# The Last Thing He Told Me
**The Last Thing He Told Me** is a 2021 mystery novel by the American writer Laura Dave, and an Apple TV drama series adapted from it, both centered on Hannah Hall, whose husband Owen disappears leaving a note that reads "protect her," leaving her to find the truth with her sixteen-year-old stepdaughter Bailey. The novel was a #1 New York Times best seller and a Reese's Book Club selection; the television adaptation, starring [Jennifer Garner](https://www.edgepedia.org/jennifer-garner), premiered in April 2023 and returned for a second season in February 2026 based on Dave's sequel novel *The First Time I Saw Him*.[1](https://apnews.com/article/044d7fe33364d36387015e327826fe7d) • [2](https://www.usmagazine.com/entertainment/news/author-laura-dave-teases-the-last-thing-he-told-me-season-2/)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Original novel | By Laura Dave, released May 2021; spent 65 weeks on the New York Times best seller list[1](https://apnews.com/article/044d7fe33364d36387015e327826fe7d) • [2](https://www.usmagazine.com/entertainment/news/author-laura-dave-teases-the-last-thing-he-told-me-season-2/) |
| Recognition | Reese's Book Club pick; Goodreads Choice Award for Best Thriller/Suspense of 2021; Amazon and Apple Best Book of the Year 2021[1](https://apnews.com/article/044d7fe33364d36387015e327826fe7d) • [3](https://www.apple.com/tv-pr/news/2025/11/apple-tvs-hit-drama-the-last-thing-he-told-me-starring-and-executive-produced-by-jennifer-garner-returns-for-season-two-on-february-20-2026/) |
| Series premiere | April 14, 2023 on Apple TV+, seven episodes, rated TV-MA[4](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7TgbNTaXiXI) • [5](https://www.metacritic.com/tv/the-last-thing-he-told-me/critic-reviews/) |
| Lead cast | Jennifer Garner as Hannah, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau as Owen, Angourie Rice as Bailey[6](https://www.apple.com/tv-pr/originals/the-last-thing-he-told-me/cast-crew/) |
| Creators | Created and adapted by Laura Dave with Academy Award-winning co-creator Josh Singer; produced by 20th Television and Hello Sunshine[3](https://www.apple.com/tv-pr/news/2025/11/apple-tvs-hit-drama-the-last-thing-he-told-me-starring-and-executive-produced-by-jennifer-garner-returns-for-season-two-on-february-20-2026/) |
| Season 2 | Premiered February 20, 2026; eight episodes, loosely based on the sequel novel *The First Time I Saw Him* (January 6, 2026)[3](https://www.apple.com/tv-pr/news/2025/11/apple-tvs-hit-drama-the-last-thing-he-told-me-starring-and-executive-produced-by-jennifer-garner-returns-for-season-two-on-february-20-2026/) • [7](https://www.tvinsider.com/1246921/the-last-thing-he-told-me-season-2-book-adaptation-explained/) |
| Reception | Season 1: 39% on the Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer (33 reviews); season 2: 56% (9 reviews); Metacritic metascore 50[8](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/the_last_thing_he_told_me/s01) • [9](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/the_last_thing_he_told_me/s02) • [5](https://www.metacritic.com/tv/the-last-thing-he-told-me/critic-reviews/) |
## Spoilers
### Season 1 of the television series
The adaptation premiered on Apple TV+ on April 14, 2023.[4](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7TgbNTaXiXI) Dave created and adapted the series alongside co-creator Josh Singer, an Academy Award-winning screenwriter who is also her husband; it was the first collaboration between the two.[3](https://www.apple.com/tv-pr/news/2025/11/apple-tvs-hit-drama-the-last-thing-he-told-me-starring-and-executive-produced-by-jennifer-garner-returns-for-season-two-on-february-20-2026/) Jennifer Garner stars as Hannah and also serves as an executive producer, alongside [Reese Witherspoon](https://www.edgepedia.org/reese-witherspoon) and Lauren Neustadter of Hello Sunshine.[13](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9TIZZhFOY6E) Nikolaj Coster-Waldau plays Owen and [Angourie Rice](https://www.edgepedia.org/angourie-rice) plays Bailey, with [David Morse](https://www.edgepedia.org/david-morse), Aisha Tyler, Geoff Stults, and Augusto Aguilera among the supporting cast.[6](https://www.apple.com/tv-pr/originals/the-last-thing-he-told-me/cast-crew/)
The first season runs seven episodes and stays largely faithful to the novel. Because prose can access a character's interiority in ways television cannot, the show trades Hannah's inner narration for expanded backstory, including Hannah's relationship with her grandfather and Owen's history with his former father-in-law (David Morse), and adds one character to flesh out Bailey's background.[14](https://time.com/6272154/last-thing-he-told-me-apple-tv-book/) The first episode restructures the opening into a flash-forward to April 14, with Hannah searching for Bailey in a hotel, rather than starting on Hannah and Owen's second date as the novel does.[15](https://www.jenryland.com/spoiler-discussion-for-the-last-thing-he-told-me/comment-page-2/)
