The Perfect Couple‘s murder mystery plot is packed with twists and turns that leave 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 started 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. 

As the police started investigating the crime, they found that each of The Perfect Couple‘s main characters had a possible motive to kill Merritt, making it a complex case to crack. They discovered that Merritt was having an affair with Tag and was pregnant, making him and his wife the most obvious suspects. However, the pregnancy would also have impacted 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 out until the second half of the final episode, keeping viewers guessing. It turns out Abby killed Merritt by crushing up pills, putting them in her glass of juice, taking her into the water, and holding her head underwater. While others had a much more apparent reason for wanting Merritt dead, Abby had just as compelling a reason – money.

The Winbury children would only receive their trust funds 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 Tag as the father, they would have to wait another 18 years before they received a dime of money. Thomas tried to threaten Merritt into aborting the pregnancy but was stopped by Isabel. So, Abbey decided to finish the job herself.

In addition to Abby, two other people were also unknowingly involved in the murder in The Perfect Couple – Karen and Thomas. The pills Abby crushed up were taken from Thomas’ stash. He would routinely steal pills from the people around him. Sadly, the specific pills that drugged Merritt came from Karen’s travel pill box. She illegally obtained 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 did, she got arrested on the Winbury estate and taken away in handcuffs. This is a drastic deviation from Elin Hilderbrand’s eponymous book, where the killer faces no consequences because the death was ruled accidental. Abby getting arrested in the Netflix series sends the clear message that nobody is exempt from the law when they commit murder, even a painfully wealthy family. Luckily, Karen and Thomas weren’t charged for being unknowingly involved in Merritt’s death, even though they both probably could have been indicted for crimes from a legal standpoint.

Do Amelia & Benji Stay Together?

Shooter Helps Amelia Realize She Isn’t Happy With Benji

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While The Perfect Couple centered on Benji and Amelia’s wedding, it was established early on that Amelia had doubts about marrying him. She didn’t have a passion for Benji, feeling like he was too perfect. She desperately wanted to love Benji, but the emotions weren’t there. It likely didn’t help that she never seemed to fit in with the Winbury family, getting insults and digs from the others. The division between Amelia and the Winburys stood as a reminder of the differences in Benji and Amelia’s backgrounds. However, Amelia and Benji didn’t break up until the end of Netflix’s miniseries.

A catalyst to their breakup was Amelia reconnecting with Shooter, Benji’s best friend. She already had feelings for him based on previous interactions. During the show, they tried to ignore their love for one another, but it kept creeping back up at the worst times. Additionally, when she discovered that Shooter had money, too, Amelia realized that the disconnect between her and Benji wasn’t because of their social classes. Despite their wealth gap, Shooter and Amelia had an emotional connection, a mental connection, and similar values. Ultimately, she and Benji go their separate ways in the last episode.

The Affairs In The Perfect Couple Explained

Thomas Cheated On Abby With Isabel, And Tag Cheated On Greer With Merritt

Throughout The Perfect Couple, two couples had affairs. Tag and Shooter met at Amelia and Benji’s engagement celebration and started a relationship. The pair seemed to have both a romance and a sexual connection based on their interactions throughout the mystery TV show. Additionally, Thomas and Isabel had regular sexual trysts – a slap in the face to his pregnant wife.

It could be argued that their boredom from the lack of responsibilities motivated them to cheat, and privilege emboldened them to believe there wouldn’t be consequences.

The prevalence of affairs within The Perfect Couple makes an important statement about appearances versus reality. Because of Greer’s book series, she and Tag 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 couldn’t prevent them from having affairs. In fact, it could be argued that their boredom from the lack of responsibilities motivated them to cheat, and privilege emboldened them to believe there wouldn’t be consequences. Ultimately, the Winburys prove that even the most happy-looking family has secrets that outsiders may never know.

The Significance Of Merritt’s Pregnancy

Merritt’s Pregnancy Has Negative Ramifications

The impact of Merritt’s pregnancy in The Perfect Couple varies greatly from person to person. Each individual would be harmed by the pregnancy in a slightly different way. The Winbury children would all have to wait to receive their trust funds if Merritt had a baby, which was the most consistent impact throughout the family. Additionally, an extramarital affair and pregnancy would risk Greer’s career since her books’ popularity came from her and Tag having the perfect marriage. Based on how Greer treats her, the matriarch would likely find a way to blame Amelia, especially since Merritt is the outsider’s best friend.

On top of that, Isabel would have been affected because Thomas owed her money, which would have come from the trust fund. Tag would have his marriage destroyed, though the events of The Perfect Couple clearly show that their relationship was already on the rocks. Sadly, Merritt also would have suffered if she had lived and carried the pregnancy to term because she would probably have been left without any support from the Winbury family.

Why Greer Hates Amelia In The Perfect Couple

Greer Wishes She Had The Freedom Of Amelia

Throughout The Perfect Couple, Greer treated Amelia with extreme disdain, refusing to accept her as part of the family. Initially, her hatred seemingly came from wanting to maintain the status quo. Amelia didn’t conform to the Winburys’ way of life, and Greer needed to protect their image. By the end of The Perfect Couple, it became evident that Greer’s ire was actually jealousy that Amelia could still escape. The entire family relied on Greer, and her career was built on the presumption that her family was perfect. She couldn’t leave without throwing her life into chaos.

On the other hand, Amelia’s life wasn’t entangled in the family yet. She wasn’t married to Benji, and they didn’t have kids. Plus, her career as a zoologist wasn’t reliant on having a squeaky-clean public image. As such, Amelia could still escape without too much negative backlash or attention. Once the pair got married, leaving would have been immensely more complicated, which is likely 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 she wouldn’t protect the family’s reputation anymore.

The True Meaning Of The Perfect Couple’s Ending

The Netflix Miniseries Unequivocably States That There’s No Such Thing As The Perfect Couple

Despite their public image, the Winburys were far from a happy, healthy family in The Perfect Couple. They were just as dysfunctional as everyone else. Regardless, everyone on the outside held them up on a pedestal, idolizing them as the goal to strive for. By the end, Netflix’s miniseries 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 oneself 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’s 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 oneself to complete strangers. Ultimately, The Perfect Couple encourages viewers to reflect on how parasocial relationships impact their perception of reality and themselves, deconstructing their idealistic images of strangers.