With Fool Me Once being January’s biggest binge-worthy Netflix series, you might be wondering: what happens to Shane and does he die?
The New Year’s Day hangover was made worth it with the arrival of Netflix’s latest Harlan Coben adaptation. All eight episodes of Fool Me Once, based on the author’s book of the same name, dropped on the big day, and already it’s made it to number two on the streamer’s top 10 chart.
As per the official synopsis: “Fool Me Once follows Maya Stern who is trying to come to terms with the brutal murder of her husband, Joe. But when Maya installs a nanny-cam to keep an eye on her young daughter, she is shocked to see a man she recognises in her house. Her husband, who she thought was dead…”
Alongside the various twists and turns, there are plenty of key characters to follow, including Shane Tessier (Emmett J. Scanlan) – here’s what you need to know about Maya’s close pal. Warning: Spoilers ahead!
Does Shane die in Fool Me Once?
No, Shane doesn’t die in Fool Me Once. Maya’s (Michelle Keegan) confidant and fellow military officer appears in the final scene, 18 years after Maya’s death, as her now-grown-up daughter Lily gives birth to her own child.
Shane appears throughout the series as a close friend to Maya, having been by her side in combat when she chose to ignore orders and launch at an incoming vehicle that had at least one civilian in it.
Maya later reveals the scandal to Shane, much to his surprise, before admitting that she killed her husband Joe after he murdered her sister Claire to cover up the Burkett family secrets.
Although Shane has all of this knowledge, and anyone who could potentially expose the wealthy Burkett family tends to die in mysterious circumstances, he isn’t killed in Fool Me Once.
Throughout the series, Shane uses his military police status to obtain information to help Maya with her own investigations. But there are also a number of scenes that allude to the idea that he was up to no good, including the moment he turned up at her house in the dead of night and was found holding Lily.
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The final scene shows that Shane is still close with Maya’s daughter Lily, her brother-in-law Eddie (Marcus Garvey), and detective Sami Kierce (Adeel Akhtar), meaning he was a good guy after all.
This has left a number of viewers feeling confused about his character, with one writing on Reddit: “Shane’s character was underdeveloped for sure and I was convinced he was dodgy from the start. Why was he so obsessed with her?”
Another replied: “Agreed! I thought it was going to wind up being he was obsessed and would do anything to protect her – even murder – but his character fell so flat and I didn’t get what they were trying to portray with him.”
“No character development on Shane. There were times when it seemed like there was more to him but overall he fell flat,” added a third, while a fourth said, “Having a few less strands to the story would help. I think they try and throw in so many angles and red herrings that it all falls flat.”
A fifth commented: “I’m struggling to understand Shane’s character – did he do things such as planting the tracker/watching her through the window because he was worried about her having PTSD, was he in love with her, or something else?”
But readers of the book have jumped in to clarify, including this person who explained: “In the book it’s heavily hinted that Shane has feelings for Maya and is trying to look after her after her husband’s death. He’s a good guy though.”
Fool Me Once is available to stream on Netflix now, and you can read more about the series below: