Netflix’s The Perfect Couple is undoubtedly one of the streamer’s biggest hits of the season. Following in the footsteps of the dysfunctional and filthy-rich Winbury family, the adaptation of the Elin Hilderbrand novel of the same name has quite a lot in its favor, from a deeply compelling mystery to thoughtfully fleshed-out characters. Throughout its tightly-packed six-episode season, The Perfect Couple has a lot of memorable and interesting scenes that perfectly capture the tone of the entire series and the dynamic between its characters. However, despite the several moments of rousing chaos in the brief Season 1 of The Perfect Couple, one scene stands out among the rest.
In Episode 4 “Someone Could Get Hurt,” Billy Howle‘s Benji Winbury and Jack Reynor‘s Thomas Winbury get in a tussle due to Thomas’s insistence on eating the wedding cake prepared for Benji and Amelia’s (Eve Hewson) wedding — against Benji’s wishes. While the scene itself pans out quite comically, making it an interesting few minutes to watch, the timing and the significance of the scene can only be understood once the entire mystery unfolds. This scene not only captures the entire essence of this Netflix mystery series, but it also accurately reflects why The Perfect Couple has been a phenomenal success, with over 3 billion minutes streamed.
‘The Perfect Couple’ Works Best When You’re Not Looking Too Closely
The Perfect Couple drops many hints en route to the final reveal of Dakota Fanning‘s Abby Winbury being the murderer of Meghann Fahy‘s Merritt Monaco, Amelia’s best friend and maid of honor. On a rewatch, these hints suggest how showrunner Jenna Lamia and director Susanne Bier have created a tightly wounded whodunit that allows the audience to play the detective alongside the in-show investigators Chief Dan Carter (Michael Beach) and Detective Nikki Henry (Donna Lynne Champlin).
The wedding cake scene, featuring Benji and Thomas, as well as Thomas’s pregnant wife Abby, shows Benji and Thomas getting into a physical altercation over Thomas and Abby’s attempts at eating the wedding cake despite the wedding being called off, much to Benji’s distress. Naturally, Benji, who’s also emotionally vulnerable at this stage post the cancelation of the wedding, does not play along with Thomas and Abby’s small game and dunks Thomas’s face into the cake. Eventually, when the situation results in a wrestle between the two brothers, Abby intervenes to broker peace, even calling out Thomas for starting the fight. This scene is crucial for many reasons, particularly its timing and the character dynamics it slyly reveals. Most importantly, the involvement of Abby in this scene makes it all the more well-crafted once the knowledge of Abby’s role in Merritt’s murder is revealed.
The Cake Scene Exposes the Fault Lines in the Winbury Family
Throughout the season, Thomas comes out to be the family jerk who loves to rebel against his family members for the sake of fun. Earlier in the season, he reveals the secret of Tag’s (Liev Schreiber) affair with his brother Will’s (Sam Nivola) French tutor at the dining table, knowing that it will strain Tag’s relationship with Will. He’s also maintaining an affair with Isabelle Adjani‘s Isabel Nallet, a family friend of the Winburys. It might seem that, in the cake scene, Thomas simply wanted to satiate his and his pregnant wife’s hunger. However, knowing the emotionally vile treatment that members of the Winbury family extend to each other, Thomas and Abby’s actions can very well be seen as an attempt to poke fun at Benji and ultimately offend him. Clearly, despite the outward appearances that the Winbury family maintains, the members of the family act with a certain sense of hostility and disregard for each other.
As seen throughout the season, each of the characters acts purely in the service of their motivated interests. Importantly, the family overall seems to be unhinged by Merritt’s death on Benji’s wedding day and refuses to offer Benji any emotional support, exposing the fault lines within the family. The scene between Benji and Thomas is also important because it’s one of the very few occasions that Benji can be seen taking a stand against his family. The character appears to be otherwise living a distant life, as evidenced by his choice to marry Amelia, who belongs to an entirely different social class. For obvious reasons, such a matrimonial alliance is a rarity in such families, which is partly why the family appears not to take the wedding cancellation as seriously as they should.
Abby’s Presence in ‘The Perfect Couple’s Cake Scene Elevates It From Just Fun Banter
Abby’s presence in the entire sequence makes Thomas’s actions suspicious, as it is later revealed that Thomas usually acted at the behest of his wife, who served as the manipulative puppeteer from behind the shadows. In the finale of Season 1, it is revealed that Thomas tried killing Merritt earlier after being manipulated by Abby, and when Thomas did not complete the task, Abby took it upon herself to execute the mission. In the cake scene as well, Abby can be seen slyly pushing Thomas to the forefront and playing along with the situation, extending motivation to her mischievous husband and allowing the argument to escalate.
Although she initially fuels the situation and enjoys the altercation, Abby also swoops in as the savior. She even calls out Thomas despite being equally culpable in the whole scenario. As revealed later in the series, Abby had the greatest reason to celebrate the otherwise grim occasion, considering how Abby saved herself from a financial tragedy by killing Merritt. The birth of Tag’s child through Merritt would have forced Abby to wait another 18 years to get her hands on the Winbury trust fund money and in turn, the apartment she so badly wanted to buy.
With the knowledge of Abby’s direct hand in Merritt’s murder, it can be seen that Abby knows when to observe from the periphery and when to make her move. Earlier in the season, she even advises Amelia to survive in the Winbury family by staying on the periphery — a modus operandi she employs. On most occasions, Abby would rather have Thomas do her dirty work and stay outside the spotlight. To some extent, it’s plausible that Abby realizes how important it is to stay outside the radar of Greer (Nicole Kidman), who wouldn’t flinch an eye before removing Abby from the equation if Abby ever threatens the family directly. Moreover, Abby’s best interest remains in being part of the Winbury family, thanks to their influence and wealth — something which Abby acknowledges on multiple occasions.
While the cake scene appears to be fun banter between two brothers going wrong due to the joke’s crass nature, it outlines the internal dynamics between the characters involved. The innuendoes in the scene specifically hint toward the larger storyline surrounding the mystery of Merritt’s death. Dakota Fanning’s wicked presence in the scene elevates what is otherwise a very random scene when considered in the larger scheme of things, not to forget the outrightly absurd nature of it. The five-tiered wedding cake, carried by Thomas, is actually supposed to be very heavy for a man to casually carry, despite Reynor’s remarkable build. In the grand scheme of The Perfect Couple, the cake scene in Episode 4 is a meticulously crafted piece in the puzzle that precisely shows how the Netflix series balances the act between a fun comedy and an engrossing mystery thriller, justifying the massive success it has attracted since its release.
The Perfect Couple is available to stream on Netflix in the U.S.
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