With the recent hype of Griselda taking over the early 2024 streaming attention of Netflix subscribers, the previous minor hit Fool Me Once has now shifted to the back burner. Adaptations of bestselling author Harlan Coben’s twisty output currently saturate the streamer, with many more on the way through a multi-project deal. Not everyone agrees on the value of this seventh or so Coben miniseries, but most viewers will know by the end of the first episode whether or not they need to continue with Fool Me Once.
‘Fool Me Once’ Plot
Fool Me Once, based on the Coben novel of the same name, stars Michelle Keegan as Maya, an ex-soldier with a troubled past who now has a charmed life with her husband and young daughter. When her spouse dies in a robbery, events surrounding his death and his wealthy family’s history of mysterious doings lead Maya to believe that something is going on.
The Thriller Sameness of the Coben-Verse
Even outside his 2020s string of adaptations, Coben is no stranger to film and television. He has been around for a while, and the first time the world saw his twist-laden stories onscreen was in 2006. Most pertinent to his recent foray into television was his direct involvement in creating The Five and Safe, both of which came out last decade. As the cinematic versions reach double digits, the developers behind Coben’s shows seem ready to go on forever.
Sadly, none of them are that good. There are numerous exceptions with minuscule quality differences from series to series, especially considering the first attempt by French director Guillaume Canet (titled Ne le dis à personne, or Tell No One in English). Fool Me Once is one of the worst so far, due primarily to its inability to set itself apart from its peers. With Fool Me Once, longtime Coben TV collaborator Danny Brocklehurst is making his fifth effort to bring a Coben story to life. Where the others were often merely average, this is patently formulaic and empty for nearly every minute.
Brocklehurst’s Expansion of ‘Fool Me Once’ Leaves You Wanting
Visually bland, Fool Me Once consists of lots of darkening filters to remove the potential vibrancy of any shot. The look of the miniseries takes a toll on viewers looking for something dynamic in the thriller genre, and the performers do not help much. The acting consists of little more than one-on-one conversations one after the other, often in a serious manner and with little range to show from actors who are well-known to BBC audiences.
Joanna Lumley, Thea Taylor-Morgan, and Michelle Keegan in ‘Fool Me Once’ / Netflix
In place of its cinematic deficits, the writers insist on using the most tried-and-true methods of twisting up a thriller, with each one stuffed haphazardly but with maximum confusion in the final seconds of each episode for the cliffhanger effect. Every twist gives Maya more excuses to leave her child at home while driving around to different locations (and some of the same locations). Like its visual style, the actual content of the plot leads us straight to the end without much flair. The conclusion never justifies Fool Me Once’s reliance on trauma in its characters; as such, the inclusion of this aspect comes across as exploitative rather than meaningful.
You Can Skip ‘Fool Me Once’ in Favor of Better Netflix Offerings
When even the hyper-twisted Netflix feature Reptile offers more cohesive entertainment than a series, you know something is amiss. Any way you slice it, Netflix has too many options to settle for failure: January 2024’s other choices, Boy Swallows Universe and Griselda, easily outpace Fool Me Once, and even the other Coben shows top this new one. The author’s familiar brand means the returning audience will want to see Fool Me Once, but those folks will already know if they need to watch the next Coben on the small screen. For those on the fence, Brocklehurst’s latest is eight hours of baiting twists without much to show.
Fool Me Once is streaming now on Netflix.