**Critical reception.** On Rotten Tomatoes, season 1 holds a 39% Tomatometer from 33 reviews and a 49% Popcornmeter score; the critics consensus credits Garner's sensitive performance while citing monotonous pacing and a glossy veneer.[8](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/the_last_thing_he_told_me/s01) Metacritic lists a metascore of 50, labeled mixed or average, with 15 of 24 critic reviews mixed.[5](https://www.metacritic.com/tv/the-last-thing-he-told-me/critic-reviews/)
### Season 2 and the parallel sequel
Season 2 premiered on February 20, 2026, with eight episodes.[3](https://www.apple.com/tv-pr/news/2025/11/apple-tvs-hit-drama-the-last-thing-he-told-me-starring-and-executive-produced-by-jennifer-garner-returns-for-season-two-on-february-20-2026/) It picks up five years after season 1: Owen shows up after five years on the run, and Hannah and Bailey race to reunite their family before the past catches up to them.[16](https://www.apple.com/tv-pr/originals/the-last-thing-he-told-me/) [Judy Greer](https://www.edgepedia.org/judy-greer) and [Rita Wilson](https://www.edgepedia.org/rita-wilson) joined the cast, along with Augusto Aguilera, Josh Hamilton, Nick Hargrove, Michael Galante, John Noble, Michael Hyatt, and [Luke Kirby](https://www.edgepedia.org/luke-kirby), and Emmy nominee Aaron Zelman joined as co-showrunner with Singer.[3](https://www.apple.com/tv-pr/news/2025/11/apple-tvs-hit-drama-the-last-thing-he-told-me-starring-and-executive-produced-by-jennifer-garner-returns-for-season-two-on-february-20-2026/)
The season is loosely based on Dave's sequel novel *The First Time I Saw Him*, published January 6, 2026, a month before the premiere. The development was unusual: after the audience response to season 1, Dave wanted to write the novel but the audience would not wait for it, so the writers' room and Dave developed the two in parallel. The writers had the first 100 pages of the manuscript, which is why the premiere and the novel's opening are closely synced, while later events follow what TV Insider described as "parallel paths."[7](https://www.tvinsider.com/1246921/the-last-thing-he-told-me-season-2-book-adaptation-explained/) Dave was not a writer on season 2 because she was busy writing the novel.[1](https://apnews.com/article/044d7fe33364d36387015e327826fe7d) Cast members described the arrangement from the inside: Angourie Rice said the book and show "were in conversation with each other while we were making it," and Judy Greer recalled asking showrunner Josh Singer what happens next and being told Dave had not yet revealed it.[17](https://www.usmagazine.com/entertainment/news/judy-greer-explains-how-the-last-thing-he-told-me-season-2-differs-from-book/)
**Reception.** Season 2 holds a 56% Tomatometer from 9 reviews and a 46% Popcornmeter score on Rotten Tomatoes.[9](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/the_last_thing_he_told_me/s02) Reviews diverged: Collider gave the season 80, calling it more confident in taking risks and a follow-up that improves the show, while Peter Travers wrote that "it wouldn't hurt to skip it."[5](https://www.metacritic.com/tv/the-last-thing-he-told-me/critic-reviews/) • [9](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/the_last_thing_he_told_me/s02) A RogerEbert.com review argued the season can make its characters seem simultaneously very capable and implausibly foolish, draining tension from escapes and surveillance, and that repeated pursuit scenes do not build suspense when viewers cannot tell why the pursuers have not already succeeded.[18](https://www.rogerebert.com/streaming/the-last-thing-he-told-me-season-2-apple-tv-review-2026)
### The sequel novel
*The First Time I Saw Him* picks up after the events of *The Last Thing He Told Me* while also filling in details of the past. Dave framed the two books around different questions: if the first asks what we are willing to do for the people we love, the second asks what we are willing to do to be forgiven and for a second chance, which she saw as a journey back to Hannah and Owen's love story.[1](https://apnews.com/article/044d7fe33364d36387015e327826fe7d) She had originally imagined the first book as standalone, saying she was surprised to find she had an answer to what happened next after readers kept asking.[1](https://apnews.com/article/044d7fe33364d36387015e327826fe7d)
## The novel
Laura Dave (born 1977 in New York City)[10](https://www.cplma.ca/media/qdecyzq3/bciab_lastthinghetoldme-dave.pdf) had published earlier novels including *London Is the Best City in America* (2006), *The Divorce Party*, and *Eight Hundred Grapes* before turning to suspense.[10](https://www.cplma.ca/media/qdecyzq3/bciab_lastthinghetoldme-dave.pdf) • [1](https://apnews.com/article/044d7fe33364d36387015e327826fe7d) In an interview about the book's origins, she said she did not put pen to paper for *The Last Thing He Told Me* until almost a decade after first conceiving of it, when she found the question she wanted to explore.[11](https://d1hbl61hovme3a.cloudfront.net/assets_us/the-last-thing-he-told-me-by-laura-dave.pdf)
