Fool Me Once ending explained after Netflix viewers binge-watch crime thriller series in one day

Warning! This article contains major spoilers for Fool Me Once

Ever since Netflix's new show, Fool Me Once, dropped on New Year's Day, viewers have been binge-watching the entire series in one sitting.

Impressive, I know.

The show follows Maya Stern (played by Michelle Keegan), who is dealing with the death of her husband Joe (The Hobbit's Richard Armitage).

The series follows a grieving Maya as she tries to navigate Joe's death and piece together how and why he died - which is made even more confusing when she spots him on their daughter's baby cam just days after the funeral.

As a result, Maya is left wondering whether her husband had actually died at all.

But for those who binged their way through eight hours of the series on New Year's Day (yep, it's possible) we now know *major spoilers ahead* that Maya was never in any doubt that her husband was dead.

To viewers' total shock, we learn that it was actually Maya who killed Joe herself.

Now, the series is based on a Harlan Coben novel, so naturally it would have a series of shocking twists and turns. But, nevertheless, we were pretty gobsmacked at that one.

But why did Maya kill Joe?

Netflix

We already know that Maya's sister Claire had been killed in an alleged burglary prior to Joe's death. But in the final ep, we discover that Maya actually suspected Joe was to blame.

She even tested one of the bullets from Joe's gun, which confirmed that it was from the firearm used to kill Claire.

Maya wanted to confront Joe, but switched the gun with a defunct one, to see if he would try to pull the trigger on her as well.

To her horror, when Maya confronted Joe, he reached for the gun. As a backup, Maya had brought the working gun with her just in case, and when she realised Joe was in fact prepared to kill her too, she shot him in the chest.

But with Joe dead, Maya still needed answers. Why did Joe shoot Claire?

Netflix

It turns out that Joe had discovered that Claire had been working undercover at the Burkett family pharmaceutical company to reveal insight to Corey the whistleblower.

Claire had made a deal with Corey to protect Maya. If she helped him bring down the Burketts then he wouldn't release audio files to incriminate her sister in a military tragedy which saw Maya killing civilians.

While working with the family, Claire discovered secrets about the business which Joe wanted to silence, leading him to stage her death as a robbery gone wrong.

Piecing together everything that had happened, at the end of the series, Maya heads to the Burkett home to confront the family.

Netflix

While Maya admits to killing Joe, the Burketts admit to the corruption within their pharmaceutical company. Although Burkett matriarch Judith suggests that all parties simply blame Joe, Maya is shot by Joe's brother, Neil, before she can agree.

Dying from multiple bullet wounds, Maya looks on towards a photograph where she had sneakily hidden a camera, streaming the events to the world.

Viewers later learn that the Burketts have been imprisoned, meanwhile as requested by Maya, we see that Claire's husband Marcus has taken custody of daughter Lily.

Flashing forward 18 years, we find out Lily has just had a baby herself, named Maya.

All episodes of Fool Me Once are now available to stream on Netflix.