Netflix’s The Perfect Couple ending explained – who is the murderer?

Everyone is a suspect in the new Netflix series The Perfect Couple, but there can only be one murderer – and, in true whodunnit style, we’re sent on a wild goose chase before finding out at the very end. 

Based on Elin Hilderbrand’s best-selling novel of the same name, The Perfect Couple is everything you could want from a beach read in TV show format. It’s a trashy, entertaining murder mystery, centering around a high-society wedding on Nantucket that goes awry when a dead body washes ashore.

And then there’s the all-star cast. You’ve got Nicole Kidman as the stuck-up mother-in-law, Dakota Fanning as her equally stuck-up daughter-in-law, and Scream king Liev Schreiber as the stoner “DILF.” Behind Her Eyes’ Eve Hewson is the lead Amelia, while her bestie is played by White Lotus icon Meghann Fahy.

But arguably the most unexpected casting of all has to be Isabelle Adjani, the star responsible for that performance in the cult horror Possession. All of this comes together to make The Perfect Couple the perfect binge-worthy series. Before we get into the ending, be warned: spoilers ahead!

Who gets killed?

Amelia finds her best friend Merritt Monaco’s body on the beach surrounding the estate of her fiance’s family the day before her wedding, leaving her understandably devastated. 

Although her future father-in-law Tag Winbury (Schreiber) initially suggests it was an accident – they had all been drinking heavily the night of the rehearsal dinner – detectives Dan (Michael Beach) and Nikki (Donna Lynne Champlin) soon discover they have a murder case on their hands. 

Their investigation takes a sinister turn when they uncover she had heavy drugs running through her system before she drowned. The only issue? There are a lot of suspects. 

The Perfect Couple suspects and motives 

Aside from Amelia and her parents, more or less every character is a suspect at one point or another, so here’s a rundown of who’s who and their motives: 

• Greer Garrison Winbury (Kidman) – The matriarch and breadwinner of the family likes to keep up the image of perfection to the world (she even has a PR team). So, when she discovers her husband Tag was having an affair with Merritt, she might have wanted to get rid of her quietly…
• Tag Winbury – An obvious choice and the first on detectives’ radar, given he was a) having an affair with Merritt and b) had gotten her pregnant, which could unravel the comfortable life he’s secured by marrying Greer
• Abby Winbury (Fanning) – The pregnant wife of the douchebag Winbury son Thomas (Jack Reynor) isn’t the most pleasant of people, and she’s not completely out of the running due to her jealous streak
• Benji Winbury (Billy Howle) – Amelia’s husband-to-be is one of the few nice members of the family, but even he has experience keeping their secrets on the down low… could this be one of them?
• Shooter Dival (Ishaan Khatter) – Benji’s best man and a longtime family friend, Shooter is established as one of the key suspects early on after his fingerprints are found on Merritt’s phone, he tries to flee the island during the investigation, and he made a $300k payment to Greer
• Thomas Winbury – As said, he’s a bit of a douche, and has a mean temper on him. There’s all the chance he could have lashed out after finding out about Merritt’s pregnancy, especially if it jeopardized his family (and therefore his lavish lifestyle)
• Will Winbury (Sam Nivola) – ​​The youngest son of the Winbury family, he’s the classic teen, one who develops a bit of a crush on Merritt. When the detectives find he’d obtained her bracelet the night of her murder, could there be more to it?
• Isabel Nallet (Isabelle Adjani) – There’s little reason to suspect Isabel, a family friend who has romantic history with Tag and now Thomas, although in this case, most of them are suspects

The actual murderer is who you’d least suspect

After many red herrings and more or less every The Perfect Couple character implicated in the crime, it’s finally revealed that Abby murdered Merritt. 

You see, after much consideration, Dan and Nikki reckon they’ve finally figured it out. Remember that $300,000? Well, they uncover a plot involving Greer, Shooter, and a shadowy figure named Broderick.

Shooter loaned the money to Greer, which is odd in itself given her wealth, and this was wired to Broderick, leading the detectives to believe they were involved in a murder-for-hire plot. 

However, after intense questioning, the truth comes out: Broderick is actually Greer’s brother. He owed gang members the sum due to his gambling addiction, and Greer bailed him out. 

Shooter had loaned her the money out of his loyalty to her and because, well, he’s even wealthier than she is. 

The reason no one knew about her brother is because of her desperation to maintain a veneer of perfection to the outside world, although her attitude begins to change towards the end of the Netflix series. 

But just as it looks like they’ve reached another dead end, an unexpected piece of information arrives courtesy of Amelia’s mom Karen (Dendrie Taylor). You see, she’s got cancer and her condition is up and down. 

While staying at the Winbury home, she’d brought three pills with her that she kept hidden in her belongings. Up until now, it’s not known what the meds were for. 

After finding out that Merritt had drugs in her system when she died, she announces to everyone the sad truth: they were euthanasia pills, in case her health deteriorated suddenly and she was in too much pain. 