The story follows Hannah Hall, who has recently married Owen Michaels, a widower with a teenage daughter, Bailey, who is cool toward her new stepmother. Owen disappears one day, leaving a note instructing Hannah to protect Bailey, and the two set out to learn what happened.[1](https://apnews.com/article/044d7fe33364d36387015e327826fe7d) The novel is narrated by Hannah, with the story moving between timelines as she looks back on her life with Owen.[12](https://mentorpl.org/wp-content/uploads/Last-Thing-He-Told-Me-Discussion-Questions.pdf)
**Commercial performance.** The book spent 65 weeks as a New York Times best seller and was chosen by Reese Witherspoon for her Reese's Book Club.[1](https://apnews.com/article/044d7fe33364d36387015e327826fe7d) It won the Goodreads Choice Award for Best Thriller/Suspense of 2021, was named an Amazon Best Book of the Year and an Apple Best Book of the Year in 2021, and in 2022 was one of the most popular books checked out at libraries across America as well as the number 1 most popular e-book.[3](https://www.apple.com/tv-pr/news/2025/11/apple-tvs-hit-drama-the-last-thing-he-told-me-starring-and-executive-produced-by-jennifer-garner-returns-for-season-two-on-february-20-2026/) Dave has described her editor's characterization of the books as "suspense novels rooted in hope," which she called the opposite of what a suspense novel normally is.[1](https://apnews.com/article/044d7fe33364d36387015e327826fe7d)
## References
1. [Laura Dave's sequel to 'The Last Thing He Told Me' reveals all, AP News](https://apnews.com/article/044d7fe33364d36387015e327826fe7d)
2. [Author Laura Dave Says 'The Last Thing He Told Me' Season 2 Will Be 'A Big Surprise' to Her, Us Weekly](https://www.usmagazine.com/entertainment/news/author-laura-dave-teases-the-last-thing-he-told-me-season-2/)
3. [Apple TV's hit drama "The Last Thing He Told Me" returns for season two on February 20, 2026, Apple TV Press](https://www.apple.com/tv-pr/news/2025/11/apple-tvs-hit-drama-the-last-thing-he-told-me-starring-and-executive-produced-by-jennifer-garner-returns-for-season-two-on-february-20-2026/)
4. [The Last Thing He Told Me – Official Trailer | Apple TV+, Apple Australia, YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7TgbNTaXiXI)
5. [The Last Thing He Told Me critic reviews, Metacritic](https://www.metacritic.com/tv/the-last-thing-he-told-me/critic-reviews/)
6. [The Last Thing He Told Me – Cast and Crew, Apple TV Press](https://www.apple.com/tv-pr/originals/the-last-thing-he-told-me/cast-crew/)
7. [Is 'The Last Thing He Told Me' Season 2 Based on a Book? Show's Bosses Explain, TV Insider](https://www.tvinsider.com/1246921/the-last-thing-he-told-me-season-2-book-adaptation-explained/)
8. [The Last Thing He Told Me: Season 1, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/the_last_thing_he_told_me/s01)
9. [The Last Thing He Told Me: Season 2, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/the_last_thing_he_told_me/s02)
10. [Discussion Guide – The Last Thing He Told Me](https://www.cplma.ca/media/qdecyzq3/bciab_lastthinghetoldme-dave.pdf)
11. [Conversation with Laura Dave, publisher Q&A](https://d1hbl61hovme3a.cloudfront.net/assets_us/the-last-thing-he-told-me-by-laura-dave.pdf)
12. [The Last Thing He Told Me Discussion Questions, Mentor Public Library](https://mentorpl.org/wp-content/uploads/Last-Thing-He-Told-Me-Discussion-Questions.pdf)
13. [The Last Thing He Told Me – Official Trailer | Apple TV, Apple TV, YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9TIZZhFOY6E)
14. [How Laura Dave's Thriller The Last Thing He Told Me Was Adapted for Television, TIME](https://time.com/6272154/last-thing-he-told-me-apple-tv-book/)
15. [Spoiler Discussion for The Last Thing He Told Me, Jen Ryland Reviews](https://www.jenryland.com/spoiler-discussion-for-the-last-thing-he-told-me/comment-page-2/)
16. [The Last Thing He Told Me, Apple TV Press](https://www.apple.com/tv-pr/originals/the-last-thing-he-told-me/)
17. [Judy Greer and Angourie Rice Explain How 'The Last Thing He Told Me' Season 2 Is Different From the Book, Us Weekly](https://www.usmagazine.com/entertainment/news/judy-greer-explains-how-the-last-thing-he-told-me-season-2-differs-from-book/)
18. [Season 2 of "The Last Thing He Told Me" Is the Last Thing You'll Want to Watch, RogerEbert.com](https://www.rogerebert.com/streaming/the-last-thing-he-told-me-season-2-apple-tv-review-2026)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Series and fictional screen worlds › Scripted television and comedy series › Drama and prestige series (individual series) › Crime and thriller series › Psychological and domestic thrillers*
*Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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