SPOILERS AHEAD (obviously…)
His & Hers, directed by William Oldroyd, is a murder mystery where an estranged husband and wife investigate the crime, except they are both personally involved with the incident and they both suspect the other of having committed the act of violence. In the small town of Dahlonega where nothing ever happens, suddenly a woman is found on the hood of her vehicle, stabbed forty times and a message etched onto her fingernails, clearly a crime of passion. Lead investigator, Jack Harper, is recruited to solve the case while Anna Andrews is lured back to her hometown of Dahlonega from Atlanta to revive her news reporting career after a year-long absence. As both search for answers while covering their own tracks, the story only gets bloodier and more convoluted.
This limited series takes many twists and turns, but there are several subtle hints dropped throughout the story, pointing to events triggering the crime, explanations of character dynamics, and the killer. In a small town murder mystery, the locals and their perceptions of one another play the largest role of all in solving the heinous crime. As the backstory of the prominent characters is revealed and details come to light, symbolism is present, secrets lay within dialogue, subtle visual cues begin to make sense, and everyone’s intentions become clear.
Baby Tooth
In the very first scene of the series, it is shown that Anna has a blemish above one of her teeth. She goes to the dentist shortly thereafter, who gives her two options, the first being to pull the tooth, which is recommended, and the second is trying to save the tooth with antibiotics. Anna chooses the latter. Although removing the tooth would most likely get rid of her pain, she chooses to cling on to what is ailing her. Later in the series, when Anna and Jack discuss what caused them to become estranged, the tragic death of their baby due to SIDS, Anna tells Jack that she had to leave because after the baby died, all she had was her grief to hang on to, a “hole.” The hole was the last bit of her child that she had to cling to and Jack, by trying to console her, make things better, and coax her to move on, was taking that hole away from Anna.
Anna wants to hold onto the pain of losing her child because it is all she has left of her. Similarly, she wants to keep her tooth despite it causing her pain, creating a metaphor for Anna’s state of mind and the reason for her estrangement from her husband. At the end of the series, the tooth is knocked out in a fight with Lexy. Anna pulls it from her mouth and throws it to the ground, finally ridding herself of what is hurting her and finding the strength to continue on despite the hardships she has faced.
A New Identity
Lexy Jones is Anna’s rival throughout the series and plays a continuous role of trying to steal the spotlight from her. Catherine Kelly is a girl Anna went to St. Hilary’s private school with who was lured into a fake friendship with Anna’s cruel friend group and bullied relentlessly. It is not known until late in the series that these two characters are the same person, conspiring for revenge against Anna the whole time, as every attempt Anna made to bring Catherine into the friend group resulted in a traumatic experience. Lexy’s true identity and role in the story are foreshadowed a few times during the series.
At the beginning, when Anna takes her trash out, a big WSK News truck drives by with a massive image of Lexy Jones on it. Anna grimaces at it, immediately signaling her discontent with the character. This moment is an omen, as the giant image rolls in behind Anna, making the message clear that Lexy Jones is right on front of her eyes but she is not making the connection. Also the fact that the image is so large while Lexy also plays a large role in the story is a direct connection as well.
Later in the series, Jack finds mention of blackmail on Rachel Hopkins’ phone, referring to someone she and Helen Wang refer to as “C.” It is later revealed that “C” stands for Catherine. In other words, Rachel and Helen were blackmailing Lexy over the death of her sister. It is implied that Lexy confided in these girls after she played a hand in her sister’s death, but it remains unknown why she would confess to these women of all people, knowing how horrible they were to her throughout adolescence. The death of Andrea, Lexy’s sister, is also foreshadowed by Richard, when Anna tells him that Lexy ran late to a news cast due to babysitting for her sister-in-law. Richard explains that she does not have one and Anna says that she must have meant to say “sister.” Richard then tells Anna that Lexy once had a sister but she died twenty years ago, the same time period where Anna’s traumatic sixteenth birthday took place.
Dirty Detective
Jack’s involvement in the case is revealed early on, at the end of the first episode. However, there are a few events prior to this that foreshadow the revelation. When Jack and Zoe are first introduced as characters, one of the first things she says to him is “you smell good. It’s weird.” In a later conversation between these two, Zoe puts the pieces together that Jack had relations with Rachel and she mentions that he came home smelling like expensive perfume. Another detail is when Jack and Priya drive to the crime scene for the first time and he tells her to shut down any and all indications or hunches. Later on, when Jack tells Priya to note and photograph all security cameras on Duffie’s property and Priya asks why, his response is that he does not trust Duffie. Priya responds with a clarifying question that this is a hunch.
When Jack initially approaches the crime scene, his face changes as he approaches Rachel’s car. He knows the dead body is most likely hers before even seeing it. Shortly after seeing the body, Jack tells the investigation team to bring the victim’s phone to him without tinkering with it. This may be typical for an investigation, but later events tell the audience that he likely does this for self-protection, as he keeps the phone to himself and erases the incriminating text messages between him and Rachel himself. Jack also immediately shuts down Priya’s notion that the victim’s footprints surround the car because he knows his surround it too. Additionally, he prolongs his DNA test and later has Meg do it for him. Even after the audience is informed of Jack’s involvement in the case, the location of Rachel’s phone is still unknown. However, when Jack and Priya go to Duffie’s house for an interview, he is seen looking down at them out the window from inside and making a phone call. Down below, a phone can be heard buzzing inside Jack’s truck, foreshadowing that Rachel’s phone has been in his possession the whole time.
