I only have access to Netflix while staying at my in laws place, so every time we visit we look at whatever the hottest movies and shows are. At the moment, His & Hers is apparently a thing.
It’s going to be super tough to review a mystery in anything other than broad strokes without giving up some spoilers, so most of my review will be below the fold.
The short version is that the show is mildly entertaining while you watch it, but the story is pretty much straight nonsense. It’s fine I guess to pass the time, 5/10.
Spoilers
Every mystery like this reminds me of the 80s movie Clue, where you could mix and match between a bunch of endings that all make just as sense as each other. I think that His & Hers worked hard to not go with the most predictable murderer, but ended up with a pretty strange story as they tried to add layers of mystery and confusion.
First, the whole plot is that there was a group of 5 friends, that made friendship bracelets and showed up in a yearbook and everything. We saw two scenes that involved Catherine. When was she taking a picture of them at the cafeteria? Why would Zoe say they were a group of 5? What is the context for Anna befriending these three horrible girls in the first place, and what led to three of them all believably being psychopaths?
Moving on from that, how in the world does Anna end up married to Zoe’s brother? Why does nobody know what happened to Catherine, when she continued to live in this small town? Why does Catherine hate Anna? Why does Catherine invite Anna to her house, since she apparently hates Anna? Why did Richard slap Rachel? Why did Catherine kill her sister, because of one fat joke? Sure, why not!
The whole story line with Clyde and Anna is also strange and unnecessary. Also, the first half of the season I can’t handle Jon Bernthal making every dumb decision in the world. Of course his partner is eventually going to check the phone records, why go crazy trying to hide something that is going to come out anyway?
That’s just the first stream of consciousness of things that felt dumb about the show. I’m sure there are a lot more, as the backstories of every character are paper thin props meant to create a confusing mystery. It’s not great.
I also take a point straight off the bat for having a kid die of SIDS without it being a real part of the story. I don’t need that madness in my life.
My Score
IMDB Score
RT Critics
67
RT Audience
61