In Fool Me Once, Joe Burkett is Maya’s husband, whose return from the dead kicks off the series’ main plot. Richard Armitage plays Joe.
A grieving Maya conducts an investigation into the deaths of her husband, Joe, and sister, Claire, after seeing Joe appear on her nanny cam.
Maya doubts whether Joe is really dead or whether someone is toying with her. Her investigation leads her to uncover secrets of the Burketts that she didn’t know, especially Joe’s murderous past.
Joe’s nature and how it shaped him
Joe has never liked when others outshine him in any manner. At Franklin Biddle Academy, Joe crossed paths with a student named Theo Mora.
Theo was funny, outgoing, and a superb football player, so he instantly became popular, something Joe grew jealous of.
Joe and his friends pulled a prank on Theo, which involved pouring drinks into Theo’s mouth.
Joe didn’t stop, even when Theo started having what looked like a seizure. The prank ended up killing Theo.
Joe and his friends got away with the crime. However, Joe’s brother, Andrew, who was part of this prank, felt guilty and wanted to confess.
To protect himself, Joe even got rid of his brother by pushing him off a yacht. Christopher Swain, one of Joe’s friends, tells Maya all of this.
Swain only had the guts to confess this after learning that Joe is dead, which suggests how much Joe was feared.
Joe’s death
In a shocking twist, Maya reveals to Shane that she killed Joe. Maya’s sister, Claire, was investigating Joe’s family’s company, Burkett Global Enterprises, their medical trial fixing, and the dangerous drugs they were selling.
During her investigation, she also uncovered Joe’s murderous past. Joe killed her to save himself and his family.
After figuring out that Joe is behind Claire’s death and realizing that he won’t think twice before killing her either, Maya murdered Joe and created a story to save herself.
In the end, it is revealed that Joe’s mother, Judith, who has known about his son’s misdeeds, has been protecting Joe. She suspected that Maya had a role in Joe’s death.
Judith orchestrated a plan to drive Maya crazy, or at least make it look like she was going crazy.
She had instructed Izabella and Luka to mess with Maya’s nanny cam, with Luka acting as Joe. Deepfake technology was used to add Joe’s face to Luka.
Maya dies at the hands of Neil Burkett, but after exposing Judith and her family live on social media.