His & Hers’ ending was all about Alice revealing the identity of the person who had murdered Helen, Zoe, and Rachel to her daughter, Anna. Why did that need arise? Anna used to live in Dahlonega with Alice, Jack (Anna’s husband), and Charlotte (Anna’s daughter). Charlotte passed away, and Anna decided to move to Atlanta to focus on her career at WSK-TV. She was unable to, and her irregular work schedule led to her getting fired and replaced by Lexy. When Anna learned about Rachel’s death, she convinced her boss, Jim, to let her cover the news as a field reporter, in the hopes that it’d revive her career. She took Anna’s husband, Richard, with her because he was the best cameraman out there. That trip allowed her to reunite with Jack and Alice and also revisit the prickly memories from her childhood. While Anna, Jack, and Priya (Jack’s professional partner) tried to solve the mystery, bodies started to pile up. When it was revealed that Lexy was actually a girl named Catherine who had been bullied by Helen, Zoe, and Rachel in the past, with Anna being the silent spectator, it seemed like Lexy and Richard were behind the murders. Well, Lexy and Richard were guilty of several things, but they weren’t serial killers. Alice was. The reasons for Alice’s actions were clear, but did Anna accept her justification? If so, why? Let’s find out.
Spoiler Alert
How Did Alice Fool Everyone?
As explained by Alice through a lengthy set of letters for Anna, Alice blamed herself for Charlotte’s death, even though she had nothing to do with it. Charlotte had died of SIDS, but Alice felt guilty for not being mindful enough to look at what the child was up to. She saw everything around her crumbling because of the events of that night. Jack and Anna separated, then she ran away from Dahlonega, and when she didn’t show up at her job at WSK-TV, Lexy took her spot. As if that wasn’t devastating enough, Alice found out through Anna’s tapes that she’d been raped by a bunch of men who had been brought to her 16th birthday party by Zoe, Rachel, and Helen. Catherine, who later became Lexy, was there too, and even though Anna got her out of harm’s way, Catherine didn’t return the favor. When Anna did return to Dahlonega, she had to watch Jack having an affair with Rachel, something that was spotted by Alice. That ended up being the last straw. After killing Rachel, Alice painted this picture that she was suffering from dementia, thereby allowing her to discard her clothes that had Rachel’s blood on them. When the authorities didn’t connect Alice being around the same woods where Rachel’s body was found, she realized she could use this dementia gimmick as well as her history of working as a janitor at the school and as a domestic worker in the city to get access to the rest of the girls who had gotten her daughter raped.
His & Hers constantly commented on the concept of truth and how, despite evolving in every imaginable way, we are very susceptible to deception. We believe only what we see, and if what we see matches our internal biases, our internal security system doesn’t get triggered. Duffie was a rich guy who partook in sadistic activities with Rachel and Helen. Jack was an adulterer and a liar. Anna and Lexy were very ambitious. So, it was very easy for the show and its characters to convince us that these were our prime suspects. Meanwhile, whenever we saw Alice, she seemed frail, spaced out, and on death’s door. Hence, we didn’t have any reason to suspect her. If we look at things from the POV of Alice, she knew how Dahlonega perceived her. She belonged to the working class. She was “losing her mind” because of old age. She was a “weak little” Black person in a predominantly White city. All that Alice needed to do was cement everybody’s assumptions, and that kept everyone, even her own daughter, from thinking that she was a serial killer on a revenge quest. I guess the learning lesson here is that you don’t underestimate the elderly population of your society.
Were Alice’s Actions Justified?
