Description: Who really killed Rachel Hopkins? We break down the twisted ending of Netflix's "His & Hers," explore the differences from the book, and answer the series' biggest lingering questions. Spoilers ahead!
If you’ve just finished the sixth and final episode of Netflix's His & Hers, you’re probably sitting there with your jaw on the floor. It’s the kind of ending that, unless you’ve read the book, feels almost impossible to predict. It forces you to re-evaluate every single scene that came before it, questioning the motives of characters you thought you knew.
There are two sides to every story: yours and mine, ours and theirs, his and hers. And as the series reminds us from the very beginning, that usually means someone is always lying. In the world of His & Hers, lying isn't just a defense mechanism; it's a way of life.
In this post, we are going deep into that finale. We’re going to discuss the hidden details you might have missed, the frustrating plot holes that still haunt me, and of course, reveal the truth about who the killer really was and whether their actions were, in a twisted way, justified.
Warning: Major Spoilers for the entire series ahead.
The Opening: Foreshadowing and The First Kill
The episode opens with a shot of a dead fish in the water—a subtle but grim bit of foreshadowing for what we’re about to see. We are immediately transported back in time to the Kelly family’s lake house. The atmosphere is serene, but the tension is palpable. We meet a young Kathleen (who we now know as Lexi), and it is immediately clear she is the black sheep of the family, or at least feels like one.
This flashback is crucial not just for plot, but for character study. It establishes the toxic dynamic between Kathleen and her older sister, Andrea. Andrea mocks her, dismissing her identity by refusing to call her "Lexi." In response, Kathleen makes a choice that defines her entire existence. In a moment of cold, calculated malice, she empties Andrea's inhaler before they head down to the boat.
When Andrea inevitably suffers an asthma attack on the water, panic sets in for everyone—except Kathleen. She watches her sister gasp for air, knowing the inhaler she handed her is useless. This is our first real look at Lexi’s true nature. This wasn't a crime of passion; it was a premeditated act of fratricide by a child.
It recontextualizes everything we’ve seen in the present day. The Sheriff later mentions a chilling detail: Lexi pretended to be devastated at the funeral, playing the part of the grieving little sister perfectly. Yet, he later caught her eating donuts and smiling when she thought no one was looking. This isn't just a woman scorned or a career-climber; this is someone capable of sociopathic detachment. It explains her aggression toward Anna at the lake house perfectly—she didn't just want to scare Anna; she fully intended to kill her, regardless of the consequences.
The Lake House Standoff: Anna vs. Lexi
Back in the present timeline, the tension at the lake house reaches a boiling point. Richard, Lexi's husband, finally exposes his own entitled nature. He accuses Anna of being one of those "rich, entitled, manipulative people," a rich irony considering his own wife's actions. He is oblivious to the fact that Anna is just stalling for time, trying to keep him talking while she maneuvers for survival.
The physical altercation between Anna and Lexi is intense, chaotic, and brutal. It’s not a polished Hollywood fight; it’s desperate. Lexi rushes Anna with a vase, and the two trade blows that feel heavy with decades of resentment. Lexi blames Anna for "luring" her into the woods twenty years ago, firmly believing Anna was the mastermind behind the high school bullying that ruined her life.
But as the audience knows, Lexi’s rage is misdirected. That was all Rachel Hopkins.
"Come sit with us, Catherine! Come to my birthday party, Catherine!"
The fight gets visceral—Anna finally loses that loose tooth that’s been bothering her all season after taking an elbow to the face—but the dialogue here reveals the tragic flaw in Lexi's logic. She has harbored a twenty-year grudge against the wrong person, fueled by her own delusions and Rachel’s manipulation.
The Plot Hole That Doesn't Make Sense
While I loved the journey of this show and the suspense it built, I have to be honest about the writing in this specific section. The revelation regarding the blackmail plot feels like the weakest link in an otherwise tight story. Lexi claims that Rachel and Helen blackmailed her because she confided in them about killing her sister, Andrea.
Why would she do that?
