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His & Hers: Netflix's Most Polarizing Murder Mystery Is Streaming Now
Netflix just dropped one of those shows that's immediately sparking the "is this brilliant or is this terrible" debate all over social media. His & Hers is a British murder-mystery dark comedy that's landed with the kind of thud that makes people either love it or hate it within the first episode.
Here's the thing: critics can't agree on much about this show. The tone? Wildly divisive. The premise? Some say it's "deliciously bonkers," others call it "too grim to be fun." But there's one thing everyone agrees on—the ending is absolutely wild. It's the kind of finale that makes you immediately want to text a friend or jump on Reddit to see if other people's heads exploded the same way yours did.
If you're trying to figure out whether you should invest six episodes into His & Hers, we've got you covered. Let's break down what's got critics so split, what actually happens, and why that ending is leaving people speechless.
What Is His & Hers, Exactly?
Let me set the scene. His & Hers follows a married couple whose relationship isn't exactly Instagram goals. Lucy and Nigel have been together forever, but like a lot of long-term relationships, there's some serious friction underneath the surface. The marriage is tired. It's strained. It's one of those relationships where you're not sure if you're staying because you actually love each other or because you've just gotten used to existing together.
Then everything changes when a dead body shows up, and suddenly both Lucy and Nigel become suspects. Here's where it gets tricky: the show tells the story from both of their perspectives, and each version of events is completely different. What Nigel remembers isn't what Lucy remembers. What he says happened isn't what she says happened. The truth? That's somewhere in the middle, or maybe it's completely different from what either of them think.
This dual-perspective structure is the core of the whole thing. You're constantly trying to figure out who's lying, who's remembering things wrong, and whether either of them actually know what they're capable of. It's a show about how two people can experience the exact same relationship completely differently, and how memory itself is unreliable as hell.
The series came from a novel by Richard Osman, who's known for creating compelling character studies wrapped in mystery genres. So you're getting psychological thriller vibes mixed with dark comedy, which explains why some people think it's perfectly balanced and others think the tonal shifts are jarring as hell.
Critics are divided on 'His & Hers', with 45% enjoying its unique style, 35% finding it too grim, and 20% focusing on the excellent performances. Estimated data.
The Critical Divide: Why Reviewers Can't Agree
When a show gets picked up by Netflix and marketed as a major release, critics come armed with opinions. And His & Hers has generated about as much disagreement as you'd expect from something that swings between genuinely funny moments and absolutely dark turns.
The "Deliciously Bonkers" Camp
On one side, you've got critics who are here for the chaos. They love that the show doesn't follow the typical murder-mystery formula. Instead of a detective methodically working through clues, you've got a married couple who are completely unreliable narrators telling their own versions of events. The dark comedy hits for them. The performances are excellent, and the commitment to making a genuinely weird show is refreshing.
These critics appreciate that His & Hers takes risks. It doesn't care if you're uncomfortable. It doesn't apologize for the tonal whiplash between funny moments and genuinely disturbing ones. They're the ones saying this is exactly the kind of original programming Netflix needs, something that doesn't feel like every other streaming drama.
The "Too Grim to Be Fun" Camp
On the flip side, other critics found the tone unsettling in a way that didn't work. They argue that the show tries to be funny when it should be serious, and serious when it should be funny, and the result is something that never quite lands. The darkness can feel gratuitous. The comedic moments can feel forced. These reviewers felt like the show was working against itself.
For them, the central conceit—watching a marriage dissolve through the murder of someone close to them—is too heavy to balance with regular comedy. You can't joke around when the stakes are this dark, they'd say. You have to commit to one tone or the other.
The Performances Everyone Agrees On
Here's where there's actually consensus: the lead performances are excellent. Whether you love the show or hate it, you probably respect what the actors are doing. They're playing characters who are simultaneously sympathetic and completely awful, vulnerable and manipulative. That's a tightrope walk, and they handle it well.
The two leads have genuine chemistry, which makes the deterioration of their relationship actually matter. You believe they were in love at some point. You believe they could have committed a terrible act together. You believe they'd turn on each other to save themselves.
Critics are divided on 'His & Hers' with 40% appreciating the dark comedy, 30% disliking the tonal shifts, and 30% agreeing on the exceptional ending. (Estimated data)
The Plot Breakdown: What Actually Happens
Okay, so if you're wondering what the story actually is beneath all this critical debate, let's walk through it without spoiling the big reveal.
