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Claire Crick

Fool Me Once ending explained: what happens to Maya in episode 8?

Fool Me Once ending sees Michelle Keegan as Maya Stern.

The Fool Me Once ending has left fans stunned, but with so many twists and turns leading to the shocking conclusion, here is a breakdown of what happened in episode 8. 

The final episode opens with Maya having just confessed to Shane that she killed Joe. Shane doesn't seem too surprised, having put the pieces together himself, and it is revealed that Maya killed Joe in revenge for him killing Claire. 

The episode then rewinds four months and shows Joe killing Claire in cold blood in her own home and making it look like a botched robbery. Maya admits that she'd worked out Joe had taken their secret gun, and once Shane had tested the bullet for her, the awful truth was confirmed. 

Next, we see Maya calling Joe, and telling him that she knows what he did, and to meet her in the park that night at 9 pm. Knowing Joe would come armed, Maya reveals she switched the deactivated gun that they had in the house for the hidden one, and so when she confronted Joe he turned on her, trying to shoot her but was surprised when the gun didn't work, giving her the chance to then shoot him herself with the loaded gun.

Maya, who we have seen is an excellent shot a target practice, tells Shane she shot Joe three times, the first two shots to injure and make it look like a mugging, and the third shot was to kill him. She then made it look like she was also a victim by getting his blood on her and crying out for help. 

While Shane dumps Luca and Isabella in the middle of nowhere, driving off in their car, Sami corners Rambo in a pub toilet where he says he didn't kill Joe, but he knows who did because he saw it happen that night in the park. 

Knowing now that Maya is Joe's killer thanks to Rambo, Marty and Kierce (who shouldn't be involved after being suspended but we love that he is!) blue light it to where they have tracked Maya's car. However, when they get there they find Eddie in Maya's car, picking up Lily on Maya's request. They're both fuming that they haven't caught their killer, but Eddie knows where Maya is as they've swapped cars and his tracker says she's at home. 

Maya confesses that she killed Joe, but that's just the start of the drama... (Image credit: Netflix)

At the house, Maya has a flashback as she remembers that Joe borrowed her car recently, and realizes he must have killed Tommy Dark and this is how his blood got into her boot. Before she leaves the house, she writes a letter for Lily and puts it in her room, but Sami pounces on her with cuffs the moment she walks out the front door. But instead of getting arrested, Maya says she will tell him everything. 

Over at Farnwood, the Burketts are having a business dinner with all their investors and as their guests leave, they all congratulate each other on how well the evening went, unaware that Maya is in the house, waiting for them. Meanwhile, Kierce arrives at Corey's woodland hideout and asks him for a favor. 

Maya confronts Judith about the sick nanny cam trick and shocks everyone by pulling out a gun. But instead of shooting anyone, she takes the gun and puts it on a table, leaving herself unarmed. 

Maya asks Judith why she thinks she killed Joe, and Judith pretends it is mother's intuition, but Maya tells her she can only know because she knew Maya had a motive, meaning Judith knew Joe had killed Claire to cover up their false drug trial results. Neil and Caroline, Joe's siblings, don't believe that Joe killed Claire, but Judith more or less confirms it. 

Maya then drops the bombshell that Claire's death isn't the first time Joe has killed... telling the family what happened to Theo Mora and how Joe killed his own brother, Andrew, to cover up his crimes. 

While Judith refuses to believe that Joe killed Andrew, she offers Maya a get-out deal where they blame Joe for the Burkett Global cover-up and say that's how he got himself killed. But Maya says it is too late as Neil shoots her in the stomach, leaving her bleeding on the floor. 

As Maya whispers 'it's over' as she bleeds out, Judith gives Neil the nod of approval and he shoots her two more times. But when they look to see where Maya's lifeless finger is pointing they are stunned to realize Maya has set up the picture frame with a hidden camera on their mantlepiece, the same one they used for her nanny cam set up. 

As the connection goes dead and the Burketts discover with a sickening realization that they have been filmed, Kierce and Corey are watching the video which has been streaming on Corey's whistleblowing website. They are horrified as they watch Maya get shot, and both struggle with the enormity of what has happened. However, as Corey gathers his thoughts he tells Kierce that Maya took that gun into the Burkett house and, knowing she would be going to jail for Joe's murder, she framed the Burkett family and took a gun knowing how it would end. 

Maya and Judith's final showdown was nothing short of amazing.  (Image credit: Netflix)

The episode ends as we flash forward to 18 years in the future, and we see Kierce arriving at a hospital, where he sees Eddie. They talk about their kids, who are now all grown up, and Eddie talks about how proud he is of them all - and we learn that Kierce and Molly had a baby boy. 

In between the flash-forward, we see Maya writing the letter we watched her write in episode 6 and it is to Eddie, asking him to bring Lily up for her when the inevitable happens. We also see Maya tell Kierce that she knows she is going to jail, but wants to show the world who the Burketts really are, meaning she was the brains behind the nannycam streaming and that she knew she would end up dying that night. Kierce also is seen admitting to Maya that he has been having blackouts and has been diagnosed with neurological issues, which he now knows is down to Burkett medication, leaving her devastated. 

In the final scene of the series Eddie and Kierce go into a hospital room where Shane sitting at a now grown-up Lily's bedside, and she has just had a baby of her own. As everyone fusses over the newborn, Lily announces, in a bittersweet ending, that she and her partner have decided to name their daughter Maya

All 8 episodes of Fool Me Once are now available to stream as a box set on Netflix. 

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