Fool Me Once X review- The Michelle Keegan-starrer is mostly ‘sink-into-the-sofa' good

Fool Me Once is an eight-episode limited series that is based on Harlan Coben’s 2016 novel of the same name. The show is directed by David Moore and Nimer Rashed, while its screenplay was composed by Danny Brocklehurst. Fool Me Once follows a series of twists and turns as well as a complicated plotline knot tied by two murders that might be linked, despite a solid time gap of many months between them.

Starring a talented cast, the show features the likes of Michelle Keegan, Richard Armitage, Dame Joanna Lumley, and Adeel Akhtar in the leading roles. Marcus Gavey, Hattie Morahan, James Northcote, Laura Gibbons, and Dany Griver also star in the series.

Fool Me Once traces the story of Maya Stern, who is still not past the grief of losing her husband; he was murdered in front of her. Being a working mother, she installs a nanny cam on her friend’s advice to look after her daughter better. And that is when she comes across some shocking footage.

She sees her husband, or a man resembling her late spouse, breaking and entering the house to play with her daughter. Scared senseless and not sure what to expect, while Maya tries to make sense of the veiled truth, her niece Abby and nephew Daniel try to figure out their mother’s murder that occurred months earlier.

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And if that is not enough, the two deaths might have more in common than they appear. Throw into the mix a homicide detective with secrets of his own, and you have a perfect murder mystery, all wrapped and ribboned, as a classic Harlan Coben ‘double twist’ novel.

Being such a promising series, Fool Me Once dropped on January 1, 2024, amid a lot of buzz. The show has mostly lived up to its hype and received a mixed bag of positive and negative reviews on X, formerly Twitter, with the beam balance leaning heavily on the former’s side. But there were some who found the series unappealing and sprinkled with rookie mistakes. A few even critiqued Michelle Keegan’s acting skills.

The majority, however, have found the series highly engrossing and ‘sink-into-the-sofa' good as a New Year’s binge.

Some even complimented the houses and recognised the popular protagonist of Peaky Blinders, Thomas Shelby’s house, out of them.