Jack becomes increasingly erratic throughout the series as he panics about his involvement being found out and his loved ones being accused. However, this erratic state is exactly what keeps him from ever finding out who the real killer is. Anna’s past and her relationship to the victims is brought up several times, and Jack becomes increasingly panicked each time. If he had entertained these thoughts and questions, he may just have discovered the mastermind behind it all.
A Triumphant Return
Anna (aside from Rachel’s corpse) is the first character introduced in His & Hers. She comes home in a frantic state, chugs half a bottle of wine, scrubs underneath her fingernails and chaotically cleans her apartment, getting rid of all her mail and throwing it in the dumpster behind the building. This immediately paints her as a suspect as she seems erratic and guilty. However, once her past is known, it makes sense that simply seeing Jack and Rachel together would send her spiraling and cause a reaction to move on and take her life back.
Throughout the series, Anna’s connection to the case is hinted at many times. When Jack is first at the crime scene, many reporters arrive to film and ask questions. Anna says, “Detective Harper, is it true you knew her?” Anna was at this location when Jack was, and therefore she is confident she knows who the victim is already, prompting her to ask this question in order to get a rise out of her audience as well as Jack. Later on, Anna presses Jack about the victim. Even though she already knows who it is, she wants to leak the information to the public but cannot do this without anyone being suspicious of how she knows.
The biggest connections between Anna and the case are the events of her past discussed throughout the series. One of them is her traumatic sixteenth birthday, which is mentioned several times. Helen talks about having a twenty-year secret and it being “explosive.” Toward the beginning of the series, Anna watches the start of the tape from the birthday, where a young Rachel says “are you gonna get a birthday kiss? Are you sure?” This foreshadows the grisly event that takes place that night. Zoe also mentions the event from twenty years ago to her, and later reluctantly tries to tell Jack about it but is interrupted. She predicts that she is next to be killed and says, “Anna is not who you think she is.” Further, the victims of the murders are discovered with their friendship bracelets. In dueling scenes, a bracelet is pulled from a dead Rachel’s mouth while Anna finds her own matching one in her belongings. Anna shows a lack of sorrow when she finds out each victim is killed. She even makes a joke to Priya about Helen being surprised that the locks had not been changed at St. Hilary’s. These responses are explained by her relationships with them.
Another connection Anna has to the crimes is the loss of her and Jack’s baby. Early on, when Anna discovers her old camera with nearly full battery, she also discovers a yellow jacket wrapped in plastic in her closet. It is later revealed that she wore it the night her baby died. This horrific event is the reason she left town, causing her mother to watch the tapes as she missed seeing and hearing from her. Consequently, she uncovers the tape from Anna’s sixteenth birthday, provoking her passionate murder spree.
Mama Bear
His & Hers has many twists and turns, but the final and most shocking is the revelation of the true killer, Anna’s mother, Alice. Multiple hints are dropped throughout the series leading up to this conclusion. When the body is first discovered and Jack goes to the crime scene for the first time, he does not examine the footprints and Priya assumes that the barefoot tracks belong to only the victim, but Alice was also barefoot and left footprints as well, which were never examined.
Alice is very emotional the first time she sees Anna. She has not seen her for a year and after discovering the tape from her sixteenth birthday and murdering Rachel in order to avenge her and bring her home, she is overjoyed to see her daughter. She also hints at her motivation to Jack, as she says to him, “don’t you ever let nobody tell you that time heals all wounds. Sometimes it just makes it worse.” Further, Anna conveniently interrupts a conversation between Alice and Priya just as she is starting to be questioned, making her the only character that flies under the radar.
Dementia is a theme that heavily manipulates the plot as well as Alice’s plan. She uses it as a tool to get away with the murders without ever being suspected. While Jack and Anna are discussing the victim and arguing, Alice chimes in with a dementia episode to pull attention away from the matter. Jack also tells Anna that she found Alice walking around by herself at night fully naked. She also does this the night Helen Wang is murdered (coincidence? Absolutely not). Alice also serves Anna scrambled eggs with shells in them and Priya hot tea without a tea bag to really commit to the bit.
The last big foreshadow of Alice’s crimes of passion is the present voiceover throughout the series. Anna narrates this the whole time because she is really reading a confession letter from her mother. She wants Anna to know the truth about what happened so she can take it as a lesson in motherly love as well as the impeccable strength it holds. While it seems this would be an unfathomable piece of writing to receive, Anna holds herself together enough to exchange a knowing look with Alice, telling the audience that this will stay their secret. His & Hers, amongst many messages about how the elderly are more capable than one might suspect and that it’s wrong to pay strange young men to assault your friend on her birthday, delivers a strong anecdote on the unbreakable mother-daughter bond.
