Editor’s note: The below contains spoilers for Netflix’s The Perfect Couple.
Netflix’s The Perfect Couple follows the rich and influential Winbury family caught in a tough spot after the bridesmaid and best friend to the family’s future daughter-in-law is found dead on the wedding day. When the best friend in question, Amelia (Eve Hewson), finds out about her bridesmaid Merritt Monaco’s (Meghann Fahy) death, she starts digging deep into the Winbury family secrets, only to find out that everyone in the family has skeletons in their closets. In the end, when the pregnant wife of the eldest Winbury son, Abby (Dakota Fanning), is revealed to be the killer, it’s a shock for almost everyone as the character remained on the sideline for much of the season, managing to evade everyone’s attention. However, the Netflix series, based on the Elin Hilderbrand novel of the same name, does a perfect job of tying everything back to the character’s suspicious actions (and intentions) right from the beginning, once the murderer’s identity is revealed.
Abby Is Right Under Our Noses in ‘The Perfect Couple’
In The Perfect Couple, the identity of the killer remains as much a question for the Winbury family and the police, led by Chief Dan Carter (Michael Beach) and Detective Nikki Henry (Donna Lynne Champlin), as it remains for the audience, throughout the season. While Chief Dan and Detective Nikki take their own sweet time in solving the murder mystery at hand, the makers of The Perfect Couple give many chances to the audience to try their hand at finding the killer. Quite audaciously, if Fanning’s wicked persona was not enough, The Perfect Couple evenly spreads out a lot of clues throughout the six episodes to help the cause. From Abby’s characterization to the sly and witty one-liners, The Perfect Couple hides its almost perfect killer in plain sight.
In Episode 6, “That Feels Better,” Chief Dan and Detective Henry question Abby’s husband, Thomas Winbury (Jack Reynor), after finding out that he stole barbiturate pills from the pouch of Amelia’s mother, Karen (Dendrie Taylor), who’s suffering from cancer. Thomas confesses to wanting to kill Merritt to save his family, but he suggests that the timely intervention of Isabel Nallet (Isabelle Adjani) stopped him from doing so. Later, upon finding herself on the police’s radar, thanks to Thomas, Isabel provides an alibi — it is revealed that Isabel had spent the night at the Sand Dollar Hotel with Thomas. Isabel’s revelation pokes big holes in the testimony given by Abby to Detective Henry in Episode 2 when Abby suggested that she went to bed early and woke up when Thomas came back. Also, the testimony of the housekeeper, Gosia (Irina Dubova), who also seemed to suggest that Thomas did not sleep in his bed on the night of the murder, leaves Detective Henry guessing about Abby’s motivation to lie.
‘The Perfect Couple’s Biggest Reveal Comes Before the Climax
Although Detective Henry finds something fishy about Abby’s testimony, Chief Dan and Deputy Carl (Nick Searcy) seem convinced that Abby had no real motive to kill Merritt. However, during this discussion, The Perfect Couple puts forth the biggest clue about Abby’s involvement in Merritt’s death in front of the audience. When Detective Henry suggests that she found Abby washing a glass on the morning after Merritt’s death, Chief Dan suggests the forensics won’t find evidence of the barbiturate in the glass now. But he brings into question another substance — tallow — found on Merritt’s hair, prompting Detective Henry to look at Merritt’s toxicology report, which contains mention of the substance.
While it takes some after this discussion for the police to arrest Abby for the murder of Merritt, keen members of the audience would recall Abby mentioning tallow as one of the ingredients, banned by the FDA, present in the cosmetic product she uses to avoid stretch marks during her pregnancy. In the conversation with Amelia by the pool, Abby reveals how she got it from her sorority sister, whose Asian mother-in-law is a cosmetic magnate. The presence of the same ingredient in Merritt’s hair establishes for the audience that Merritt did come across one Winbury family member who had been outside of the scope of the police’s investigation so far: Abby.
The show also drops other hints on the way to this subtle revelation. Although Detective Henry believes that Abby did not have any motive for chasing the money kept in the Winbury trust fund, the viewers know that Abby has been pushing Thomas, ever since their arrival in Nantucket, to seek money from his father, Tag Winbury (Liev Schreiber), for the new apartment she wants to purchase. Moreover, early in Episode 2, Abby admits to Detective Henry about coming from a humbler family when compared to the lavish life of the Winbury household, hinting that money is as much a motivation for Abby as it is for everyone else involved. Thomas’s personal finances are in dire straits, and, considering that Thomas is a sinking ship, Abby had every reason to kill Merritt to prevent Merritt’s child from becoming the reason for the Winbury trust fund’s release from being pushed for another eighteen years. Also, it’s notable how Thomas is usually the last one to care about what happens to his family, given how easily he jeopardizes his brother Will’s (Sam Nivola) relationship with Tag by exposing Tag’s involvement in the disappearance of his French tutor many years ago. When Thomas admits to trying to kill Merritt to solve the problems his family might face in the light of Merritt’s pregnancy, it is easy to understand that most likely Thomas isn’t acting on his own accord and is being manipulated by his wife — a reason why he doesn’t go through with the deed.
Abby Operates From the Shadows in ‘The Perfect Couple’
Abby also manages to hide her prejudice and disdain for the Winbury quite well. She remains an important player in the dynamics within the Winbury family, although she plays most of her games from the sideline and projects the impression that Greer Winbury (Nicole Kidman) is the one who runs the show. This is clear from the way how Abby keeps constant vigilance over Amelia and her friend Merritt upon their arrival on the Nantucket property. It’s obvious that Amelia’s entry into the Winbury family stands to threaten her position. Abby needs to know who’s her potential foe, considering Amelia doesn’t seem like the one who prefers toeing the line.
In her interview at the police station in Episode 1, Abby tries to portray a questionable image of Merritt when she makes a snarky comment about Merritt’s previous relationship with her friend’s boss from Sotheby’s, who happens to be 5’6″, hinting that Merritt is a gold digger. But despite her personal opinion of Amelia and her friend, Abby smartly tries to build an alliance with a grieving Amelia throughout the investigation. She also advises Amelia that the key to surviving in the Winbury family is remaining on the periphery, away from the spotlight. While Abby tries to manipulate Amelia into believing that they share a similar trajectory being outsiders, Abby is clearly possessive about her position in the family. Abby’s manipulative nature is also visible in her interactions with Detective Henry when she uses her pregnancy to portray an innocent image of herself.
In hindsight, The Perfect Couple allows many opportunities for the audience to get to the killer before the police do in the Netflix series. Once her identity as the killer is revealed, it becomes more obvious why Abby wanted to leave the island right after the murder. Her other choices, which include breaking into Merritt’s room to pack her clothes in Episode 5, can also be brought into question with the knowledge of her direct hand (literally) in Merritt’s murder. To top it all, Fanning’s “boss babe” energy makes her revelation as the villain in the end, from a pool of equally and more morally gray characters, all the more exciting. Like a good whodunit, The Perfect Couple keeps its real killer at a distance from the audience, reserving the mystery’s most savory clues for eagle-eyed fans.
The Perfect Couple is now available to stream on Netflix in the U.S.
Watch on Netflix