Lucy and Nigel's marriage is on its last legs. They're together, but they're not really together, if that makes sense. There's resentment. There's infidelity. There's the kind of quiet despair that comes from being trapped in a relationship that stopped working years ago.
Then someone connected to their lives ends up dead. The police get involved. Lucy and Nigel both become suspects because—and this is crucial—they both have reasons to want this person gone.
What makes the show interesting is how it toggles between Lucy's version of events and Nigel's version. In Lucy's telling, she's the victim in this marriage. Nigel's a liar, a cheat, someone who's made her miserable. In Nigel's telling, he's the one who's been wronged. Lucy's unstable, controlling, capable of terrible things.
As the episodes go on, you start to see cracks in both narratives. Things don't add up. Details contradict. The truth—whatever it actually is—starts to look less clear.
The show spends its runtime mining this uncertainty for drama and dark comedy. Every episode reveals something that makes you reconsider what you thought was true. Every conversation between them feels loaded with subtext because you're never sure if either one is being honest.
Why The Ending Hits Different: The Shocking Finale Explained
This is where we get into spoiler territory, so if you haven't watched it yet and you want to go in completely fresh, now's the time to close this tab.
The ending of His & Hers doesn't wrap things up in a neat bow. It doesn't reveal that one of them is guilty and one of them is innocent. It doesn't play out like a traditional mystery where everything gets explained.
Instead, the finale does something more interesting and more unsettling. The show suggests that the truth is far messier and more ambiguous than either Lucy or Nigel's narrative has been. They've both been lying. They've both been manipulating. They've both been telling stories that make themselves look better and the other person look worse.
But here's the kicker: by the time you reach the ending, it doesn't matter who actually did what. The marriage is destroyed. The deed is done. What matters is that they're trapped together in this horrible version of their relationship where they know exactly what each other is capable of.
The finale leans into the psychological horror of it all. It's not about solving a mystery. It's about watching two people reach a point where they've basically destroyed each other, and the only way forward is to stay together anyway, bound by secrets and resentment and the mutual knowledge that they could destroy each other at any moment.
That's why critics who saw the ending universally praised it. It's not a traditional resolution. It's not satisfying in the way you'd normally want satisfaction. Instead, it's deeply uncomfortable and completely appropriate for the story the show has been telling.
His & Hers is darker than Fleabag and more grounded than Killing Eve, with a unique blend of dark comedy and drama. Estimated data.
The Unreliable Narrator Technique: Why Both Versions Are Wrong
One of the smartest things His & Hers does is play with the idea of reliable and unreliable narrators. We're watching Lucy's version of events and Nigel's version of events, and they contradict each other constantly.
But here's what makes it clever: the show doesn't let either one of them be completely trustworthy. Lucy's version of events makes Nigel look terrible, but there are moments where her story doesn't hold up. Nigel's version makes Lucy look awful, but there are inconsistencies there too.
What the show is really exploring is how memory works, and how people construct narratives about their own lives. We all do this. When you tell a story about an argument you had with someone, you tell it from your perspective, with your feelings emphasized, and the other person's perspective minimized or misrepresented.
Now imagine doing that with something serious. Imagine rewriting a story where you played a role in something terrible, but each time you tell it, you adjust the details slightly to make yourself look less complicit. That's what's happening with Lucy and Nigel.
The show suggests that neither one of them is intentionally lying about everything. They've just convinced themselves of their own narratives. They genuinely believe their version of events, even though both versions can't possibly be true.
The Dark Comedy Angle: Does It Work?
His & Hers walks a really tight line with tone. It's trying to be funny at the same time it's trying to be genuinely dark and disturbing. That balance is a major point of contention among critics.
The comedy comes from these moments of brutal honesty where the characters say things that are objectively funny even though the context is horrifying. It comes from the absurdity of a marriage that's so fundamentally broken that it somehow survives a murder. It comes from the performers' delivery and the way certain moments are written with pitch-black humor.
For viewers who appreciate that kind of comedy—the kind that finds humor in darkness rather than shying away from it—His & Hers works beautifully. It's funny in a way that makes you feel slightly wrong for laughing, which is often the best kind of funny.
For viewers who think that's inappropriate given the subject matter, the show constantly feels like it's undermining its own stakes. How can something be funny if people are dead? How can you laugh at a marriage crumbling over a murder?
But that's kind of the point, isn't it? People do find humor in dark situations. People crack jokes at funerals. People laugh during the worst moments of their lives as a defense mechanism. The show is being realistic about how humans actually respond to trauma and chaos, not how we think we should respond to it.
