This article contains discussions about murder and euthanasia.
Spoilers for Netflix’s Perfect Couple ahead!
The Perfect Couple’s murder mystery plot is packed with twists and turns that keep viewers guessing until the shocking ending, which reveals the killer and their true motives. Based on the eponymous book by New York Times Bestselling author Elin Hilderbrand, the miniseries on Netflix began with the Winbury and Sacks families gathering at the Winbury estate on Nantucket Island for the wedding of Amelia Sacks and Benji Winbury. However, things quickly went sideways when Amelia found the body of her best friend and maid of honor, Merritt, floating in the beach water.
When the police began to investigate the crime, they found that each of The perfect couples main characters has a possible motive to kill Merritt, making it a complex case to crack. They discovered that Merritt had an affair with Thug and was pregnant, making him and his wife the most obvious suspects. However, the pregnancy would also impact the Winbury children due to a clause in their trust funds. Ultimately, the tense ending answers questions, like why Abby killed Merritt, while sending important messages about how people’s public images differ from reality.
Why Abby Killed Merritt in The Perfect Couple
Abby wanted to get the job done after Thomas failed
The perfect killer Drags the mystery of Merritt’s death until the second half of the final episode, keeping viewers guessing. It turns out Abby killed Merritt by crushing pills, putting them in her glass of juice, taking her in the water and holding her head under water. While others have a much more obvious reason for wanting Merritt dead, Abby has just as compelling a reason – money.
Related
The Winbury children would only receive their trust money when the youngest child turned 18, an impending event with Will’s birthday so close. Everyone was counting on their trust funds, especially Thomas, who owed Isabel money, and Abby, who wanted a new apartment. Merritt’s pregnancy threatened to derail everyone’s plans, because with Day as a father, they would have to wait another 18 years until they received a dime of money. Thomas tried to threaten Merritt into aborting the pregnancy but was stopped by Isabel. So, Abby decided to finish the job herself.
In addition to Abby, two other people were also unknowingly involved in the murder The perfect couple – Karen and Thomas. The pills Abby crushed up were taken from Thomas’s stash. He would routinely steal pills from the people around him. Unfortunately, the specific pills that drugged Merritt came from Karen’s travel pill box. She was illegally given three pentobarbital pills for euthanasia in case her cancer took a turn for the worse. However, neither Thomas nor Karen had an active hand in the murder.
What happened to Merritt’s killer
Abby Winbury gets arrested for murder
After the police discovered what Abby had, She was arrested on the Winbury estate and taken away in handcuffs. This is a drastic departure from Elin Hilderbrand’s eponymous book, where the murderer faces no consequences because the death is ruled accidental. Abby, arrested in the Netflix series, sends the clear message that no one is exempt from the law when they commit murder, even a painfully wealthy family. Fortunately, Karen and Thomas were not charged for being unwittingly involved in Merritt’s death, although they both probably could have been indicted for crimes from a legal standpoint.
Are Amelia and Benji staying together?
Shooter helps Amelia realize that she is not happy with Benji
While The perfect couple Centered on Benji and Amelia’s wedding, it was established early on that Amelia had doubts about marrying him. She did not have a passion for Benji, feeling that he was too perfect. She desperately wanted to love Benji, but the emotions weren’t there. It probably didn’t help that she never met the Winbury family, receiving insults and digs from the others. The division between Amelia and the Winburys was a reminder of the differences in Benji and Amelia’s backgrounds. However, Amelia and Benji did not break up until the end of the Netflix miniseries.
Related
A catalyst to their breakup was Amelia reconnecting with Shooter, Benji’s best friend. She already has feelings for him based on previous interactions. During the show, they tried to ignore their love for each other, but it was creeping back at the worst time. In addition, when she discovered that Shooter had money, too, Amelia realizes that the disconnect between her and Benji is not because of their social classes. Despite their wealth gap, Shooter and Amelia have an emotional connection, a mental connection and similar values. Ultimately, she and Benji go their separate ways in the final episode.
