The Perfect Couple episode 1 perfectly sets up the mysterious story (Review)

Netflix's new murder mystery drama The Perfect Couple dropped all six episodes today, and boy is it filled with a star-studded cast! You've got Nicole Kidman, Liev Schreiber, Eve Hewson, Meghann Fahy, and Dakota Johnson just to name a few. Right now, we're reviewing the premiere episode, "Happy Wedding Eve." SPOILERS BELOW.

This first episode (recap here) really just lays down all the groundwork and establishes each character and where they're at. And there's lots of them so we need to get to know each of them. For example, Amelia confides in her best friend and maid of honor Merritt that she doesn't feel that passion and pull you're supposed to feel towards Benji. Like, ok girl. You're saying this now?

Just like Merritt says, it's not too late to back out if that's what you really want. But I mean, it's the night before the wedding. Or Thomas Winbury is definitely a wild card and doesn't know when to stop talking. Kidman as Greer is as majestic as always. The actress is the one who definitely shines on the screen the most. She's tough and obviously controls things in the household, and is not afraid to speak her mind. And she clearly doesn't like Amelia very much.

The Winbury's are full of "polite" snide remarks that kind of just make me laugh. They do not care at all. They have stupid money after all. It's clear though that despite the title of the series, none of the couples are really perfect. Greer finds a gold bracelet her husband Tag bought, and it's not for her indicating he's cheating. Something is going on between Amelia and Benji when they try to sleep together, and even Thomas and Abby seem to only tolerate each other.

Most of the episode doesn't get into the mystery of it all, but this makes sense since it's an establishing one. So I won't be too hard on the writing here when it comes to that. Though we do start to get glimpses into some of it. What's the police chief's daughter, Chloe, hiding and what's her involvement in all of this? And of course the big reveal at the end of who was murdered - and that would be Merritt! I was so sad, but not surprised it was her. She's very extroverted, but a nice and sweet character. It's sad she's the one who was murdered.

Overall I think The Perfect Couple premiere set up the story and characters successfully while revealing a bit of mystery to keep us invested in watching the next episode. I'm ready for episode 2, which you can find our review of here. Come back tomorrow as we look at episodes 3 and 4, then on Saturday we'll be talking about the final two, episodes 5 and 6. The Perfect Couple episode 1 grade level: B.

All 6 episodes of The Perfect Couple are now streaming on Netflix.