The final episode of The Perfect Couple untangles the murder mystery in as dramatic a fashion as viewers would have expected, digging up some more scandalous secrets, crazy twists, a tirade of red herrings, and the shocking revelation of the identity of the killer of Merritt Monaco. While the ending follows the conventional, least suspected one being the killer trope, it fits in with the causality of the events pretty well, even though the overall execution feels a bit far-fetched and contrived. Depending upon whether you enjoyed the series as an in-your-face satire on the privileged creme de la creme or as a crime drama, it can alter your perception towards The Perfect Couple’s ending.
Spoilers Ahead
Greer Reveals All Her Secrets
The Perfect Couple’s finale opens in Summerland; Benji and Amelia seemingly have patched up, which surprises Greer a bit, but the way the last few days have gone by, she’s had her fair share of surprises already, too much to get shocked by unexpected situations any longer. After sending Benji elsewhere, Greer questions Amelia about whether Merritt used to take barbiturates for recreational purposes, and a shocked Amelia denies her friend having any such history. Moments later, cops arrive at Summerland to apprehend Greer, take her to be interrogated in suspicion of Merritt’s murder, and seize her belongings to recover crucial intelligence that can connect her with the charges. Henry and Carter are fairly sure that they have nailed it this time; they suspect that Greer hired Broderick to have Merritt killed and, to avoid detection, paid him through Shooter. The motive of jealousy isn’t strong enough at this point of her life when she has obviously covered up enough for her family, but the cops are certain that Greer is the mastermind behind the killing.Â
The media has flanked Summerland, and troubling questions are being hurled towards the family members. Tag’s drunken rant during Greer’s book launch had cracked the established perfect couple myth surrounding the family, and with the news of Greer’s arrest in connection to a murder, the ever-eager journos have gathered around to start the proverbial witch hunt. In the span of a single day, the narrative has turned on its head—and it’s almost impossible to take things back to where they were. Thomas, who had sneaked out to get intimate with Isabel, returns back home as Abby informs him about the situation, and later she reveals that she’s known about Thomas taking after his father’s promiscuous tendencies for a long time.
Greer stays composed and tight-lipped during the investigation, denying the allegations and mentioning Shooter to be innocent but unwilling to reveal her connection with Broderick at the same time. She only stated that Broderick was her former associate, who approached her after getting into a financial crisis, and not having the kind of money he asked for, Greer had turned to Shooter for help. Finally, after Broderick is brought into the interrogation room, Greer is compelled to reveal that Broderick is her own brother, obviously to avoid any relation with a criminal, which surely would have harmed her reputation and career—Greer consciously avoided mentioning him to anyone. To pay off Broderick’s gambling debt, Greer had borrowed money from Shooter, and Shooter along with his lawyer arrived at the police station to corroborate her statement as well. Beating the suspicion of murder, Greer returns to her home, as the tirade of surprising reveals on her part has just started.
Greer’s publisher and PR team have already begun putting a spin on the altered narrative at Summerland by convincing Tag to play along with a rehab – reformation shtick when Greer returns to drop a truth bomb about their relationship to everyone. Tag’s attempt to humiliate her during the book launch was quite an eye opener for her, and she isn’t going to hold back any longer. Greer introduces Broderick to the family, and much to their shock, he reveals that, contrary to the fabricated story about her and Tag’s relationship, the truth about their past involved no romantic associations. To provide for her family, Greer used to work as an escort and met Tag as her client. This truth of her past was occasionally used by Broderick or Tag himself to keep Greer under their thumb, despite the fact that she had put her neck on the line to save them time and again, taking all the responsibility of her family on her shoulders. But no longer does Greer want to cower in fear of truth; thus, she accepts her past with pride and reveals the secrets she has been hiding for so long to everyone. Greer is truly free this time, and is no longer bound by fear of exposure. Greer promises her publisher that she will make a novel out of this entire fiasco as well—a hilarious resolution to say the least.
