Trigger Warning: This piece contains mention of sexual assault.
Your first star-studded thriller of the new year has arrived. Netflix’s His & Hers (based on Alice Feeney’s novel of the same name) stars Tessa Thompson and Jon Bernthal as Anna and Jack, a previously married news reporter and detective who separated in the wake of their baby’s sudden death, but are reunited by a shocking, small-town murder case.
Over the course of the six-part series, they not only navigate the violent crime (whose victim they both have a fraught history with), but their own still-simmering connection, too. As Bernthal recently told TV Insider, “I think these characters are chemically and undeniably drawn to each other, and also, I feel there’s no one who drives my character more crazy in all of the ways than Anna.”
While there are some changes from page to screen — such as moving the action from an English village to small-town Georgia — the key beats are the same. Here’s the His & Hers book ending and plot summary, explained.
A Disturbing Pattern
His & Hers begins with the chilling discovery of a woman, Rachel, who’s been stabbed to death. Both Jack and Anna have a connection with Rachel: Jack’s been having an affair with her, while Anna knew her from their school days.
Her death is soon followed by the murders of two additional classmates: Zoe (Jack’s sister) and Helen. All three are found with friendship bracelets, which Anna happened to make as a teenager, tied around their tongues.
All the while, Anna and Jack find it challenging to be back in each other’s orbit following the loss of their baby, Charlotte. Both are also concerned about Anna’s mom, who appears to be showing signs of dementia.
His & Hers’ Killer Ending
With the help of his fellow detective Priya, Jack discovers a photo of Anna and her classmates where the dead girls’ faces are crossed out — suggesting that Anna might be next.
He finds Anna and her mom in the woods, coming face to face with Cat Jones: Anna’s work rival and, though she didn’t realize it at first, the fifth girl in the old photo (back when she was known as Catherine Kelly). In school, Rachel, Helen, and Zoe bullied Cat, and while Anna didn’t actively participate, she regrets not doing more to stop it. On Anna’s 16th birthday, Rachel brought the group out to the woods where she’d arranged for grown men to sexually assault the girls for money.
Cat tries to kill Anna and her mom, but they ultimately escape by driving away, hitting and killing Cat in the process. The authorities believe Cat carried out the murders as revenge for what she went through in high school. But in the final moments of the book, the reader learns that it was actually Anna’s mom who did it all. She’d learned the truth of the girls’ evil acts — including Zoe nearly skinning Anna’s cat so she wouldn’t tell — after finding proof of it among Anna’s old things at home. In addition to killing the other girls for retribution, she sought to frame Cat for their deaths.
Cat’s absence would also make room for Anna to anchor the news, meaning she could see her daughter more often on TV.
Anna’s mom, who also killed her abusive husband decades earlier, faked her cognitive decline to avoid suspicion. At the end of His & Hers, Anna is in a good place with her mom, and it’s implied she knows the truth — even hiding the murder weapon, a knife. She and Jack are back together and raising Jack’s niece (and Zoe’s daughter), Olivia.
If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, you can call the National Sexual Assault Telephone Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673) or visit hotline.rainn.org.