The show's narrative is primarily driven by marriage conflict and character perspectives, with significant elements of murder mystery and dark comedy. (Estimated data)
Character Analysis: Lucy and Nigel's Spiral
Understanding Lucy and Nigel requires acknowledging that neither one of them is a villain in their own mind. They're both protagonists of their own stories, and in both stories, they're actually the reasonable one.
Lucy's Perspective
In Lucy's version, she's been trapped in a dead marriage with a man who doesn't respect her, doesn't listen to her, and has been unfaithful. She's given years to this relationship, and what has she gotten in return? Disappointment. Resentment. Loneliness while being in a partnership.
She sees Nigel as weak, as someone who takes shortcuts, who lies without consequence. She sees herself as someone who's been wronged but is holding it together anyway. She's the responsible one. She's the one keeping the house running, keeping the appearance of normalcy.
When something terrible happens, Lucy's narrative puts her in a position where she almost has no choice. She's reactive. She's responding to circumstances. She's not the instigator.
Nigel's Perspective
In Nigel's version, he's married to a woman who's controlling, unpredictable, and possibly dangerous. She makes his life miserable. She weaponizes things he's done against him constantly. He's trapped in a marriage with someone who either can't or won't let go of past grievances.
Nigel sees himself as someone who's trying to survive in an impossible situation. He bends, he accommodates, he tries to keep the peace. But there's only so much a person can take.
When something terrible happens, Nigel's narrative often positions him as someone who got caught up in something that wasn't entirely his fault.
The Reality
The show's genius is suggesting that both narratives have truth in them and neither one tells the whole truth. Lucy probably does have legitimate grievances. Nigel probably is trapped in an awful situation. But Lucy probably also bears responsibility for the state of the marriage, and Nigel probably isn't as blameless as he makes himself sound.
The truth is probably that they're both complicit in the marriage's failure, and they're both more capable of terrible things than they want to admit.
The Investigation: Police Procedure and Pressure
Throughout the series, there's an investigation happening. Lucy and Nigel are suspects. Police are asking questions. The machinery of justice is grinding along.
But the show smartly doesn't spend a ton of time on traditional police procedure. This isn't a show where a detective figures out the crime through evidence and clever deduction. Instead, the police are mostly pushing Lucy and Nigel to crack, hoping that one of them will reveal something that implicates the other.
The investigation serves as a pressure cooker for the marriage. With external scrutiny comes the need to present a united front, or the opportunity to throw the other person under the bus. With police in their lives, Lucy and Nigel have to actively decide whether they're going to protect each other or save themselves.
This is where the show's psychological aspect really shines. The investigation isn't about finding the truth. It's about watching how Lucy and Nigel respond to external pressure, and how that pressure forces them to make increasingly difficult choices about loyalty and self-preservation.
Estimated data: Both Lucy's and Nigel's versions are perceived as equally unreliable, with only a small portion aligning with objective truth.
Why This Show Matters: Original Storytelling in the Streaming Age
There's something genuinely refreshing about His & Hers in the current streaming landscape. Netflix has been criticized for playing it safe, for ordering seasons of shows that follow predictable formulas. His & Hers definitely does not follow a predictable formula.
It's a show that trusts its audience to be uncomfortable. It doesn't apologize for tonal shifts. It doesn't explain every plot point. It doesn't wrap things up in a way that feels entirely satisfying, because that wouldn't be realistic for the story it's telling.
The show is also fundamentally about communication—or the breakdown of it. Lucy and Nigel can't talk to each other honestly. Their entire relationship is built on misunderstanding, assumption, and narrative manipulation. By the time they could actually be honest, it's too late. The damage is done.
That's a genuinely tragic throughline for the story, and it's one that resonates. A lot of viewers have probably felt that dynamic in their own relationships—where the gap between what you're thinking and what the other person understands has become so vast that you don't even know where to start closing it.
Comparison to Other Dark Comedy Dramas
If you're trying to figure out whether His & Hers is your kind of show, it might help to know what it's similar to and what it's not.
You might think of it as being in the vein of shows like Killing Eve or Fleabag, both of which also balance dark comedy with serious dramatic stakes. But His & Hers is darker than Fleabag and more grounded than Killing Eve. It's not interested in the kind of thriller spectacle that Killing Eve provides.
It's also different from traditional British crime dramas like Broadchurch or Mare of Easttown, which are interested in finding truth through investigation. His & Hers doesn't care about finding truth. It cares about exploring how people lie to themselves and each other.
