In Fool Me Once, Sami Kierce is the detective investigating the deaths of Claire and Joe. Adeel Akhtar plays Kierce.
Sami Kierce is a troubled detective working on Claire and Joe’s deaths. Maya has given her statement to Kierce three times, and yet he hasn’t found anything concrete.
However, he soon finds a connection between Claire and Joe’s deaths when it is confirmed that the same gun has been used to kill both.
Kierce also doubts Maya when she claims that she saw Joe on her nanny cam. According to Kierce, either she is in grief or she is showing them that she is losing it purposefully to plead diminished responsibility.
Kierce’s trauma
Kierce, his senior, Pam, and his ex-fiancée, Nicole, were in the same academy together. Nicole was a cop too. She was killed in the line of duty.
Kierce himself put Nicole’s killer behind bars. Despite avenging Nicole, Kierce has not been able to move on. He blamed himself for her death and turned to drinking.
In the show, Kierce has been sober for 1278 days and has also turned to helping groups to move on from Nicole’s death.
Kierce’s current condition
Kierce is planning to get married to a woman named Molly, who is pregnant. Unfortunately, while investigating Joe and Claire’s case, Kierce suffers from unexplainable blackouts.
Concerned that his drinking habit is catching up to him, Pam assigns a young cop named Marty McGreggor to be his partner.
Kierce is also often visited by visions of Nicole, who guides him. For a while, Kierce avoids going to doctors and taking tests.
When he eventually does take a test, he is told that his brain has suffered damage and that his condition has continued to get worse.
The doctors aren’t able to conclude the cause. Kierce wonders if he has done this to himself by drinking way too much. Kierce’s fear and concern for Molly and their child’s future drive him to suicide.
While interrogating Corey the Whistle, Kierce learns about Burkett Global Enterprises’ medical trial fixing. They are selling drugs that endanger the lives of people.
Kierce has been taking their drugs, and he concludes that they are responsible for his condition.
Kierce’s fate
Kierce is suspended when a lead of his gets into an accident. However, he never stops investigating and shows up to arrest Maya after learning that she is behind Joe’s murder.
Kierce can’t legally arrest Maya, as he is suspended. He and Maya strike a deal. Maya is ready to go to prison, but first, she intends to show the world what the Burkett’s have done.
Kierce has also suffered because of the Burketts. Hence, he allows Maya to walk free and confront Judith. What Kierce didn’t expect was that Maya would allow herself to be killed. Anyhow, Maya succeeds in exposing the Burketts.
Kierce firmly believed that it was too late for him to stop taking Burketts’ medications and save himself.
18 years into the future, it is revealed that Kierce survived and is looking great, as he pays Maya’s daughter, Lily, who has given birth, a visit.
It is also revealed that Kierce’s marriage to Molly is successful, and their son has become a man now.
While Burkett’s medication had many bad side effects, one good side effect was that Nicole returned to Kierce and guided him like a friend.
Also Read: Fool Me Once review: Tangled mystery fails to impress