Netflix\u2019s Harlen Coben adaptations<\/a> might all be set in some idealised version of Northern England where everyone has an immaculate lawn and kitchen straight out of Architectural Digest, but they all still possess the melodrama, ridiculously convoluted narratives and detachment from reality of a glossy night-time American soap opera. And the latest, Fool Me Once<\/a>, is no exception.<\/p>\n With the rivalry between disgraced military pilot Maya Stern (Michelle Keegan) and her passive-aggressive mother-in-law Judith Burkett (Joanna Lumley) channelling the shoulder-padded, diva squabbles between Dynasty<\/a> legends Alexis and Krystle Carrington, you spend much of the eight increasingly preposterous episodes waiting for them to drown each other in a lily pond.<\/p>\n Keegan and Lumley lean fully into the campness whenever their characters interact, which is unsurprising given both parties have form when it comes to on-screen showdowns. Keegan made enemies of Kirsty Soames, Anna Windass and Carla Connor during her turbulent stint as barmaid Tina McIntyre in Coronation Street<\/a>. And in Absolutely Fabulous<\/a>, Lumley\u2019s Patsy Stone spent just as much time bickering with lifelong frenemy Edina Monsoon as she did chain smoking. So, it\u2019s little wonder that the pair throwing daggers at each other is the only part of the far-fetched murder mystery that could be described as TV gold.<\/p>\n Initially, Maya and Judith\u2019s relationship is more frosty than fractious. They\u2019re perfectly cordial with each other while grieving over their husband and son Joe (Richard Armitage), respectively, in the opening funeral scene. But before long, Judith is constantly phoning up her daughter-in-law, either to stick her nose in her business or throw some epic shade.<\/p>\n \u201cI know you\u2019re not used to being a full-time mum,\u201d she remarks during a request to see granddaughter Lily (Thea Taylor-Morgan), preying on the maternal guilt Maya feels about her time in combat. It\u2019s one of many putdowns Lumley delivers with just enough ambiguity to leave you wondering whether her offensiveness is intentional.<\/p>\n Read more:<\/strong><\/p>\n But by the end of the episode, they\u2019re at full-blown loggerheads after Maya makes the first of many hasty beelines for the Burketts\u2019 manor.<\/p>\n \u201cI did often wonder if there was a voice in his ear saying, \u2018Is she good enough, this bit of rough?\u2019,\u201d the widower retorts after her love of Joe is called into dispute. \u201c\u2018Was she really good enough for my special boy?’\u201d<\/p>\n Judith\u2019s visible disdain suggests Maya wasn\u2019t simply paranoid.<\/p>\n But it\u2019s a showdown in the third episode that really kicks things into overdrive.<\/p>\n \u201cDon\u2019t ever tell me to f**k off in my home,\u201d Judith warns Maya following a foul-mouthed response to her lack of cooperation. \u201cBecause quite frankly, you can f**k off.\u201d Perhaps unsurprisingly, the idea of a 77-year-old national treasure, and one who\u2019s recently become renowned for cosy travelogues, dropping the F-bomb in her cut-glass accent has already spawned numerous memes.<\/p>\n Exemplifying the show\u2019s tonal whiplashes, the pair quickly get back to a state of civility, even if Judith can\u2019t resist making a few digs about her daughter-in-law\u2019s dress sense, and as the drama hurtles toward its preposterous finale, it even looks as though there\u2019s some genuine affection between the two. But their truce is cut brutally short.<\/p>\n In the climactic scene, Judith returns home to find a gun-toting Maya perched on a chair in the dark like a moustache-twirling Bond villain. It\u2019s revealed that Joe\u2019s mother knew her son had killed Maya\u2019s sister Claire (Natalie Anderson) after she threatened to leak secrets that would ruin the Burketts\u2019 pharmaceutical empire.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen an enemy attacks, you have the right to defend yourself,\u201d justifies Judith. \u201cYou should know that better than anyone,\u201d she adds, a cutting reference to the military disaster that prompted Maya discharge.<\/p>\n \u201cShe was my sister, you evil f**k\u201d, spits Maya, ignoring Judith\u2019s earlier request to tone down her language. Any possibility of reconciliation is long gone, but who wants that anyway?<\/p> Keegan and Lumley sell the heck out screenwriter Danny Brocklehurst\u2019s entertainingly wicked back and forth, with the former now firmly establishing herself in the same club as fellow Corrie graduates Sarah Lancashire, Katherine Kelly and Suranne Jones. And it\u2019s her character who gets the last laugh, albeit at the cost of her own life.<\/p>\n After rejecting Judith\u2019s idea to make the late Joe a sacrificial lamb and take the flak for all of the company\u2019s wrongdoings, she is fatally shot by snivelling brother-in-law Neil (James Northcote). But as foreshadowed by one of her final zingers (\u201cOh trust me, the world\u2019s finding out\u201d), she\u2019s secretly live-streamed all the confessions and crimes, condemning her nemesis and the rest of the Burketts to lengthy prison sentences.<\/p>\n Some viewers may believe that Coben should be similarly punished for foisting yet another preposterous potboiler on the unsuspecting public, but at least this one had a gloriously absurd clash to the death.<\/p>\n All eight episodes of Fool Me Once are now available to stream on Netflix \u2013 check out our<\/strong> Drama<\/strong><\/a> hub for all the latest news. <\/strong>If you\u2019re looking for something else to watch tonight, check out our<\/strong> TV Guide<\/strong><\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n Want to visit Death in Paradise locations in Guadeloupe at a discount?\u00a0<\/strong>Radio Times is offering savings of up to 7% for registered users booking their next holiday with travel website Expedia.\u00a0<\/strong>Claim your exclusive Radio Times Expedia holiday discount now<\/strong><\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n Try Radio Times magazine today and get 10 issues for only \u00a310 \u2013\u00a0<\/strong>subscribe now<\/strong><\/a>. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to\u00a0<\/strong>The Radio Times Podcast<\/strong><\/a>.<\/strong><\/p> <\/body><\/html>\n Joanna Lumley and Michelle Keegan go head to head in Harlen Coben’s latest Netflix adaptation, Fool Me Once. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":43062,"template":"","categories":[1,5],"acf":[],"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2024\/01\/fool-me-once-delivers-the-years-first-great-tv-showdown-scaled.jpg",2560,1707,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2024\/01\/fool-me-once-delivers-the-years-first-great-tv-showdown-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2024\/01\/fool-me-once-delivers-the-years-first-great-tv-showdown-300x200.jpg",300,200,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2024\/01\/fool-me-once-delivers-the-years-first-great-tv-showdown-768x512.jpg",768,512,true],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2024\/01\/fool-me-once-delivers-the-years-first-great-tv-showdown-1024x683.jpg",800,534,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2024\/01\/fool-me-once-delivers-the-years-first-great-tv-showdown-1536x1024.jpg",1536,1024,true],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2024\/01\/fool-me-once-delivers-the-years-first-great-tv-showdown-2048x1365.jpg",2048,1365,true]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"Joanna Lumley and Michelle Keegan go head to head in Harlen Coben's latest Netflix adaptation, Fool Me Once.","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed\/43061"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/rss_feed"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/43062"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=43061"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=43061"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
![\"Judith](\"https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/3\/2024\/01\/fool-me-once-netflix-147dabd.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C413\" "\\"Fool")
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