The Perfect CoupleEnding Explained: All About the Series' Major Twist — and How It Differs From the Novel

Mar. 15, 2025

Meghann Fahy as Merritt Monaco and Liev Schreiber as Tag Winbury in ‘The Perfect Couple’.Photo:Seacia Pavao/Netflix

Seacia Pavao/Netflix

Warning:The Perfect Couplespoilers ahead!

Netflix’sThe Perfect Coupleis aperfectwhodunnit that keeps viewers guessing until the very end.

Suddenly, everyone in the Winbury family is a suspect in Merritt’s murder. As Detectives Dan Carter (Michael Beach) and Nikki Henry (Donna Lynn Champlin) work to determine who drowned the social media influencer and why, the investigation zeroes in on Tag Winbury (Liev Schreiber) — Benji’s father who was having an affair with Merritt and got her pregnant — and Greer Garrison Winbury (Nicole Kidman), the family matriarch and famed murder-mystery novelist.

Tag is eventually eliminated as a suspect thanks to his smartwatch data, which reveals he was sleeping at the time of Merritt’s murder. But Greer, who is well aware of her husband’s indiscretions and future love child, remains a prime suspect — and Detectives Carter and Henry believe they’ve discovered the damning evidence to prove their case in the season finale.

ButThe Perfect Couplefinale takes more twists and turns before revealing Merritt’s murderer and their motive. Keep reading forThe Perfect Couple’s ending, explained — from the killer’s identity to how the finale strayed from Hilderbrand’s book.

What happens inThe Perfect Couplefinale?

Jack Reynor as Thomas Winbury and Isabelle Adjani as Isabel Nallet in ‘The Perfect Couple’.Hilary Bronwyn Gayle/Netflix

Hilary Bronwyn Gayle/Netflix

At the beginning of the season finale, Detectives Henry and Carter believe they have nailed down Merritt’s murderer — and it’s the Winbury family matriarch, Greer. The cops’ working theory is that Greer hired Broderick Graham, a known criminal with ties to the Turkish mafia, to kill her husband’s pregnant mistress. Their proof? A $300,000 wire transfer from family friend Shooter Dival to Broderick, which Carter and Henry surmise Greer requested because of Shooter’s diplomatic immunity.

That theory is busted, however, when Greer explains that Broderick is actually her brother and the $300,000 wire transfer was a loan to pay off his gambling debts. The revelations continue when the brother-sister duo return home to Summerland, where the family is currently meeting with Greer’s PR team to deal with Tag’s public meltdown at her book party. Greer introduces her secret brother to the rest of the Winburys — and reveals that she and Tag first met when she was working as an escort, and he was a paying customer.

Winbury family drama aside, Carter and Henry are still working to solve Merritt’s murder. After Amelia mentions to her parents that Merritt was found with barbiturates in her system at the time of her death, her cancer-stricken mother, Karen, discovers that one of her three pentobarbital pills (which she obtained for euthanasia purposes) is missing. Now, all fingers point to the eldest Winbury son, Thomas (Jack Reynor), who is known for stealing pills to play “prescription roulette.”

While Tom admits to stealing Karen’s pill, he insists to the police that he did not give it to Merritt. Instead, he proposes a different theory: That his mistress, family friend Isabel (Isabelle Adjani), poisoned Merritt. He explains that he owes Isabel $2.5 million and he planned to repay her when he gained access to his trust fund, which occurs when the youngest Winbury child turns 18. Their youngest brother, Will (Sam Nivola), was due to turn 18 at the end of the summer — but with Merritt pregnant, the clock on the trust would reset another 18 years.

Isabel may have had motive and opportunity — she is one of the last people seen with Merritt — but she also had an alibi. Video footage from a cab driver shows her leaving Summerland with Tom to hook up at her hotel, eliminating her as a potential suspect.

Who killed Merritt inThe Perfect Couple?

How does the ending differ from the book?

Donna Lynne Champlin as Nikki Henry and Michael Beach as Dan Carter in ‘The Perfect Couple’.Liam Daniel/Netflix

Liam Daniel/Netflix

“[We] all agreed right then and there [that] there needed to be a murderer, and there needed to be a motive for that murder,” Lamia told the outlet.

Where do Amelia and Benji stand?

Eve Hewson as Amelia Sacks and Billy Howle as Benji Winbury in ‘The Perfect Couple’.Hilary Bronwyn Gayle/Netflix

“I really wanted to label you ‘woman who lied to me,’ but the truth is, you are so many good things too,” Benji tells Amelia in one of their final conversations. “You’re ‘woman who inspired me,’ ‘woman who made me laugh so much I choked on my beer,’ ‘woman who I really, truly f—— loved.’ ”

Where do Tag and Greer stand?

Liev Schreiber as Tag Winbury and Nicole Kidman as Greer Winbury in ‘The Perfect Couple’.Courtesy of Netflix

Courtesy of Netflix

“It never occurred to me, not even once, that you might actually leave me,” Tag tells his wife — despite all of his indiscretions during their marriage.

How doesThe Perfect Coupleend?

Nicole Kidman as Greer Winbury in ‘The Perfect Couple’.Seacia Pavao/Netflix

The final scene ofThe Perfect Coupleflashes forward six months and shifts from Nantucket to London.

There, Greer tracks down Amelia, who is working at theLondon Zoo(in the penguin exhibit). Greer reveals that she has finished her latest novel and, rather than writing about her experience as an escort, she has written about Amelia. Despite their previously strained relationship, Greer tells Amelia she hopes she will read it and call her once she has.

“That’s the truest love story of the whole show,” Lamia toldTudum, referencing Amelia and Merritt.

source: people.com