Who Killed Merritt Monroe?
With the family drama out of the way, now the focus shifts to the criminal drama—and after a series of misfires and a confusing set of events, Henry and Carter finally apprehend the true culprit. Amelia had shared with her parents that traces of barbiturates were found in Merritt’s system, and Amelia’s cancer patient mother, Karen, finds out that one of the euthanasia pills, which contains the said compound, she had kept hidden (as a failsafe in dire situations) is missing. Thomas’ nasty habit of stealing pills from others makes him the suspect, and as he is questioned, he reveals an inheritance angle to the narrative, which once again puts a new spin on the mystery. After Will’s 18th birthday, Thomas would have gotten a lump sum amount from the family trust fund, but with the prospect of Tag having another heir in the form of Merritt’s child (this is practically known by every member of the family already), the legal clauses would have delayed his access to the wealth by another 18 years. Thomas had already borrowed two million from Isabel, and he suspects that in order to assure Thomas gets his inheritance wealth in time to pay her debt, she had killed Merritt by spiking her drink. Isabel straight up denies having anything to do with this, as even though she had offered Merritt a drink, she was not present at the time she died. Isabel’s alibi of hooking up with Thomas at that point in time checks out as well, through the dashcam of a car, leaving the cops back at square one with the investigation.
However, a major clue they have been overlooking so far is also related to Thomas’ inheritance but involves his family instead of his illicit affair partner. Abby has been frustrated with Thomas’ wayward demeanor and financially irresponsible behavior; she had no peace in their conjugal life as well, knowing of Thomas’ affair, and now with his inheritance in question, the future of their children might not have shaped up the way she would have liked. Abby took it upon herself to offer Merritt a spiked cold press to numb her senses and drowned her to death to eliminate her from the picture. She had the motive to do so, and it might be argued that, living cornered as a puppet in a family like the Winburys, Abby’s mental peace became nonexistent a long time ago. But her confidence to commit such a heinous crime was probably bolstered by her staying under the security of a powerful family like the Winburys as well; she probably believed that there was no chance of her getting apprehended, and despite being a pregnant woman herself, Abby didn’t even flinch to drown a pregnant Merritt to death. Detective Henry connects the dots from a particular hunch she had about Abby since their first meeting, and due to the fact that Abby lied about Thomas’ presence in the house during the night of Merritt’s murder.
Greer might have figured things out on her own as well, as moments before the cops arrived to arrest Abby on suspicion of murder, she was caught looking curiously at Abby. Amelia watches in disbelief as Abby’s angry rant directed towards her husband already gives away her guilty conscience. The cops will most probably find the circumstantial evidence as well from the traces of barbiturates in the kitchen sink, where Abby was frantically washing the glass in which she had given the spiked drink to Merritt, the first time Henry had questioned her.
The Winburys don’t take much time to go back to their usual selves, as situations like these have become pretty common to them at this point. We don’t know whether the family will use their influence to save Abby and her child from spending prolonged jail time, but Amelia is no longer willing to participate in the charade and decides to leave with her parents. She had apologized to Shooter earlier for her behavior, and it isn’t certain whether her relationship with Benji still remains the same. Greer and Tag have their relationship intact for now, but Greer will leave for the city to continue her writing from elsewhere, leaving Tag in Nantucket. Now that she is finally free, she decides to utilize her freedom for her own use for a change.
Five months later, Greer meets Amelia at the London Zoo, where the latter has been working as a keeper. When Greer offers the first copy of her latest novel to Amelia, there is a sense of gratitude in her—because despite their differences, it was Amelia’s actions that triggered a series of events that finally resulted in opening the floodgates of Greer’s past. The Winbury matriarch owes a part of her newfound freedom to Amelia and now seeks to make peace with her. Inviting Amelia for dinner, Greer takes her leave, and the first season of The Perfect Couple ends on a bittersweet note.Â
