Fool Me Once’s ending employed the concept of self-sacrifice to reinforce the idea that some grand evils are insurmountable without the willingness to go down swinging. That was the fate of the miniseries’ protagonist. Upon avenging her sister’s death and stumbling on the secrets of her inlaws, Michelle Keegan’s Maya Stern realizes she has engaged an unbeatable force of wickedness. Paying the ultimate price becomes necessary for the widowed mother who willingly offered her life on the altar of justice, exposing the Burkett family for the greater good.
The Netflix series based on Harlan Coben’s 2016 novel of the same title was released on January 1, 2024, to mixed reviews. While psychological thriller fans would readily agree it was quite an exciting show, it has been expressed in some quarters that the twists and turns lacked focus and clarity. To cap it all, according to these critics, the final twist teased all along amounted to little significance and was somewhat pointless — it failed to justify the essence of the lead character’s quest throughout the series’ eight episodes in a meaningful way.
Who Killed Joe In Fool Me Once?
Fool Me Once began with the funeral of Richard Armitage’s Joe Burkett, a mystery Detective Sami Kierce (Adeel Akhtar) and his partner Marty McGreggor (Dino Fetscher) failed to solve until the finale episode of the miniseries. Joe’s wife told the police two masked boys on bikes attacked them at the park the night her husband was killed. While struggling with a strange health condition eventually linked to the shenanigans of Burkett Pharmaceuticals, Detective Sami and his partner track down the bikers and learn the truth about Joe’s death: he was murdered by his wife, Maya Stern.
The ex-military pilot had learned that her husband was behind the death of her sister, Natalie Anderson’s Claire Walker. She confronts him in the park with her findings, and Joe attempts to kill her without realizing she switched his murder weapon, leaving him vulnerable with a deactivated gun. Now, Maya’s statement about the masked biker boys wasn’t entirely made up; one of them witnessed the murder. His confession to Detective Sami led to Maya’s arrest, which facilitated the undoing of the Burketts.
Why Fool Me Once’s Ending Isn’t So Terrible
Perhaps the series could have had a more meaningful conclusion, but the notion that Fool Me Once’s ending is futile isn’t valid. It has been based on a misguided belief of the motive behind Maya’s actions throughout the series. The final episode’s revelation about Joe’s killer left viewers questioning the essence of Maya’s endless quest to find who killed her sister. If she killed her husband to avenge her sister, what’s the point of all the intricate weavings around the character’s quest about Claire’s murder?
For Maya, the mystery wasn’t about who killed Joe or Claire. She had substantiated that Joe murdered her sister and was quite sure she avenged Claire until Joe showed up in her nanny cam. So, her quest wasn’t really about finding out who killed Joe or Claire. It was rather anchored on making sense of why her husband murdered her sister. And how Joe, who was very dead and buried, turned up in the nanny camera she set up to monitor her daughter Lily.
By and large, Maya’s purpose was primarily about making sense of Claire’s death. She was out to find out why her sister lost her life. The Joe Burkett murder scene indicated this: before Maya shot her husband, she asked him why he killed Claire. Joe’s response—”You will never prove that I killed her,” becomes the core purpose of Claire’s mission.
What’s The Purpose Of Shane Tessier In Fool Me Once?
The series also stars Irish actor Emmett J. Scanlan as Shane Tessier, Maya’s friend from the military. Several scenes suggest the character was responsible for Maya’s misfortunes. For instance, he was seen stalking the protagonist outside her home and even placed trackers on her car. The series concluded without any explanation for teasing Shane as a suspect. This, for critics, was another unnecessary twist in the series that amounted to a goofy plot hole.
Harlan Coben addressed this in an interview with LADbible. The author explained that Shane was looking out for his friend. “Imagine your best friend, who trusts you with a house key, has PTSD, is taking medication, has been forced out of the military due to a scandal, had two close family murdered, is acting sketchy… and just told you that she saw her dead husband still alive,” started Coben. “A good friend, especially one with Shane’s background, would do whatever he could to keep an eye (on) that friend and make sure she’s okay…,” added the Fool Me Once author. It’s unlikely the series will get a second season here’s why we think so.
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