Fool Me Once: Episode 2

 "Lying's never good policing."

No, DI Kierce. And nor is lying by omission to your fiancee about your blackouts while being open to them to yoiur dodgy Alcoholics Anonymous counsellor. You need to stay away from that semi-cult for a start, but at least on this occasion she gives good advice. Get tested. And bloody tell your fiancee, who miraculously failed to spot anything dodgy after your very well-shot breakfast blackout.

Meanwhjile, in some ways, the plot advances quietly. In other ways it doesn's, as Maya finds a lead to ploice don't suspect- Claire had a secret phone which she used only for talking to someone at a retro gaming arcade. Was she having an affair with Joe, as the police (and Eddie) suspdct? I don't think so. I think it was a very different secret, and connected to all the dodgy cult stuff.

Then there's the photos of a young Claire, developed by her kids- and, incidentally, her son doesn't understand why the camera doesn't have a screen. I feel old- in which shre's pregnant with another child from before she met their dad. We see the reading of Joe's willpostponed by the lack of a death certificate, and we meet KJoe's likeable sister, Caroline, who has her own suspicions that not only Joe but his brother Andrew may not be dead.

Oh, and one final bombshell: Joe's family are paying Kierce a load of money every month. Conflict of interest much? But I suspect eve this is not what it seems. Nothing is. This is quite the most twisty-turny bit of telly I can remember ever seeing. I'm not sure if it's all that deep behind all these whodunit equivalent of jump scares, but my God I'm loving the ride.

Fool Me Once: Episode 1

 "Duran Duran came on the radio and he's never even heard of them...!"

Aboiut time I got round to this new-ish thriller on Netflix which everyone is talking about: my very lovely partner has convinced me and now I see to be quite hopelessly addicted. And yeah, I know I'm blogging loads of different things and this is one more... but it was ever thus with this blog. It’s what I do.

So on the surface the conceit is simple. Maya, a former soldier (she loved combat and was addicted to it, an interesting character trait!) sees her husband Joe, from a much posher family than her, gunned down by apparent motorcylist muggers. Some time later, by means of a "nanny cam" (don't ask), she appears to see her late husband with her young daughter. Did this really happen? Or is this one of the many visions she's been having?

Also... is she the killer? Yeah, I know, she's the protagonist and there are unwritten rules of TV drama, so she probably isn't. But Detective Inspector Sami Kierce (not "Detective Kierce", please: this is not America) hasn't ruled her out. After all, her sister was recently killed, and her widower wants Maya to stay away from his daughters because "death follows you". Ouch. Indeed, we learn that both murders were done using the same gun.

There's dodginess in her past, too. Her old army mates seem to like her, but was she really dishonourably discharged for killing innocent civilians? Is there a connectioin with her murky past? I think we know there is.

But then we end with a bombshell. Maya's posh mother-in-law, Judith, is somewhat overbearing- I've had worse, mind- and there's a real subtext of snobbery. Except... we begin with a flashback to 1996, a private school, and some sort of Dennis Wheatley-style Satanic ritual. Then,  in the final scene, we realise this all pertains to Joe's younger brother, who died that year at seventeen. Does all this creepy aristcratic weirdness link to all this? We know it does.

Aaaargh. The tension is all coiled up like a spring. But I'll be good. Another episode tomorrow. And I'm not promising just the onre...