnessed everything – and eventually reveals all to detective Kierce (Adeel Akhtar).
Why did Joe kill Claire?
Joe discovered co-worker Claire had been leaking secrets to whistleblower Corey (Laurie Kynaston), so then he wouldn’t release the audio which further incriminated Maya in the military tragedy which saw a truck full of civilians blown to smithereens.
These secrets, which included fudging the numbers of successful patient trials and brushing various fatal side effects under the carpet, would bring about the downfall of the Burkett company. And so, Joe silenced Claire for good by staging what initially looked like a robbery that got out of hand.
However, Claire wasn’t Joe’s only victim. In fact, he was essentially a serial killer. He’d also dispatched with Dark, the yacht captain who’d been receiving monthly bribes from the Burketts ever since Joe’s brother Andrew lost his life at sea.
The latter didn’t commit suicide or accidentally fall from the boat as the family purported, though. He was deliberately pushed into the water.
As explained in the 1996 flashback, the siblings had caused football teammate Theo to drink himself to death during a hazing ritual. But with a guilt-ridden Andrew about to confess all, Joe decided he’d rather lose his brother than his freedom.
Did Joe come back from the dead?
In the first episode, Maya is left shocked when she sees Joe playing with their daughter Lily (Thea Taylor-Morgan) on nanny cam footage taken days after his funeral.
We now know, of course, she was fully aware he couldn’t possibly have faked his own death. But just as you’re thinking ‘long-lost identical twin brother’, a far more baffling explanation emerges.
The video was a deepfake produced using Joe’s wedding video and the similar-looking boyfriend of the nanny (Natalia Kostrzewa) who pepper sprayed Maya.
For reasons which stretch the boundaries of credulity, the pair were hired by Joe’s suspicious mother Judith (Joanna Lumley) to make Maya question herself, lose her mind and eventually confess to being the murderer. In the end, the deranged plan kind of worked. However, it didn’t quite have the desired resolution.
The big showdown
After revealing all to confidante Shane (Emmett Scanlan), Maya heads to the Burketts’ manor to confront Judith and her late husband’s siblings Caroline (Hattie Morahan) and Neil (James Northcote), armed with a gun… which she soon unloads and places on a side table in convenient reach for the dastardly clan.
Anyway, after a heated tête-à-tête in which both parties admit to all their wrongdoings – Maya killing Joe in revenge and the Burketts causing mass pharmaceutical corruption on a global scale – Judith suggests making a deal: keep schtum about everything and blame Joe for all the damaging info already leaked.
But before Maya has a chance to even consider it, she’s repeatedly shot by the weaselly Neil.
As Judith and Caroline look on in horror, a dying Maya glances towards the same digital photo that helped disguise her nanny cam. Seemingly prepared for things to get deadly, she’d sneakily placed the hidden camera to capture all the drama. And in cahoots with Kierce and Corey, she’d live streamed it all to the rest of the world.
What happened next?
We quickly learn the surviving Burketts have all been imprisoned for their various major crimes before the action flashes forward 18 years for a hospital-based reunion.
Having realised the Burketts’ medication was responsible for his near-fatal deterioration and hallucinations of his murdered wife, Kierce is now in full health and with an adult son.
As requested by Maya in the event of her death, Claire’s husband Marcus (Eddie Garvey) took custody of Lily, who’s just given birth herself. And the baby’s name? Yes, you guessed it, Maya.
All eight episodes of Fool Me Once are now available to stream on Netflix. Sign up for Netflix from £6.99 a month. Netflix is also available on Sky Glass and Virgin Media Stream.
Check out more of our Drama coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what’s on.
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