Let's look at the logic here. Rachel Hopkins was Lexi's tormentor. She was the architect of Lexi's misery, responsible for the humiliating "peeing incident" and the traumatic setup in the woods. Why on earth would Lexi ever decide to trust Rachel with her darkest, most incriminating secret? It defies all logic.
Confiding in your bully about a murder you committed feels like a plot device forced in simply to make the blackmail storyline work. There is no established trust or bond between them that would justify this disclosure. We really needed more scenes with the adult Rachel to understand why Lexi would ever let her guard down around her. Without that context, it stands as a glaring plot hole in Lexi's character arc.
The Climax: Jack and Priya Arrive
Jack arrives just in time to intervene, but the real MVP of this scene—and perhaps the whole season—is Priya. Throughout the series, Priya has served as the moral compass. In a show filled with liars, manipulators, and murderers, she was one of the few characters trying to do things "by the book."
Her confrontation with Jack outside the house is tense. She has gathered damning evidence against him: the matching shoe print, the made-up story about the ring, the cross-contaminated DNA, and the fact that he canceled the tracking on Rachel's phone. From her perspective, Jack looks guilty as sin.
Yet, when the moment comes, she makes the choice that saves the day. Despite her suspicions, she takes the shot that counts, killing Lexi through the window just as Lexi pulls the trigger on an empty gun aimed at Anna.
It’s a poetic, if tragic, end for Lexi. She dies at the hands of law enforcement, her life ending in violence just as it began with violence against her sister. Meanwhile, Anna, the woman she hated for decades, survives to apologize to a now-motherless Meg. It’s a moment that leans heavily into the show's recurring theme of motherhood—Anna's instinct to comfort a child who just lost her mother mirrors the complex maternal bonds we see throughout the series.
The Twist: Who is the Real Killer?
One year later, everything seems perfect. Anna has reclaimed her lead anchor job in Atlanta, she’s pregnant, and she and Jack have full custody of Meg. They are living together, finally appearing as the picture of a happy, healed family.
For a moment, I thought the show was going to leave it there. I assumed the twist would be that Anna was the killer all along and Jack was covering for her—hence the title His & Hers, implying they share the guilt. I was fully prepared for a Gone Girl style ending where the couple stays together bound by mutual destruction.
I was wrong.
The inner monologue we’ve been hearing all season? The calm, detached voice talking about how people lie to themselves, how they suppress trauma, and how they use anger as fuel? It wasn’t Anna’s internal thought process.
It was Alice.
Anna’s mother. The quiet, grieving grandmother who seemed so frail and disconnected.
The reveal that Alice was the mastermind behind the murders of Rachel, Helen, and Zoe is absolutely chilling. Alice wasn't just a grieving mother; she was a calculated vigilante. The show reveals that after Anna cut ties and moved away, Alice had nothing left but the tapes of her daughter practicing for news segments. She watched them obsessively, every single night, holding onto the ghost of her daughter.
It wasn't until she ran out of new tapes that she found the "unmarked tape"—the recording of Anna’s 16th birthday in the woods.
The Woods Incident: A Mother’s Rage
The footage on that tape is the darkest, most disturbing moment of the series. We finally see the full truth of what happened twenty years ago. Rachel, Helen, and Zoe didn’t just bully Anna and Lexi. It was far more sinister. Rachel was effectively pimping them out, accepting money from men to assault them in the woods.
The audio design in this scene is horrifying. Seeing the three friends singing "Happy Birthday" while Anna was being attacked in the background is stomach-turning. It is a level of cruelty that makes them irredeemable in the eyes of the narrative.
This moment justifies Alice's rage instantly. In her eyes, she wasn't murdering innocent women; she was taking out monsters who destroyed her daughter's life. It evokes a similar feeling to Frank Castle (The Punisher)—a character Jon Bernthal is famous for playing. Alice becomes a vigilante grandmother, deciding that if the law wouldn't punish these women, she would.
Alice’s plan was genius in its simplicity.
