Fool Me Once episode 6 recap: Is Joe really a cold-blooded killer?

Richard Armitage as Joe Burkett in Fool Me Once episode 6
Is Joe Burkett a killer? (Image credit: Netflix)

Fool Me Once episode 6 sees the suspicion around Tommy Dark's murder lead the police back to Maya, but the more she tries to prove her innocence, the guiltier she looks. 

Episode 6 opens with Marty calling DS Sami Kierce, telling him that Maya has been found with a dead body. The pair meet Maya at Tommy's lock-up where she and Corey discovered his body in the freezer. But, while Maya alerted the authorities, Corey is nowhere to be seen, and she keeps his name out of it when questioned by the police. 

Maya and Sami clash when he tells her that she has a habit of being linked to suspicious deaths, and she retaliates by asking why he is being paid off by the Burketts. He is adamant that he isn't and tries to prove his innocence by taking her home and showing her his bank statements and rubbish watch that he found on the bus, and asking if this is the sort of thing he'd be wearing if he was getting £9000 a month from a rich family. 

Maya says she knows that she is a murder suspect, and Sami tells her that while everyone at the police station thinks so, he is willing to give her the benefit of the doubt. He also asks her to prove her innocence by telling him everything she knows, but she refuses, offering only the information that Tommy Dark was also being paid off by the Burketts. 

Fool Me Once on Netflix stars Michelle Keegan as a grieving wife with a puzzling mystery to solve.

Maya is trying to work out what happened to her sister, Claire.  (Image credit: Netflix)

Going to collect Lily from Eddie's after she stayed there following Maya's night being questioned at Tommy's lock-up, she talks to him about Tommy and how she is connected to all the murders and thinks it is only a matter of time before she is arrested. 

She also tells Eddie about Christopher Swain, the other man who Joe used to go to school with and could know something about Theo and Andrew's death. He asks to see a picture, and when she shows him a profile image, he recognizes the view as a prestigious one in London and Maya soon heads to the city to track Christopher down. 

She finds the address but Christopher isn't there, and a neighbor tells her that he had a huge, noisy party and then went away like he usually does on an annual basis.

Meanwhile, Abby and Eddie have a heart-to-heart about Louis and they are soon back on the same page, but when Daniel overhears that Abby went to meet their half-brother without telling him, he is angry and races upstairs. But later they invite Louis over and the family seems to be making progress. 

With Sami not at his desk again, Marty covers for him when their boss asks after him, but it isn't long before she reveals that he used to have a drinking problem which started after his former finance, another police officer, was killed in the line of duty, and he has always blamed himself. 

At an AA support meeting, Sami admits that he is struggling with his recent medical diagnosis and that he doesn't want to be a burden on Molly, suggesting that he doesn't want to leave her to pick up the pieces if he dies like he had to do before. 

Knowing that he has to tell Molly the truth, Sami finally goes to see her and confesses everything about his blackouts and his tests and diagnosis, and of course, she stands by him, promising to always love him. 

Adeel Akhtar as DS Sami Kierce

Sami makes a big confession to his fiancée, Molly. (Image credit: Netflix)

Caroline calls Maya that evening and tells her she has just seen Joe, and that he told her to pass on a message - but before she can relay the message, the line goes dead. When Maya calls her back, someone is breathing down the phone but they don't speak, leaving Maya rattled. Maya puts Lily to bed and gets upset as the enormity of everything hits her, but while she is upset, she doesn't see someone watching her through the window from the garden. 

Marty gets CCTV footage of Maya driving to Tommy's lock-up and sees she wasn't in the car alone. Marty and Sami bring her in for questioning and she refuses to give Corey's name, until Sami reveals they found what is likely to be Tommy's blood in the boot of her car. Knowing she didn't kill Tommy, she wonders if Corey is setting her up, and soon she gives them his name, the location of the gaming hideout and also his office in the woods. 

Shane collects Maya from the station after she has been released and says he knows about Tommy and that there is plenty more that she isn't telling him. She asks what he has found out about Christopher Swain and he is annoyed that she wants him to do the digging for her, but won't tell her the whole story. The pair argue, but eventually, Shane reveals that Christopher is regularly pulled over drunk by the police but never goes to prison, but suggests he goes to a rich boys rehab instead. 

Richard Armitage and Michelle Keegan in Fool me Once

Maya has been on a mission for the truth since Joe's death.  (Image credit: Netflix)

Back at the police station, Sami is shocked to get a report that someone from the military police has been requesting info on Claire's murder case, which he instantly knows is Shane. But before he can look into it, the computer system goes down throughout the office, and they realize that Corey has been hacking their system and knows they're onto him. 

It's a race against time for Sami to get to Corey's woodland hideout, and despite the fact he shouldn't be driving, he takes the keys for a police car and speeds off. Marty is in another car, having just checked out the gaming arcade address Maya gave them. Sami calls Marty telling him to get to the address in the woods, but Marty is more concerned to hear that Sami is driving when he could black out at any minute. 

Laurie Kynaston as Corey Rudzinkski, AKA Corey The Whistle, as he helps Maya.

Has Corey planted evidence on Maya?  (Image credit: Netflix)

Realizing that Judith will know where the rich go for undercover rehab, Maya goes to Farnwood to see her mother-in-law and find out where Christopher could be. After putting a tracker on Luca's car in the hope it will help her work out where her nanny, Isabella, is hiding, she soon gets the number of an exclusive retreat from Judith. For the first time, we see some thawing between the warring women when Judith points out they aren't that dissimilar and urges Maya to be careful. 

Shane calls Maya and asks her if she wants to have a drink, but she fobs him off, saying she is about to meet Eva and it's a girls' thing. She lies that she's at home, but he knows that's a fib because he is sitting in her lounge as they talk on the phone. 

Instead, Maya is going to see Christopher at the rehab retreat and soon realizes he is hiding something bad. He tells her that he is scared of Joe, and when Maya asks why nothing can prepare her for what she is about to hear. Christopher tells her he is terrified of Joe because he murdered his own brother, Andrew. 

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

Claire Crick
Assistant Managing Editor at What To Watch

Claire is Assistant Managing Editor at What To Watch and has been a journalist for over 15 years, writing about everything from soaps and TV to beauty, entertainment, and even the Royal Family. After starting her career at a soap magazine, she ended up staying for 13 years, and over that time she’s pulled pints in the Rovers Return, sung karaoke in the Emmerdale village hall, taken a stroll around Albert Square, and visited Summer Bay Surf Club in sunny Australia. 

After learning some tricks of the trade at websites Digital Spy, Entertainment Daily, and Woman & Home, Claire landed a role at What’s On TV and whattowatch.com writing about all things TV and film, with a particular love for Aussie soaps, Strictly Come Dancing and Bake Off

She’s interviewed everyone from June Brown — AKA Dot Cotton — to Michelle Keegan, swapped cooking tips with baking legend Mary Berry backstage at the NTAs, and danced the night away with soap stars at countless awards bashes. There’s not a lot she doesn’t know about soaps and TV and can be very handy when a soapy question comes up in a pub quiz! 

As well as all things soap-related, Claire also loves running, spa breaks, days out with her kids, and getting lost in a good book.