Another adaptation of Harlan Coben dominates the ratings of the 'tudum' service, but is the series 'Fool Me Once' really that good?

If you look at the global Netflix charts, the absolute leader in the vast majority of countries is "Fool Me Once". Not even the recent debut of the spin-off of the international hit "Money Heist" is a hindrance.

What is the secret of the project's success? Lack of strong competition? The magic of the name of writer Harlan Coben, whose projects have been consistently released on Netflix for 4 years? Or is it really a cool mini-series deserving all the praise? Let's figure it out.

Maya Stern (Michelle Keegan from "The Brink") has returned from war after a scandalous incident involving her and recently lost her sister, who was killed during a robbery. But before she could mourn her relative and recover, her husband Joe (Richard Armitage from the "Hobbit" trilogy) is killed before her eyes during a walk in the park.

After these events, Maya's friend gives her a baby monitor so she can watch her child when she's away from home. One day, reviewing the recordings, she sees Joe on them. The heroine decides to find out if her husband is actually alive or if someone is trying to play "mind games" with her.

To understand the "essence" of the series "Fool Me Once", you need to know who Harlan Coben is and how his stories work.

Coben is a master of the modern detective story with an abundance of plot twists, a great love for details, and the use of gadgets as the main driving force of stories. His favorite techniques are two storylines developing in different time periods. Often, some event from the past influences what happens in the present, or in the present, the characters take on unraveling unsolved cases of days gone by.

Unlike most modern authors and screenwriters, Coben not only is not afraid to introduce gadgets and modern technologies into the plot, but also actively uses them in the narrative. Smartphones, deepfakes, hackers – there is plenty of all this in the American's novels. This circumstance makes his stories close and more interesting to an audience that cannot imagine life without devices, AI, and other benefits of the 21st century.

In 2018, Harlan Coben signed a huge contract with Netflix to adapt 14 of his novels. Since then, the service's catalog has included "Safe", "The Stranger", "The Innocent", "Gone for Good", "Stay Close", "Hold Tight", and, actually, "Fool Me Once".

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Open material

The action of the novel was moved from the USA to the UK, and the director's chair for most episodes was taken by the director of "Outlander" Dave Moore.

Structurally and plot-wise, "Fool Me Once" shows Coben's signature from the very first episode – a high pace of narration, a bunch of flashbacks, characters with mysterious pasts, a mass of secrets layering on top of each other. And if this approach to storytelling is close to you, then the series will work for you 100%.

The credibility of the events on screen is enhanced by a solid cast led by the beautiful Michelle Keegan, who has finally been entrusted with a big and serious role. Despite her model looks, the girl looks equally organic both as a grieving wife and as a soldier who can take down anyone with one move.

But the series, for all its advantages, still has problems.

Firstly, if you are attentive enough, you will figure out one of the main intrigues right away, and this will spoil the overall impression, because such constructions rely precisely on mysteries.

Secondly, side storylines, like that of a detective suffering from hallucinations and preparing for a wedding, are not only uninteresting in themselves but also frankly distract from the main story.

In the end, the secret of "Fool Me Once"'s success is simple: dynamic storytelling with a literary basis, an abundance of wow-twists and cliffhangers between episodes, a cast with beautiful and talented actors.

"Fool Me Once" is like very high-quality chewing gum: will you remember its taste in a month? Hardly. Will you enjoy it in the moment? Definitely.

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