Sneha Jaiswal (Twitter | Instagram)
‘There are two sides to every story: yours and mine, ours and theirs, His & Hers. Which means someone is always lying.‘
The narrator of Netflix thriller series ‘His & Hers’ starts by saying how there are always more than one version of a story, and it leads the viewer to obviously believe we’re going to see two very varied views of the plot, which centers around the brutal murder of a woman in her small town. Unfortunately, the show doesn’t deliver an intriguing flip, and it certainly doesn’t feel like a strong ‘his versus her’ tale. That would be the short review, that despite an interesting murder mystery plot, the drama isn’t as tense and sharp. But let’s get to more details.
Based on Alice Feeney’s novel, the six-episode series stars Tessa Thompson as Anna Andrews, a news presenter who returns to her hometown to cover a murder. Jon Bernthal co-stars as Jack Harper, the detective leading the investigation, and Anna’s estranged husband. The complication is immediate, both Anna and Jack knew the victim and may have been at the scene shortly before the crime, quietly placing them under suspicion even as Jack attempts to redirect focus toward the victim’s husband.
Without anyone ever spelling it out, ‘His & Hers’ strongly implies that Anna and Jack’s estrangement follows the death of their child in the first few episodes. The whole story of course is revealed in the climactic edition, but until then, all we know is that Anna disappears without a trace for nearly a year and is replaced as a prime-time news anchor by rising star Lexy Jones (Rebecca Rittenhouse).
In an attempt to reclaim her career, Anna pitches herself as the perfect reporter to cover the hometown murder, arguing that locals would be more willing to open up to her, and that she can deliver the juiciest material for the channel. However, going back to her hometown also means facing ghosts of her past, and reconnecting with her mother Alice (Crystal Fox).
Would an ambitious news presenter really go as far as committing murder for an exclusive scoop? Flashbacks reveal that Anna shared a fraught history with the victim, prompting Jack’s junior colleague Priya (Sunita Mani) to dig into old rivalries for potential leads. Meanwhile, the victim’s wealthy husband, Clyde Duffie (Chris Bauer), remains a prime suspect, one who seems suspiciously unfazed by his wife’s death.
Watching Jon Bernthal’s Jack Harper in ‘His & Hers’ is quite the frustrating presence. He’s portrayed as a shifty, emotionally driven cop, flailing through the investigation with more instinct than professionalism. I haven’t read the novel, so it’s difficult to judge how faithful this version of Jack is, but if Netflix has made changes, they don’t appear to be for the better.
Bernthal’s performance does little to make Jack sympathetic; instead, he comes across as more of an antagonist than a character viewers might instinctively root for, especially while his guilt remains an open question. Sunita Mani as his sub-ordinate Priya is a lot more entertaining in her small part.
Even though His & Hers is structured as a murder-mystery thriller, Anna and Jack’s fractured relationship remains central to the narrative. Unfortunately, Jon Bernthal and Tessa Thompson share little to no convincing chemistry as former lovers, which weakens the emotional core the series repeatedly returns to.
Thompson, however, fares far better on her own. As Anna, she delivers a commanding performance, portraying a woman weighed down by trauma yet relentlessly driven. She is smart, manipulative, shrewd, and fiercely enterprising in her pursuit of the story. It’s fun to watch her ruffle feathers and piss her ‘husband’ off as she covers the crime.
Where ‘His & Hers’ truly succeeds is in sustaining suspense around the identity of the killer. The mystery remains deliberately opaque, with just enough misdirection to keep viewers guessing. Tension ramps up in the second half when a potential serial-killer angle is introduced, while recurring flashbacks to Anna’s turbulent high-school years further muddy the waters. These glimpses into her past keep viewers questioning her role in the unfolding crimes, even as the narrative edges toward its conclusion.
After a handful of contrived plot turns, the series ultimately lands on an unexpected twist, offering a reasonably satisfying final reveal. While the overall mystery feels somewhat muddled in retrospect, His & Hers still works as a decent one-time watch, aided largely by its tight, six-episode runtime and commitment to keeping the intrigue alive until the very end.
Rating: 6 on 10. Watch ‘His & Hers’ on Netflix.
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