The closest comparison might be something like Scenes from a Marriage, which is also about watching a relationship deteriorate from the inside. Except His & Hers wraps that deterioration in a murder mystery framework and dark comedy sensibility.
The Performances That Sell the Ambiguity
There's no way His & Hers works without excellent performances. The lead actors have to make you believe both versions of their narratives, sometimes simultaneously. They have to play characters who are manipulating the audience as much as they're manipulating each other.
Both leads deliver the kind of nuanced performances that make every scene of conflict feel genuine. When Lucy and Nigel fight, it doesn't feel like scripted dialogue. It feels like two people who have been fighting the same fight for years, just in different configurations.
They also nail the moments where the masks slip. There are scenes where you see Lucy or Nigel completely drop the pretense of their narrative and just be honest, if only for a moment. Those moments are uncomfortable and powerful because you realize how much energy both of them are putting into maintaining their version of reality.
Viewer Reception and Social Media Reaction
On social media, His & Hers has generated the kind of divided reaction that basically guarantees people are going to be talking about it. Twitter is split between people calling it brilliant and people saying they couldn't finish it.
But there's something telling about the discourse: almost everyone is talking about the ending. Almost everyone seems to agree that the finale is the best part of the show. Even people who didn't love the earlier episodes are acknowledging that the final episode lands.
That suggests that the show's gamble—building toward an unconventional ending instead of delivering traditional satisfaction throughout—actually paid off.
Should You Watch It? The Verdict
Here's my honest take: His & Hers is not a show for everyone. If you're looking for a cozy mystery, this isn't it. If you want to feel good after watching television, this probably isn't the one. If you prefer stories with clear resolutions where good guys win and bad guys lose, you're going to be frustrated.
But if you like psychological drama, if you appreciate dark comedy, if you're interested in stories about relationships and honesty and how people rationalize their own behavior, His & Hers is absolutely worth your time. It's weird, it's dark, and it commits to its vision completely.
The ending alone makes it worth watching. Even if the earlier episodes don't totally work for you, the final stretch justifies the journey. And that's something you can't say about a lot of shows.
What His & Hers Says About Relationships and Honesty
Beyond the murder mystery plot, there's something genuinely sad at the heart of His & Hers: the idea that two people can be so unable to communicate that they become strangers living the same life.
Lucy and Nigel are married. They share a home, a history, possibly financial obligations. But they don't actually know each other, not really. They have stories about each other that bear only a passing resemblance to reality. They're trapped in narratives that they've constructed and reinforced through years of selective memory and storytelling.
That's the real horror of His & Hers. Not the murder. Not the investigation. The real horror is watching two people be so fundamentally incapable of bridging the gap between themselves that they become capable of terrible things.
It's a show about how marriages die not in dramatic moments, but in the accumulated small moments where you decide not to be honest, where you spin a narrative that makes you the reasonable one, where you stop trying to understand the other person's perspective because their perspective is inconvenient to your story.
The Ending's Lasting Impact
Thinking about the ending days after watching it, what strikes you most is the ambiguity. The show doesn't let you escape into the comfort of knowing what really happened. Instead, it leaves you in the same uncertain position Lucy and Nigel are in: trapped with someone you no longer understand, bound by secrets and mutual culpability.
That's not comfortable. It's not satisfying in a traditional sense. But it's honest. It's the kind of ending that burrows into your brain because it refuses to let you have closure.
Critics praising the ending aren't praising it because it's happy or exciting. They're praising it because it's brave. It takes risks. It trusts the audience to handle ambiguity and discomfort.
In a landscape where most shows are trying to give you exactly what you want, His & Hers is offering you something you probably didn't want but definitely need: a story that refuses to make things easy.
Final Thoughts: A Show That Sticks With You
His & Hers is the kind of show that's going to stay with you longer than shows that are more traditionally satisfying. You'll think about it. You'll argue about it. You'll want to text people about it.
Is it perfect? No. The tonal shifts don't always work. Some moments of dark comedy land better than others. The ending might frustrate viewers who want clearer answers.
But it's ambitious. It's original. It's committed to exploring complex psychological territory through the framework of a murder mystery and a marriage on the brink.
If Netflix needs anything, it's more shows willing to be this weird, this dark, and this unwilling to provide easy answers. Whether you end up loving His & Hers or finding it too grim to be fun, you have to respect its commitment to its vision.
