The Perfect Couple ending explained: Who killed Merritt?

Family secrets came out over the course of six episodes of The Perfect Couple. The biggest secret was who the murderer was.

Caution: This post contains spoilers from The Perfect Couple on Netflix

The first episode opened with a beach turning up on Amelia and Benji’s wedding day. This led to the wedding being put on hold as the police looked into the death. It soon became clear that it was murder, and there were plenty of suspects.

How was Merritt killed in The Perfect Couple?

During the finale, Greer told Amelia that Merritt had a high level of barbiturates in her system at the time of her death. Amelia’s mom took three barbiturates on the trip, and when all three were taken together they would cause death. However, only one was missing, and that one pill wouldn’t have killed someone.

It would have, however, knocked someone out.

Well, it turned out that it wasn’t that pill that Merritt had in her system. Thomas was playing prescription roulette and took the pill to add to his collection for later on.

Abby found the pill and crushed it up, putting it in a drink to give to Merritt. After that, Abby encouraged Merritt to swim in the ocean with her. As Merritt started to pass out, Abby held her down in the water to kill her.

Why did Abby kill Merritt in The Perfect Couple?

Abby’s motivation is money. It’s always about money, right?

Merritt was pregnant, and it didn’t take long for a few people to find out the truth. Abby was one of them, and this was a problem for her.

Tag’s trust fund for his sons wouldn’t be released to any of them until the last Winbury child turns 18. Will was about to turn 18, so Abby could wait for that. When she learned that Merritt was pregnant, Abby realized she would need to wait 18 years for the trust fund to be released to all the sons, as well as the child Merritt had.

The death is changed from The Perfect Couple by Elin Hildebrand

There were a few changes to the book in the series, and the murder was one of them. While Abby does kill Merritt in the book, it’s not intentional. It has nothing to do with money or a trust fund. In fact, the intended victim makes a lot of sense.

Abby actually wants to give Featherington (Isabel in the series) the barbiturates to cause her to pass out and not sleep with Thomas. Merritt accidentally takes the crushed up pill and goes for a swim, accidentally drowning. Maybe the series should have kept that ending, although Abby certainly made her love for money very clear throughout the series, so it did track for her.

The Perfect Couple is available to stream on Netflix.