Thursday, March 7, 2024

Fool Me Once – Netflix Web Series

This is a limited web series in seven episodes. It is based on a novel of the same name by Harlan Coben. I learn that Netflix has so far picked eight of Coben’s 75+ mystery/thriller novels for web series. This is my first of Coben’s, either in book or web series format - as of now, that is. I might download a book or two in Kindle.

Like the earlier one, Marked Heart web series, this too keeps one engaged all through, and one could seldom settle down with one episode at a time. The protagonist moves heaven and earth to settle scores for the death of her husband and sister. The series is interwoven with several sub-plots to arouse suspicion on every character that is portrayed, and makes a convincing end.

Is the heroine’s husband really dead? If so, how come he is seen playing with their little daughter in the hidden camera that she has fixed to cover her absence from home? Or, does she suffer from hallucinations because of her controversial exit from military service? Is it that her suspicious looking mother in law or her only surviving son have anything to do with this? How come the accounts of the detective, the captain of the yacht, and a host of others are credited with substantial sums every month by the family’s corporate firm? Or, does the heroine’s sister’s affair before marriage bear any connection to the story? And, last but not the least, how come the Nanny in heroine’s household behaves strangely when questioned and throws pepper on heroine’s face and runs away never to be accessible? 

You will find an answer to these, and many more, if you watch it over the long weekend. As usual, my wife and I both suspected half a dozen characters - except for the real culprit. A never-say-die couple, we are sure to spot the director’s guy one day.

(Thank you once again, Viswanathan, for recommending this. Hope you are enjoying your stay in London.) 

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Aside this, some of us, SFV seniors, watched on the big screen, in the new Forum Mall, the movie Article 370. I was skeptical that it might be a documentary-type - far from it. It was absorbing, informative, and fixed the several loose ends that I had on the subject. More than the movie, we were surprised to see that most of the audience constituted seniors. 

Yes, the trend seems to be movies of this type – Kashmir File, The Kerala Story, Article 370, and now we hear the West Bengal file in the pipeline. Anything that provides us a comprehensive account of the political scenario is welcome.


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