The Perfect Couple is a wonderfully soapy murder mystery that has delighted fans since it launched on Netflix in early September. The series stars Nicole Kidman, Liev Schreiber, and a host of other A-listers and up-and-comers as members of the wealthy Winbury family. They and guests have gathered at an estate in Cape Cod to celebrate the wedding of Winbury son Benji (Billy Howle) to his bride-to-be Amelia (Eve Hewson). But when the body of one of the guests washes up ashore the night before the wedding, the day becomes a mad dash to hide secrets and motives and find out what happened.
Naturally, the killer’s identity is teased throughout, with many red herrings and misdirects pointing to one character or another. As with any good murder mystery, subtle clues throughout direct viewers to the real killer or make them think it’s someone else. But a few hidden clues revealed the plot twist that people might have missed.
The Conversation Between Thomas and Tag in The Perfect Couple
In the first episode when all the family members arrive, eldest Winbury son Thomas (Jack Reynor) goes to talk with his father Tag (Schreiber) by the water. He asks him for a loan, suggesting that he has some opportunities, but he clearly made some bad ones and lost a lot of his funds. Tag says in not so many words that he will not give his son any money. Later, Thomas’ wife Abby (Dakota Fanning) asks Thomas how the conversation went. He brushes her off, implying everything is fine. But it’s clear she knows it isn’t.
Her panic is evident, reminding him on numerous occasions that they have a baby on the way, not to mention a certain lifestyle to uphold. While her desperation isn’t initially evident, looking back, it’s clear that she went to Cape Cod with one intention beyond just attending her brother-in-law’s wedding. She needed to get money so she and her growing family could get by until Thomas could figure something out financially.
Thomas’ Affair with Isabel in The Perfect Couple
Thomas’s affair with family friend Isabel Nallet (Isabelle Adjani) initially comes as a surprise. Thomas seems to be in love with her, even infatuated with her. But she is happy to have nothing more than a casual, physical relationship with no strings attached. When Isabel reveals, however, that she lent Thomas a large sum of money, it adds a layer of complexity to the situation. While she later tells police that she’s aware she would be an idiot if she ever thought she would get the money back, Abby may have felt that that money was keeping Thomas tied to Isabel. While she doesn’t admit it until the final episode, fans suspect that Abby knew about the affair all along.
This is heavily implied when she wakes early in the morning to find Thomas preparing to supposedly go out for a run, yet he’s grabbing something from his nightstand drawer. She is later seen furiously cleaning out the drawer, which had, among other things, a selection of pills in it. This seems like odd behavior, and her angry face says she knows more than she lets on.
Abby Befriending Amelia Was Out of Character
In a later episode following the reveal of Benji and Amelia’s break-up, Abby is strangely nice to Amelia, going out of her way to make the former sister-in-law feel welcome. She offers to accompany Amelia to a party and acts like a new best friend in front of others. It seemed out of character, even throwing Amelia for a loop. But it seems she was grasping at straws to make sure suspicions don’t arise around her. She wanted Amelia to see her as a friend, not someone who would kill.
The Cleaning of the Glass in The Perfect Couple
Early on, Amelia runs into Abby in the kitchen. She is by the sink, furiously washing out a single glass. This seems odd since Abby isn’t the type to do this work, much less while at her in-law’s house. The housekeeper, Gosia (Irina Dubova), later reveals that she is annoyed by how Abby constantly calls for her to clean things up. In an earlier scene, Abby is indeed seen beckoning for Gosia, which should have been a clue that washing a rogue glass was atypical of her.
Amelia didn’t think much of it until the evidence pointed to barbiturates in Merritt’s system at the time of her death. Knowing her best friend didn’t do drugs and certainly wouldn’t have tried something while pregnant, she can put two-and-two together. The glass is the single item that finally helps solve the case. But viewers might have figured it out had they thought more of that simple “out damn spot” like scene. Stream The Perfect Couple on Netflix.