The issues in the perfect couple explained
Thomas cheated on Abby with Isabel, and Thug cheated on Greer with Merritt
throughout The perfect coupleTwo couples have things. Tag and Merritt met at Amelia and Benji’s engagement party and started a relationship. The couple seemed to have a romance and a sexual relationship based on their interactions during the mystery TV show. Additionally, Thomas and Isabelle have regular sex tricks – a slap in the face to his pregnant wife.
It can be argued that their boredom from the lack of responsibilities motivated them to cheat, and privilege emboldened them to believe that there would be no consequences.
The prevalence of issues within The perfect couple Makes an important statement about appearances versus reality. Because of Greer’s book series, she and Tug presented themselves as the perfect couple and, by extension, their family as the ideal family. However, behind closed doors, the Winbury family was rife with judgment, infidelity and fighting.
Their wealth could not prevent them from having affairs. In fact, it can be argued that their boredom from the lack of responsibilities motivated them to cheat, and privilege emboldened them to believe that there would be no consequences. Ultimately, the Winburys prove that even the happiest-looking family has secrets that outsiders may never know.
The significance of Merritt’s pregnancy
Merritt’s pregnancy had negative ramifications
The impact of Merritt’s pregnancy in The perfect couple Varies greatly from person to person. Each individual would be hurt by the pregnancy in a slightly different way. The Winbury children would all have to wait to receive their trust money if Merritt had a baby, which was the most consistent impact throughout the family. Additionally, an extramarital affair and pregnancy would jeopardize Greer’s career since the popularity of her books came from her and Thug having the perfect marriage. Based on how Greer treats her, the matriarch would probably find a way to blame Amelia, especially since Merritt is the Outsider’s best friend.
In addition, Isabel would be affected because Thomas owed her money, which would come from the trust fund. His marriage would be destroyed, although the events of the perfect couple clearly show that their relationship is already on the rocks. Unfortunately, Merritt would also have suffered had she lived and carried the pregnancy to term as she would probably have been left without any support from the Winbury family.
Why Greer hates Amelia in the perfect couple
Greer wants her to have Amelia’s freedom
throughout The perfect coupleGreer treats Amelia with extreme disdain, refusing to accept her as part of the family. At first, her hatred apparently came from wanting to maintain the status quo. Amelia did not conform to the Winbury’s way of life, and Greer needed to protect their image. At the end of The perfect coupleIt has been proven Greer’s anger was actually jealousy that Amelia could still escape. The whole family relied on Greer, and her career was built on the assumption that her family was perfect. She could not leave without throwing her life into chaos.
Related
On the other hand, Amelia’s life is not entangled in the family yet. She is not married to Benji, and they have no children. Plus, her career as a zoologist isn’t reliant on having a squeaky-clean public image. As such, Amelia can still escape without too much negative backlash or attention. Once the couple married, leaving would have been immensely more complicated, which is probably why Greer pushed so hard for Amelia to call off the wedding. In the long run, Greer only changed her attitude towards Amelia after the book author decided that she would not protect the family’s reputation anymore.
The true meaning of the end of the perfect couple
The Netflix miniseries unequivocally states that there is no such thing as the perfect couple
Despite their public image, the Winburys are far from a happy, healthy family The perfect couple. They are just as dysfunctional as everyone else. Regardless, everyone on the outside held them up on a pedestal, turning them into the goal to strive for. finally, The Netflix mini-series made it clear that no ideal family, couple or life exists.
The show’s message is especially poignant in the age of social media influencers, when it’s easy to compare yourself to complete strangers.
Like the Winburys, people pick and choose what parts of their lives to share publicly, making reality different from the masks they wear. There is no way to know through a screen who a person really is or what their life looks like on a day-to-day basis. The show’s message is especially poignant in the age of social media influencers, when it’s easy to compare yourself to complete strangers. finally, The perfect couple Encourages viewers to reflect on how parasocial relationships impact their perception of reality and themselves, deconstructing their idealistic images of strangers.
- Figure
-
Nicole Kidman, Dakota Fanning, Leo Schreiber, Eve Hewson, Meghan Fahy, Michael Beach, Jack Raynor, Billy Howell
- character(s)
-
Greer Garrison Winbury, Abby Winbury, Tug Winbury, Amelia Sachs, Merritt Monaco, Chief of Police, Thomas Winbury, Benji
- Release date
-
September 5, 2024
- Seasons
-
1