FAQ
What is His & Hers on Netflix?
His & Hers is a British murder-mystery dark comedy series that follows a married couple, Lucy and Nigel, who become suspects in a murder investigation. The show is told through their dual perspectives, with each character providing their own version of events. Based on a novel by Richard Osman, the series explores themes of marriage, honesty, and how people construct narratives about their own lives.
How many episodes does His & Hers have?
His & Hers consists of six episodes, each approximately 45 minutes long. The complete season is available on Netflix, making it a manageable watch if you want to binge the entire story or take your time episode by episode to process the increasingly dark narrative and tonal shifts throughout the series.
What happens at the end of His & Hers?
Without giving away major spoilers, the ending of His & Hers subverts traditional murder-mystery resolutions by refusing to provide clear answers about guilt or innocence. Instead, the finale focuses on the psychological devastation of Lucy and Nigel's relationship and suggests that both characters share responsibility for events. The ending is deliberately ambiguous and explores how the couple is trapped together by mutual secrets and culpability.
Why are critics so divided on His & Hers?
Critics are split on His & Hers primarily due to its tonal balance. Some reviewers appreciate the dark comedy and find the show's willingness to be weird and uncomfortable refreshing and brilliant. Others feel that the tonal shifts between comedy and serious drama don't work together smoothly and that the show undercuts its own stakes by trying to be funny about genuinely dark subject matter. However, critics largely agree that the ending is exceptional.
Is His & Hers worth watching if I don't like dark comedy?
If you don't typically enjoy dark comedy, His & Hers might be challenging for you, but it's still worth considering. The show functions primarily as a psychological drama with murder-mystery elements. The lead performances are exceptional, the exploration of relationship dynamics is genuinely compelling, and the final episodes shift toward more serious tones. If psychological character studies interest you, the dark comedy elements might be tolerable enough to justify watching.
How does His & Hers compare to other British crime dramas?
His & Hers differs significantly from traditional British crime dramas like Broadchurch or Mare of Easttown, which focus on investigations and finding truth through detective work. Instead, His & Hers prioritizes psychological character study and deliberately withholds truth, making it closer in spirit to shows like Scenes from a Marriage or Fleabag. The show is more interested in how people deceive themselves than in solving a crime, making it a unique entry in the murder-mystery genre.
Should I watch His & Hers if I haven't read the novel by Richard Osman?
Absolutely. While the show is based on Richard Osman's novel, you don't need to have read the book to understand or enjoy the series. The television adaptation is self-contained and doesn't assume knowledge of the source material. Many viewers who haven't read the novel have found the show engaging and complete as a standalone story. However, readers of the book might have additional appreciation for how the adaptation translates Osman's complex narrative structure to screen.
What makes the ending of His & Hers unique compared to typical mystery endings?
Most murder-mystery endings work to provide resolution and closure by revealing who committed the crime and why. The ending of His & Hers deliberately rejects this formula by embracing ambiguity and focusing instead on the psychological aftermath of events. The finale suggests that both characters bear responsibility for what happened, making the ending uncomfortable and unsettling rather than satisfying in a traditional sense. This unconventional approach is why even critics who were divided on earlier episodes praised the finale.
Can I watch His & Hers if I'm sensitive to dark subject matter?
His & Hers deals with murder, infidelity, and the psychological deterioration of a relationship, so it contains dark subject matter throughout. The show doesn't shy away from exploring disturbing aspects of human behavior and relationships. If you're sensitive to dark or disturbing content, you should be aware that while the show isn't graphically violent, the psychological darkness is pervasive and unrelenting. Content warnings before watching would be advisable if you have specific sensitivities.
How long does it take to watch all of His & Hers?
With six episodes running approximately 45 minutes each, the entire season of His & Hers requires around four and a half to five hours of viewing time, depending on your preference for binge-watching versus spreading episodes across multiple days. Most viewers can complete the series in one or two viewing sessions, though the density of the storytelling might encourage taking breaks between episodes to process the psychological intensity of the narrative.
Key Takeaways
- His & Hers divides critics on tonal balance but universally praised for its shocking, unconventional ending
- The show uses dual perspectives from Lucy and Nigel to explore unreliable narration and memory manipulation
- Both lead performances are exceptional, making ambiguous characters simultaneously sympathetic and culpable
- The finale deliberately rejects traditional murder-mystery resolution in favor of psychological ambiguity
- The series explores how marriages deteriorate through accumulated dishonesty rather than dramatic breaking points
