Fool Me Once: a thrilling source of escapism for busy students
By Sofia Webster, Film & TV Co-Deputy Editor
Fool Me Once is a brand-new limited series adapted from the popular Harlan Coben page turner. It stars Michelle Keegan, who proves her acting repertoire extends much further than Coronation Street. The eight-part series has twists and turns and left me consistently in the dark, making for the perfect series to escape from the busyness of life for a bit.
I doubt the acting will be nominated for Emmys anytime soon, but it provided exactly what I expected it to – eight hours of pure adrenaline filled excitement and I would highly recommend this to any students that want an enjoyable thriller.
Harlan Coben is well known for his page turners which has massively contributed to the series’ widespread popularity across Netflix’s audience as well as social media. Fool Me Once is one of a series of fourteen adaptations by Coben that has been or is due to be adapted for the screen over the course of the next few years. The widespread success of this particular show has meant a further two of his novels will now be adapted exclusive to the subscription platform.
The series stars Michelle Keegan who plays Maya Burkett, opening at the burial of her recently killed husband Joe Burkett (Richard Armitage) and follows her as she uncovers the mystery of why and how he was killed along with the murder of her beloved sister Claire. The show features an excellent cast. Joanna Lumley plays Joe’s mum Judith and she excels as the judgemental and patronising head of the wealthy Burkett family.
Whilst the series follows Maya’s journey, we also see the ongoing discovery of these murders by troubled detective Sami Kierce, played by BAFTA winner Adeel Akhtar, and his optimistic and some may say naïve sidekick Marty (Dino Fetscher). I really enjoyed this unpredictable pairing and felt their characters complemented each other well.
As much as it was enjoyable and brilliantly 'bingeable', there were a couple of loose plot lines that felt unrealistic and weakened the believability of the show. Looking into this flaw further, this may be down to the fact that adapting a nuanced novel into an eight-part thriller means removing elements of the original plot which creates a show which is potentially less seamless than the original.
Despite this, Fool Me Once is an incredibly enjoyable series and the perfect show to escape from your head and keep you constantly guessing over the course of the eight episodes.
Are you excited for more adaptations of Harlan Coben's novels?