Access: She used her job as a cleaner to get keys and access codes to their homes and the school.
Alibi: She faked dementia and frailty to create the perfect cover. Who would suspect the confused old lady?
The Frame Job: She planted the evidence to frame Lexi, knowing Lexi was also involved in the past trauma (albeit as a victim who failed to help).
The final shot of the series is a masterpiece of ambiguity. Anna finds her mother’s letter, realizes the truth, and instead of being horrified, she looks at her mother with pride. A smile that says, "Thank you for protecting me." It completely subverts the expectation of the "good victim." Anna accepts the violence committed on her behalf, binding mother and daughter together in a dark secret forever.
Unanswered Questions & Plot Critiques
Even with a satisfying ending, there are lingering questions that the show glossed over or left for us to debate:
Why was Richard the cameraman? It’s implied Anna chose him specifically to make Lexi jealous and to get close to Lexi’s husband as a form of psychological revenge for Lexi stealing her job. It’s messy and petty, but it fits Anna’s character of wanting to regain control.
How did no one background check Lexi? Anna is an investigative journalist. How did she not realize "Lexi" was Catherine? Alice figured it out just by looking at her face and checking a yearbook. It seems highly unlikely that a major news station—and a rival anchor obsessed with her competition—wouldn't run a basic background check that would reveal her real name and family history.
Why didn't Anna sue Richard? Richard spends the end of the series screaming to the press that Anna is the killer. Yet, she decides not to sue him for defamation. Perhaps she just wants to move on and live her life, or perhaps she knows that a lawsuit would require discovery and depositions that might expose too many family secrets (including her mother's involvement).
The Tragedy of Baby Charlotte: We finally get the full story on Anna’s first child, Charlotte. She died of SIDS (Crib Death), a tragedy for which no one was to blame. However, Alice took full responsibility for it, punishing herself for years. This context is vital—it explains why Alice went to such extreme lengths to protect Anna later. She failed to protect her granddaughter, so she refused to fail her daughter again.
Book vs. Show: Which Ending is Better?
For those who haven't read the book by Alice Feeney, the ending is significantly different. The showrunners took liberties that completely changed the tone of the conclusion.
Location: The book is set in London, providing a moody, British thriller vibe. The show moves the action to Georgia, swapping that for a humid, Southern Gothic atmosphere.
The Suicide Note: In the book, Alice finds a suicide letter Anna wrote after the incident in the woods. This adds an even heavier layer of grief to Alice's actions, knowing her daughter wanted to die because of what those women did.
Lexi’s Fate: In the book, Alice actually kills Catherine (Lexi) personally. She doesn't spare her. In the show, Priya takes the shot, which keeps Alice's hands slightly cleaner regarding Lexi, and gives Priya a hero moment.
Personally, I found the show’s ending more satisfying. The survival of the family unit and that final shared look between Anna and Alice added a layer of psychological complexity that felt earned. It suggests that trauma doesn't just vanish, but families can sometimes build something new atop the ruins.
Final Verdict
His & Hers is easily one of the standout thrillers of early 2026. It tackles heavy themes—suppressed trauma, the secrets we keep in relationships, and the lengths a mother will go to for her child—without losing the entertainment value of a soapy, high-stakes mystery. It reminds me of the best parts of shows like You, where the tone balances between serious psychological study and campy thriller fun.
The performances elevate the material significantly. Tessa Thompson is spectacular as Anna, playing the "unreliable narrator" perfectly. She balances the mysterious, cold exterior of a news anchor with the vulnerability of a victim. And Jon Bernthal finally breaks his curse of dying in every role! He delivers a performance that is both tough and deeply vulnerable, showing a softness in his scenes with Meg and Alice that we rarely get to see from him.
The twist caught me off guard, and in a genre saturated with predictable endings, that is the highest compliment I can give. It wasn't just a shock for the sake of shock; it was a character-driven reveal that made perfect thematic sense.
What did you think of the finale? Was Alice’s vigilante justice justified, or did she go too far? Let me know your theories in the comments below!
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