Eric BlairJanuary 2nd
2024

WARNING CONTAINS SPOILERS!

With the new year comes a new seriously binge-worthy Harlan Coben adaptation on Netflix… 

If you’re a fan of previous offerings including Safe and The Stranger, you should probably give Fool Me Once a go as thousands of viewers have hit the streaming platform to binge the new show.

The synopsis for the show reads: “When ex-soldier Maya sees her murdered husband on a secret nanny cam, she uncovers a deadly conspiracy that stretches deep into the past.”

While the thriller boasts a gripping plot, plenty of twists and turns and a stellar cast including Michelle Keegan and Joanna Lumley it seems some viewers have been taking to social media to vent their frustrations of one key element of the series. 

At this point we need to earn you that the rest off the article does contain spoilers, so if you haven’t watched all or any of it yet, consider yourselves warned! 

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As has become traditional with Coben adaptations, the show features an exhilarating final twist, namely that it was Keegan's character, Maya Stern, who had killed her husband all along.

The majority of us were convinced that the actual culprit was Shane (Emmet J. Scanlan) - Maya's friend and fellow military officer whose suspicious behaviour - tracking her car, hanging around outside her house - had all the hallmarks of someone who was not to be trusted. 

So when the show wrapped up, revealing it was in fact Maya who was  behind Joe's death, after discovering he had murdered her sister (and was prepared to murder her, too) it left people wondering why on earth Shane had been acting so oddly throughout the previous eight episodes… 

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Many people took to social media to vent their frustrations over the issue, wondering why Shane’s actions weren’t properly explained. 

One person wrote on Reddit: “What was Shane’s character for? I get that he was her friend from the military but was it him that was stalking her at her house and tracking her car etc?

“Was he obsessed with her? In love with her? He was under developed and I was convinced he was dodgy as soon as he came on the screen but he turned out to be a nice guy and a loyal friend to Maya.”

Someone else said: “Just a bit confused with Shane?” While a third added: “Just finished Fool Me Once on @netflix, very very good series, just a few questions; what was the deal with Shane? Why was he watching Maya? Why did he put a tracker on her car? Why did he let himself in in the middle of the night?”

“Really enjoyed it, but I still don't know why Shane was acting so suspiciously?? Did I miss some of it?” a fourth confused viewer added.

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So what the heck was Shane up to the whole time? Well while it’s certainly not been fully explained, people have put forward a few theories on the subject…

Some have suggested that Shane could have actually been involved in the Burkett family's 'cover up'.

“I love Emmet Scanlon always plays the shift fella... I did think he had something to do with the family cover up [sic],” they wrote.

Others were convinced of the slightly less exciting prospect that Shane's character was simply a distraction to throw us all off the scent.

However, the most popular theory is that Shane was a loyal (albeit overprotective) friend to Maya and was concerned about her wellbeing following Joe's death.

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“There was no malice intended with Shane watching Maya. She was his captain, so there was a lot of trust and respect between them," one person wrote on Reddit.

“He knew with both her sister and husband dying within weeks of each other plus the clear PTSD with killing civilians, losing her army job, no one would make sensible decisions. He was following her for her own protection.”

While some of these do seem genuinely plausible, sadly it’s likely we’ll never know the true motivations behind Shane’s behaviour - but damn, it really did help to sell that killer twist… 

All eight episodes of Fool Me Once are currently available to watch on Netflix. 

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