Although one wouldn’t have been enough to kill a person, it would certainly knock them out. 

While revealing this to the police and the rest of the family, Benji remembers something – Thomas likes to play a game called “prescription roulette.” It’s what it sounds like; he sneaks into everyone’s rooms, steals their medications, and ropes in anyone who wants to “play.”

Upon learning this, Thomas is taken in for questioning, where the detectives point out how much trouble he’ll be in if they can prove Merritt died because of his negligence. 

But he puts forward another suspect: Isabel. He claims he owes her $2.5 million, which he promised to pay her once he gets his trust fund. The funds only come through when the youngest Winbury child turns 18. 

This was soon to be Will, but since Merritt was pregnant, this would mean Isabel would have to wait another 18 years to get her cash. And so another arrest follows, and another interrogation. 

The theory is soon debunked when Isabel points out that she’s not short of cash and never expected to get the money back from Thomas. 

But the most compelling evidence is that she wasn’t even there when Merritt died – she was hooking up with Thomas at the nearby Sand Dollar motel (there’s even the cab driver’s dashcam footage to prove it). 

And this all leads to Abby. The first clue is she’d told police that she’d gone to bed the night of the murder at 10.30pm, although she’d woken up in the night when Thomas came to bed at around 1.30am – which couldn’t have been the case if he was off galavanting with Isabel.

Nikki then remembers something the housemaid Gosia (Irina Dubova) said: Abby was always bossing her around. But the morning after the incident, Nikki found her in the kitchen washing her own glass, and she “seemed very nervous.”

There’s all the potential this was the very glass used to deliver the drugs to Merritt, but since Abby had washed it, forensics couldn’t find any evidence. However, there was a substance identified in Merritt’s hair – tallow. 

This might seem inconsequential, but as is revealed earlier on in The Perfect Couple, Abby likes to use FDA-banned skincare products, including a body lotion containing tallow. And this was something she hinted at during the initial police questioning. 

The final piece of the puzzle is the motive, which is exactly the same as what Isabel’s was claimed to be: money. Abby had been pushing Thomas to ask his dad for a loan, wanting to move into a nicer home. 

Throughout the new series, she’s proved to be the most materialistic of the family, and clearly the idea of waiting another 18 years for her husband’s trust fund was enough to drive her to murder.

Following these revelations, we’re shown what really happened that night. After spotting Merritt on the beach, Abby crushed up the pills, put them in a drink, and handed it to her, pretending to be a shoulder to cry on amid the pregnancy fallout.

She then convinced Merritt to go for a night swim with her, at which point the drugs were starting to take effect. Abby took the opportunity, holding Merritt’s head underwater until she drowned (which is why tallow was found in her hair).

Once the detectives connect the dots, Abby is arrested, and so brings an end to the mystery. 

The Perfect Couple ending explained

Although Abby’s arrest won’t bring Merritt back, there is a level of closure in the final moments. Greer, who’s decided to put an end to the facade, tracks Amelia down to get her approval on the manuscript of her new book. 

For much of The Perfect Couple, Greer’s worked hard on her public image, trying her best to show she has a lovely family, a wonderful home, and a high-flying career as a successful novelist. 

But deep down she’s not happy. She grows frustrated with Tag, having to constantly cover up his affairs, and she couldn’t be more unwelcoming to the down-to-earth Amelia. 

After Merritt’s murder, everything begins to unravel, culminating in the revelation about her brother. Once the police let them go, she brings Broderick to their Nantucket mansion, where she decides to tell the entire family the truth. 

She and Tag didn’t meet at a “gallery opening” as they’d always claimed. The reality is Greer had been working as an escort, and Tag was one of her clients. Not only is she done living a lie but she wants a divorce. 

Greer allows Tag to stay in Nantucket, deciding to move to the city and write a book on her experiences. As for Amelia, she and Benji had already decided to call it quits but they made amends before she left the island. 

Netflix

At the very ending, we discover she’s living in London and working again as a zookeeper. Greer manages to track her down, where she finally makes amends too, admitting she was jealous of her. 

She also hands her a manuscript for her next book. Rather than writing it about her past, it’s about Amelia. “Give it a read, and if you don’t hate it, give me a call. We can have some dinner,” Greer tells her. “I hope you call. I’d love to see you.” And the book is aptly titled ‘Your Call’.

Will there be a Season 2?

It’s unlikely there’ll be a second season for two reasons, the first being that Hilderbrand’s The Perfect Couple doesn’t have a sequel right now. Secondly, it’s a limited series, meaning the entire story is told in the six episodes. 

If the Netflix series proves a success, the streaming service might be interested in a follow-up by adapting another of Hilderbrand’s novels, although the story would be separate with new characters. We’ll keep you posted if this situation changes. 

For more Netflix updates, check out everything we know about Virgin River Season 6, Stranger Things Season 5, and Wednesday Season 2. You can also read our roundup of the best shows of 2024 so far, and the new movies streaming this month.