The Perfect Couple ending, explained: Who killed Merritt?

The Perfect Couple, the six-episode Netflix series based on Elin Hilderbrand’s book of the same name, is now streaming on Netflix. It's going to be one of the most popular Netflix shows of September.

We watched all six episodes of The Perfect Couple, including the season finale, “That Feels Better,” and shared how the season ended. 

Of course, the whole series has revolved around the big question: Who killed Merritt Monaco (Meghann Fahy)? Early in the series, Merritt washed up dead on the beachper on the morning of the wedding between Amelia (Eve Hewson), Merritt’s best friend, and Benji (Billy Howle) at the Winbury house on Nantucket. 

Perhaps unsurprisingly, there were a lot of people who could have been interested in killing Merritt. I don’t know if the actual explanation makes all that much sense, but we’ll roll with it. 

Spoilers ahead for The Perfect Couple finale! 

Who killed Merritt in The Perfect Couple?

The killer of Merritt Monaco is … Abby Winbury (Dakota Fanning), the pregnant wife of Benji’s brother, Tom (Jack Reynor).

For his – this is so stupid – pill roulette game, Tom stole a barbiturate pill that Amelia’s mom, who has a form of aggressive cancer, would use for euthanasia should her disease progress to the point that she didn’t live anymore. Abby stole that pill and mixed it into a drink that she gave Merritt while Merritt was having a breakdown on the beach after Tag (Liev Schreiber) suggested she terminate the pregnancy. Then, Abby invited Merritt to take a swim. Merritt stumbles into the water and loses control because of the drugs. Abby holds her head underwater, drowning her. 

Detective Nikki Henry (Donna Lynne Champlin) and Chief of the Nantucket Police Dan Carter (Michael Beach) arrest Abby at the Winburys’ house. Tag misses the whole thing because he’s smoking a joint and hitting golf balls into the water. 

Why did Abby kill Merritt? 

This is the confusing bit! Abby, perhaps, had the least motive of all to kill Merritt. It would have made much more sense if Greer (Nicole Kidman), Tag, Tom, Gosia, or the French woman would have killed Merritt. 

Yet, it was Abby. If I have pieced this together correctly, Merritt was killed because of the trust that was due to be paid out when Will (Sam Nivola) turned 18 years old in a few weeks. Because Merritt was now pregnant with Tag’s baby, the Winbury trust would not be paid out until that baby turned 18 years old, which is why Tag suggested Merritt take care of it or why the other Winburys would want Merritt dead. 

Keep following. Tom had made some bad decisions, many bad decisions, and he owed the French woman, like, $3 million. He needed his inheritance to get out of the jam. Abby knew he was incapable of doing anything correctly, so she took it upon herself to ensure he received his money from the trust. 

I don’t love how this all played out. I feel unsatisfied with Abby being the killer. 

Do Amelia and Benji stay together? 

No, Amelia and Benji break up, even though they hook up at Greer’s book launch party after Amelia had kissed Shooter Dival (Ishaan Khattar). And, this is a very good thing. Benji was in love with Amelia, but there was no way that she was in love with him. That was clear, clear, clear from the jump.

Amelia calls Shooter and lets him know that she is going to get back to being the girl that met him on the train in New York City. She breaks things off with Benji next, and it seems like the relationship ended amicably given everything that happened. 

Amelia disappears, allegedly, and begins working with penguins at the London Zoo. In the final scene, Greer stops by and shares a novel that she wrote about Amelia and the wedding. She claims that she misses Amelia and asks her to read the novel and give her a call if she likes it. 

Then, she leaves. 

Honestly, it’s a weird ending. I don’t have a lot of thoughts about The Perfect Couple, but it all just feels like this was so close to being great. Then, some of the choices just didn’t work out. I don’t know if any single character acted in an appropriate way during the entire series, which is frustrating. 

So, that’s how it all went down in The Perfect Couple finale. We hoped you enjoyed the Netflix series!