Yeah, absolutely, Alice’s actions in His & Hers were totally justified. I mean, Zoe, Rachel, and Helen had her daughter raped on her 16th birthday, and Catherine didn’t come to her rescue even though Anna saved her from the same fate. And it wasn’t like Alice had gotten her hands on that revelatory tape right after it had happened. By the time she saw that video, Zoe, Rachel, Helen, and Catherine had become adults living relatively stable lives. Catherine even dedicated her whole life to stealing Anna’s life, as if abandoning her when she was getting raped by those monsters wasn’t enough. So, when Alice learned what had happened to Anna, she realized that her daughter had lived a major chunk of adult life knowing that her greatest enemies never received the punishment they deserved. Alice understood Anna’s pain of breathing the same air as those people who she thought were her friends. The anger that she felt on behalf of her daughter was only exacerbated by her guilt. At the cost of sounding repetitive, yes, objectively speaking, Alice wasn’t entirely responsible for Charlotte’s death. But did that stop her from feeling that Anna blamed her for that incident? No. Therefore, on the one hand, Alice’s revenge saga was undoubtedly about avenging Anna, but on the other, it was also about redeeming herself in Anna’s eyes.
Did that make Alice somewhat selfish? Sure. Did it matter because, at the end of the day, Alice was taking out three of the most heinous women in existence? Yes, three, because she didn’t intend to have Catherine/Lexy killed; she just wanted to frame her for the three murders because she wasn’t an audience to the horror inflicted upon Anna. Maybe deep down she did want Lexy to die, and the universe fulfilled her wish through Priya. With all that said, I am a little confused as to why Alice stopped at just those 4 women. What about the 3 men who raped Anna? They were caught on camera as well. Why didn’t she go after them? She was resourceful enough to figure out that Lexy was Catherine, and she even managed to orchestrate Anna’s altercation with Lexy and Richard in such a way that Anna was never actually in any danger. So, why couldn’t she complete the mission by killing those boys? For all we know, those guys are somewhere out there doing God knows what to so many other women. Was Alice of the opinion that those 4 girls were more at fault than the 3 men who actually carried out the crime? I’ll let you be the judge of that.
Will Anna Expose Alice?
Anna was certainly horrified when she read Alice’s confession, but then the realization slowly dawned on her that she had a mother who was ready to go to great lengths to avenge her. Alice had underscored the fact that one of the many reasons why she had done what she had done was to fix Anna’s family life. Killing Helen, Rachel, and Zoe, and accidentally having Lexy killed wouldn’t erase the past. But it certainly gave Anna the motivation to hit the restart button on her life. Anna got pregnant with Jack’s baby, and she welcomed Meg, Zoe’s daughter, into her family as well. Things were great at work too. Anna was legitimately happy after a very long time. Now, when she read that letter, I’m sure she felt her stomach drop, because she knew how much she stood to lose. I mean, think about it. Her reporting at Dahlonega had made her the face of WSK-TV again. If Alice’s hand in the murders that she had covered came to light, she’d lose her job. One of the people that Alice had killed was Zoe. If Jack learned about that, there’s no way to predict how he’d react.
Jack undoubtedly loved Alice, but I think he loved Zoe more. Would he have understood that Alice did what she did to avenge her daughter and that Zoe was actually a heinous person when she was a kid? Maybe. But there’s a good chance that Jack would go for Alice’s jugular before hearing anybody out. Which brings us to the topic of Jack learning about what those 3 men had done to Anna. Even if Jack forgave Alice for killing Zoe, he’d certainly start another quest, which would only end with the death of those 3 men. The girls’ spiteful nature and Alice’s revenge saga had already created a lot of unrest, and it’s possible that Anna didn’t want any more commotion in her life. She didn’t want Alice to get punished by the law. She knew that the foundations of her future had been built atop the bones that had been laid down by her mother. However, as long as those skeletons stayed buried, Anna was okay with that. And she’s absolutely correct for thinking that way. She and her family had suffered enough for one lifetime. Hence, there was no harm in keeping Alice’s actions a secret and letting her live out her twilight years with her grandchildren, her son-in-law, and her daughter as peacefully as possible. But that’s just my opinion. If you have any thoughts on Alice, her motive, and the way she was given a free pass, let me know in the comments section below.
