Note: The following article contains discussion of themes including sexual assault.
His & Hers spoilers follow.
His & Hers star Rebecca Rittenhouse has reflected on the show’s “crazy 180” ending. Speaking with The Hollywood Reporter, the actor, who plays Lexy Jones (aka Catherine Kelly), said: “The twist was revealed to me right when I got to Atlanta to shoot. I remember going to my costume fitting.
“And they were like, ‘So, it seems like you’re the murderer… but you’re not!’ And then it was revealed to me who actually was, and I was like, whoa, that’s mind-blowing, and also such a brilliant twist. It’s been a while since a show I loved had a crazy 180 like that.”
Based on Alice Feeney’s 2020 novel, His & Hers introduced fans to Anna Andrews (Tessa Thompson), a news anchor who, after a family tragedy, attempts to resuscitate her career. Returning home to Dahlonega to report on the brutal murder of Rachel Hopkins (Jamie Tisdale), an old friend from high school, Anna, slowly reconnects with her estranged husband, Detective Jack Harper (Jon Bernthal), and her mother, Alice (Crystal Fox), who appears to be living with dementia.
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Related: Netflix’s riveting and bingeable thriller His & Hers has the most diabolical twist seen in years
As Anna and Jack conduct separate investigations into Rachel’s murder, two further victims – Helen Wang (Poppy Liu), and Jack’s sister, Zoe Harper (Marin Ireland) – are brutally slain. And there’s a common thread: all three were in Anna’s high school friendship group, and they were also present on the fateful night of her 16th birthday.
During the series finale, Anna finally realised that Lexy Jones (Rittenhouse), a fellow anchor and her main rival at WSK TV news, was actually Catherine Kelly, the fifth and final member of their group, who had been treated terribly by Rachel, Helen and Zoe. In a flashback, it’s revealed that on the night of Anna’s 16th, the trio had brought Anna and Catherine to the woods to party.
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Unbeknownst to Anna and Catherine, however, Rachel, who was never really their friend, had invited a group of older boys to the party and watched (alongside Helen and Zoe) as they sexually assaulted Catherine. Meanwhile, in the present, as Anna headed to Lexy’s family’s lake house in Dahlonega, she realised that Lexy and Catherine were one and the same, and pulled a gun to protect herself. After she and Lexy got into a violent scuffle, the latter was shot dead by Jack’s colleague and aspiring detective, Priya Patel (Sunita Mani).
In the final moments of His & Hers, a time jump revealed that a pregnant Anna, now reconciled with Jack, had moved on from the murders, believing that Lexy/Catherine was responsible. When she returned home to Dahlonega, however, she discovered a letter from her mother Alice, confessing to each and every one of the killings (except for Lexy, who was collateral damage).
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In a chilling moment, Alice explained that she had learned what really happened on the night of Anna’s birthday after watching one of Anna’s old video tapes, and vowed to take revenge. As it turns out, on the night of her 16th, Anna had intervened when the group of boys grabbed Catherine, but was pinned down in the process. Believing that Anna had been part of Rachel’s scheme, Catherine abandoned a terrified Anna in the woods, and it was Anna who was sexually assaulted.
Devastated by what had happened to her daughter, Alice admitted that she never really had dementia, and killed Rachel, Helen and Zoe, while ensuring she was the last person anyone would ever suspect. Alice had always planned to pin the whole thing on Catherine, rather than killing her, figuring that prison would have been a fitting punishment. As she concludes her letter, Alice tells Anna that there’s nothing more profound than a “mother’s love” which is “constant, continual, relentless”.
His & Hers is available to stream on Netflix.
Megan is a freelance news reporter for Digital Spy.Â