Netflix Quietly Rewrote the Rules of Streaming With Its 6-Part Mystery Thriller

Audiences are spoiled for choice when it comes to deciding what to watch on streamers like Apple TV, Netflix, and HBO Max, to name a few. With new shows dropping every week, it can feel overwhelming to choose between starting something brand new or going back to a familiar favorite.

However, there's one genre of TV that many viewers seek out new content for: mystery thrillers. The mystery thriller has always been popular as audiences love to get invested in these suspenseful stories with characters you grow to love, but are never fully sure if you can trust. A big hook is if the mystery has a shocking twist that audiences can't predict. Netflix has delivered many unpredictable thrillers and murder-mystery shows lately, like Ozark, Adolescence, and most recently, His & Hers.

What Is Netflix's 'His & Hers' About?

Based on Alice Feeney's novel of the same name, William Oldroyd's His & Hers is a limited series starring Jon Bernthal and Tessa Thompson that became one of Netflix's big surprise hits this year. With only six episodes with a runtime of 46 minutes or less each, His & Hers is a well-paced story filled with reveals and clues in every episode that'll have viewers wanting to binge the whole show in one go.

From the very first line of dialogue in the first episode, the series wastes no time in establishing that there are two sides to every story: his and hers. As such, the miniseries follows the perspectives of these two people in a refreshing way that'll have audiences questioning who they can trust. Anne Andrews (Thompson), is a former Atlanta news anchor who left due to a personal tragedy, but is looking to find the right story to bring her back to stardom. Jack Harper (Bernthal) is a detective in the small town of Dahlonega who gets tasked with solving the murder of a woman. Anne catches wind of this case and fights to report on it since Dahlonega also happens to be her hometown, and she hopes that it can land her her old job back.

While the mystery surrounding the murder is already a strong hook, it's the moments between Thompson and Bernthal that are really intriguing. Bernthal is best known for playing characters with a rough exterior (like Frank Castle/The Punisher in the MCU) and Harper is no different. But when Andrews asks him just one question, he's both paralyzed and shaken to his core. Coming off of Nia DaCosta's Hedda, Thompson is perfect at playing an agent of chaos, especially when it comes to men's egos. As Andrews, she is willing to do whatever it takes to get what she wants, even if it means putting others down or breaking their trust. The chemistry between Bernthal and Thompson is electric and powerful, so when it's revealed midway through the first episode that their characters are married, it makes total sense but completely changes where the rest of the series goes from there.

'His & Hers' Is an Addictive and Refreshing Murder Mystery Series

If the reveal of Andrews and Harper being married wasn't enough, we soon learn that they are both potential suspects in the murder. Both are so determined to solve this case in their own way. Is it because they want to share their version of their truth before they're caught in a lie? The writing cleverly adds layers to their characters, and Thompson and Bernthal don't hold back in expressing just how complex Andrews and Harper are at their core. It also adds compelling reasons why they may have committed the murder. While a character like Joe Goldberg (Penn Badgley) in You deserves to get caught for his crimes, His & Hers plays in a more grey area of ethics and morals with how well-written Andrews and Harper are.

With the overall mystery intensifying with each episode, His & Hers moves at a perfect pace that will keep audiences on the edge of their seat and wanting to click play on the next episode. And before they know it, it'll all be over. While the series was conceived as a limited series, a second season isn't completely out of question after the big reveal in the final episode. With Bernthal giving one of the best performances of his career, it would be great to see them return to these roles. But if this is truly the end, it's one worth watching again and again.