Fool Me Once book explains nanny cam ‘plot hole’ that left viewers baffled

Fool Me Once viewers may have been left baffled by a nanny cam ‘plot hole’, but it turns out the book that the series was based on has all the answers...

After premiering at the beginning of the year, the Netflix show shot to the top of the streamer's charts in no time.

Viewers were instantly hooked to the twisty thriller, which follows Maya (Michelle Keegan) as she uncovers a ‘deadly conspiracy’ stretching deep into the past after spotting late husband Joe (Richard Armitage) on her daughter’s nanny cam.

That camera has proven to be a key detail of the plot - as well as the subject of a gripe that some viewers have had.

WARNING: SPOILERS BELOW, SO LOOK AWAY NOW IF YOU’VE SOMEHOW NOT FINISHED THE SERIES

In both the TV show and the book, Maya’s friend gives her the digital photo frame that has a hidden camera inside, hoping it will serve as protection after Joe’s mysterious death.

Netflix

The final episode reveals that Joe’s mum, Judith Burkett, thought he may have been killed by none other than Maya, having got her servants Izabella and Luka to plant deepfake footage of Joe on the nanny cam to make it look like he was still alive.

Pointing out a potential plot hole on X, one fan wrote: “Eva gave Maya the nanny-cam photo frame. A day later Joe was on the cam. Izabella, the nanny, didn’t know about the cam, so she and Luca loaded a deep-fake video to a device, they supposedly didn’t know about, that fast?”

Netflix

However, it transpires that the book holds all the answers, as in Harlan Coben’s original novel we find out that Izabella had spotted the new addition to the home.

Coben writes: “Suddenly the day after the funeral you have a new digital frame already loaded up with pictures of your family? Please. You’re the only mother I know that doesn’t keep about pictures of her daughter around. You don’t even hang up her artwork. So when I saw that frame - how stupid do you think I am?”

In the book, Izabella is described as dour and unhappy, but ‘the perfect nanny all the time’ on camera - something that’s all down to the fact she was turning it on for the nanny cam she knew was there.

Well, the more you know...