It might be a bit too early to start watching Halloween movies yet, but as autumn approaches, audiences are desperate for a good murder mystery. To their delight, Netflix delivered this month in the form of a six-episode miniseries called The Perfect Couple. The show is based on Elin Hilderbrand’s New York Times bestselling novel of the same name; it takes place in beautiful Nantucket, Massachusets, where the prestigious Winbury family is celebrating the wedding of their son, Benji (Billy Howle) to Amelia Sacks (Eve Hewson). Sadly, their plans are ruined when the bride’s best friend/maid of honor, Merritt Monaco (Meghann Fahy) is discovered dead on the shore of the Winbury estate, known as Summerland House.
Detectives Dan Carter (Michael Beach) and Nikki Henry (Donna Lynn Champlin) set out to uncover the social media influencer’s murderer. Immediately, they suspect Benji’s father, Tag Winbury (Liev Schreiber) as he was having an affair with the victim who was carrying his child. Matriarch Greer Garrison Winbury (Nicole Kidman) – a famous murder mystery novelist – was also called into question. The former’s smartwatch data confirmed he was sleeping at the time of the murder, but his wife wasn’t cleared as there was a motive for her to kill Tag’s love interest. In The Perfect Couple‘s final episode, investigators seek to incriminate Mrs. Winbury, but major twist and turns take the story in a totally unexpected direction.
‘The Perfect Couple’ Ending Explained
As per People, “The cops’ working theory is that Greer hired Broderick Graham, a known criminal with ties to the Turkish mafia, to kill her husband’s pregnant mistress.” Their proof is a $300K wire transfer from family friend Shooter Dival to Broderick; the detectives believe Greer asked Dival to help because of his diplomatic immunity. However, the Winbury matriarch shocks everyone by revealing Broderick is her brother who she loaned money to so he could pay off his gambling debts. The duo returns to Summerland to share the news with the family, and Greer also announces that she and Tag met when she was an escort and he was her paying customer.
As that drama plays out, Carter and Henry dive deeper into Merritt’s death. When Amelia mentions that barbiturates were discovered in the deceased’s system, her mother, Karen, discoveres one of her three pentobarbital pills is missing; the latter is a cancer patient who obtained the medication for euthanasia. Seeing as Thomas Winbury (Jack Reynor) has a reputation for stealing pills to play “prescription roulette,” all eyes are on him. He admits to stealing the medication, but insists he didn’t use it to kill Merritt. Instead, Tom suggests that his mistress, Isabel (Isabelle Adjani) is the one to blame.
It turns out that Tom is $2.5 million in debt to his lover, and he planned to repay her after gaining access to his trust fund when the youngest Winbury sibling turns 18. Will (Sam Nivola) was set to reach legal age at the end of the summer, but Merritt’s pregnancy would reset the clock for another 18 years. Isabel was among the last people seen with Merritt, but her alibi – video footage from a cab driver showing her departure from the mansion with Tom – saved her.
Who Killed Merritt?
He might’ve been wrong about his mistress, but Tom’s chat with detectives did point them toward the right killer, his wife, Abby Winbury (Dakota Fanning). She previously claimed that her partner woke her up as he got into bed on the night of the murder, but the taxi footage proves otherwise. After watching Tom leave with Isabel, she crushed up the stolen pill into a glass of fresh-pressed orange juice for Merritt. The two scorned women discuss how undependable men can be as Abby convinces Merritt to go for a swim. She forces her companion’s head below the surface until she drowns then calmly walks back to the house while Merritt’s lifeless body floats in the water.
As People notes, Tom’s wife had financial motives behind her murderous actions. She didn’t want her husband’s debts or infidelity to interfere with her lavish lifestyle after marrying into the Winbury’s, even pressuring him into asking Tag for a loan so they could get a new apartment. When he learned of her pregnancy, Tom attempted to scare Merritt into an abortion using his grandfather’s gun but chickened out and left with Isabel instead. Abby watched this play out from the balcony, deciding then to take measures into her own hands. “If you want something done right, you have to do it yourself,” she told Merritt on the beach before killing her.
To the disappointment of some, the Netflix conclusion is different from Hildebrand’s book. On paper, Abby is still responsible for Merritt’s death, although it was an accident. Her initial plan was to slip a pill in the drink of Tom’s mistress to keep them apart for a night, but Merritt wound up drinking the spiked beverage instead. She cut her foot while wandering the beach alone at night, got distracted by a shiny ring in the water while washing off and drowned. In this version, police rule Merritt’s death an accident and only Greer uncovers the truth. Which ending do you prefer? Let us know in the comments!
