Who killed Merritt in the book and how it compares to the Netflix version

Warning: This article contains major spoilers for The Perfect Couple!

Merritt’s death is central to both Netflix’s The perfect couple And the eponymous book by Elin Hilderbrand, begging the question of who killed her in the source material and how it complements the limited series. Written by the New York Times bestselling author, this book is a beach read that weaves together a compelling mystery. While the miniseries captures the spirit of the book, it makes many changes to the story and character arcs. some of The perfect coupleThe characters, like Abby and Shooter, are different in their personality and upbringing.

The story lies in the strengths of the main actors, such as providing Nicole Kidman with a more complex backstory that influences Greer’s behavior towards her family. Amelia and Shooter cut things off instead of ending in a more open-ended way. The Netflix miniseries also changes how Merritt died, one of the many elements that made up The perfect couple partition.

Merritt’s death in The Perfect Couple book is an accident – as it happens

Abby doesn’t realize that the drink is for Merritt

In Elin Hilderbrand The perfect couple, Abby does not intend to kill Merritt, targeting Featherleigh (the equivalent of Isabel Nallett) instead. Thomas stole a sleeping pill from Greer for his prescription roulette. Abby steals the pill and slips it into Isabel’s drink, not realizing that Isabel is taking it to Merritt. After drinking the drink, Merritt goes out to the beach. She throws the thumb that Thug gave her into the ocean in anger but immediately regrets it. When she goes into the water to retrieve it, she drowned. The sequence leading up to Merritt’s death builds fantastic tension.

Merritt’s death was ultimately ruled an accident by the police officer, meaning that Abby never faced any consequences. Instead, Greer is the person who pieces together what happened. The family matriarch took her pill box down to the kitchen the night of Merritt’s death but left it there. Later, the owner brings it back to her, saying she found it in Abby and Thomas’ trash can. Greer also overhears Abby and Thomas arguing about his affair. At the end of the book version of The perfect coupleShe decides that Abby wanted to take her husband’s mistress.

Why did Netflix’s Perfect Couple Abby immediately kill off Merritt?

Elin Hilderbrand’s ending would not work well on screen

Anyone who tunes into the book’s Netflix show is sure to be shocked about how Merritt died. After all, there’s a big difference between accidentally killing someone and holding someone’s head under water. Showrunner Jenna Lamia explains The perfect couples new end, Pointing out the limitations of the device that prevented the death of the book appeared on the screen.

The novel by Elin Hilderbrand leads with a difficult internal dialogue in the tense song until Merritt’s death. Television shows cannot easily communicate a character’s thoughts, especially when they are alone, unless they use voiceover. If Lamia had massively changed the story and made Merritt the narrator of the series, the dead woman giving a voiceover would have felt out of place. The showrunner’s abandonment of the existing death scene opened doors for a completely new story.

With Hilderbrand’s support, Lamia reworks the story to give the killer an active motive to kill Merritt that isn’t jealousy. She explained that she thought “It can be more satisfying for the audience“To see a murderer with murderous intent adds extra tension, drama and mystery. The question is not only who killed her, but why and how. The showrunner also added more hints about who killed Merritt in The perfect couple.

Which version of The Perfect Couple’s End is better?

Elin Hilderbrand’s ending makes more sense than Netflix’s ending

When you compare Merritt’s death in the two versions of The perfect coupleIt is challenging to consider one ending perfect over the other. They are both ideal for their format, providing more introspection in the book and more action in the Netflix whodunit. finally, The winner – Elin Hilderbrand’s ending – comes down not to whether one idea is better than the other, but how they execute it.

Even if it’s mildly anticlimactic for a murder mystery to end with an accidental death, the logic is solid. Abby has a strong reason to want Featherleigh dead, and there isn’t a clear alternative which results in Thomas focusing his attention back on his wife. If she divorces him, they are not together.

When it comes to the US The end of Netflix The perfect coupleThere are many plots. The show doesn’t explain how Abby found out about Merritt’s pregnancy or how she conveniently picked a pill that would restore her victim. Several other solutions exist besides murder, such as forcing Merritt to delay her pregnancy announcement until after the trust is paid. Plus, the police arrest you with almost no evidence. Because of these issues, the book ending of The perfect couple Wins out the miniseries.