The episode opens with Maya Stern (Michelle Keegan) receiving a call from Joe Burkett (Richard Armitage) informing her of Claire Walker’s (Natalie Anderson) death. Later, Joe greets Maya with an embrace when she arrives home.

Sami Kierce (Adeel Akhtar) suggests looking at the two murders differently now that they know Joe and Claire were killed by the same gun. Marty McGreggor (Dino Fetscher) asks Maya to confirm she was deployed overseas when Claire was shot. She denies killing Claire and three months later killing Joe. He says Eddie Walker (Marcus Garvey) is no longer a suspect because he has an alibi. Kierce questions Claire and Joe’s relationship. Joe tells him that they were employed with Burkett Global Enterprise. Kierce asks if Joe hired Claire because he was Claire’s sister. She says Claire was a good pharmaceutical scientist but the Burkett family never trusted outsiders. She assures them that they were not having an affair.

Maya speaks with the school staff to ensure Lily Burkett (Thea Taylor Morgan) will be safe. Kitty Shum (Karishma Navekar) tells her that she can link to the camera in each of the rooms. Later, Maya and Eva Finn (Adelle Leonce) are discussing Claire when Robby calls. Maya reminds her that he isn’t supposed to make contact with her. Eva assures her that he is gone for good. She says they were having a drink several weeks ago when Claire received a call on an older phone, not her pink one. She says Claire appeared to be angry during the call. Maya gets upset when she learns Eva never told the police. Eva admits to being concerned about Eddie and the kids if Claire was having an affair.

Traditional Fish & Chip Restaurant & Take Away – Kierce claims to have been sober when he crashed into a fence. Nicole Butler (Jade Anouka) starts to scold him for attending the meetings for the past four weeks. He sarcastically asks if she is his mother. She urges him to get a private medical consultation.

Maya waits until Eddie Walker (Marcus Garvey) leaves to go into his and Claire’s home. Elsewhere, a man secretly watches Eva through a digital picture frame.

Staring at the investigation board, Marty tells Kierce that Claire and Eddie had some money issues. Kierce says an affair could help them establish a motive. Marty questions how an affair would get Claire and Joe killed within four months of each other. He says Maya is deployed overseas and Eddie has an alibi. Maya’s gun has been ruled out as the murder weapon. Kierce recalls Maya being pepper sprayed by her nanny, Izabella Godek (Natalia Kostrzewa), a few days ago. He suggests Izabella knows something.

Maya recalls Claire hid her cigarettes in a secret compartment inside a wooden chest. Accessing the compartment, she finds an old phone when Eddie approaches demanding to know what she is doing there. When she asks if Claire was having an affair, he breaks down sobbing. She shows him the phone. He says their marriage was rocky and Claire always complained about his work schedule. He admits to feeling like he was no longer enough for her. Maya puts him down when he tries to physically take the phone. Upon leaving, she encounters Abby Walker (Danya Griver) arriving home. Eddie emerges from the house demanding she give him the phone. Abby asks what phone he is referring to but he declines to say.

Kierce and Marty question Izabella about her attack on Maya. She claims the video that Maya showed her was blank. Marty asks why she stole the SD card. She denies the allegation before voicing concern about Lily’s welfare around Maya. Kierce asks if she sensed Joe was having an affair with Claire. She says no and Joe was too good for Maya.

Eddie suggests Claire utilized the other phone for work. Abby questions why Claire would put up a fight during the robbery because they didn’t own any valuables. He assures her that Claire loved her and Daniel Walker (Daniel Burt) more than anything.

Maya looks up the number and finds that it directs to the Player One Arcade Club. Dan visits Abby who is looking at photos from when they were kids. Maya goes to the arcade club where she asks to speak to the manager. The manager doesn’t remember anyone named Claire Walker. Maya says there were sixteen calls to or from the arcade in the week her sister died. She asks the manager about Joe, but the manager, Billy Bosworth (Miles Yekinni), doesn’t know anything. Maya picks up Lily and speaks to Judith (Joanna Lumley) on the phone. She notices a car that may be spying on her. Judith reminds her that the will reading will take place tomorrow at the Farnwood Library.

Sami wakes up on the floor at home after having passed out. He leaves with Molly who is worried about the scan. Sami drives too slow causing other motorists and Molly to complain. He ends up blowing up and making Molly drive. Shane (Emmett Scanlan) tells Maya that the Volkswagen ID 5 was leased by a company called WTCX Limited. The address is an office box in Southampton. Maya leaves to go to the will reading. Shane tells her that Corey the Whistle is back. Corey still hasn’t released the audio. Maya just wants to look after her daughter and get on with her life. Molly and Sami go to the scan. Abby and Dan go to a camera shop to get the film processed. Caroline greets Maya who says the money won’t bring Joe back. Caroline says she wore those boots to annoy her mother.

Once they go into the library, they see Neil (James Northcote). drinking. Heather Howell (Nicola Brome) breaks the news that the reading is being postponed because they don’t have the official death certificate. Caroline joins Maya outside. She talks to her about Andrew and Joe’s relationship. Caroline asks if Joe talked about Andrew’s accident. In a flashback, Joe tells Maya that the world believes his brother fell off a yacht. Joe believes Andrew jumped and killed himself though. In the present, Maya admits she didn’t see Joe’s body because Judith took care of everything. Caroline is adamant she needed to see Joe. She never got to see Andrew’s body either. As a result, she has daydreams about him and thinks he is right there in the house. They argue about whether Joe is actually dead.

Caroline wants to show her something. Dan and Abby find pictures of their mom before she was with their father. Abby is surprised to find a picture of her mother pregnant in 2003. It had to be another child. Caroline tells Maya that the family has a private bank account. She checked out the recent transactions. One name had several payments made to it to a Monkton’s Bank account on the 10^th of every month. Caroline says the money was being sent to Sami Kierce.

 

Fool Me Once Review

The second episode of Fool Me Once was on par with the opening episode. Based on the first two episodes, it is pretty obvious this would’ve been better if it had been sliced in half. Even two episodes would’ve been enough because there is so much filler crammed into each episode so far. No one cares about the detective’s home life or his alcoholism.

Many scenes drag on for two or three minutes with the camera panning around the house just to waste time because the story is so shallow and repetitive. If you’ve seen one Coben series, you’ve seen this one already. It has many of the same twists including those that have been used a billion times in other dramas.

The characters are unrealistic and idiotic, especially the over-the-top lead and the detective. The performances aren’t particularly bad, but the writing of the characters is incredibly silly. Maya’s fighting abilities are overdone at this point when she is so scrawny and Sami is unbelievably inept. Almost everything has been lifted from other series and spliced together such as Maya’s fighting skills, Joe returning from the dead, the whole will fiasco, finding an old phone, and the bank transactions.

The camerawork is hideous at times to the point you may feel like you’re on a roller coaster. It’s the same old Coben song and dance that has grown incredibly stale by this point. The episode scores a 4 out of 10. Recaps of Fool Me Once are available on Reel Mockery here. Find out how to support our independent site at this link. Learn more about advertising with us here. Discuss this series and others at the Reel Mockery Forum.