The Perfect Couple ending explained: Who is the killer?

The Perfect Couple ending finally explained who the killer was and also divulged plenty of other details about the Winbury family too.

With the darker evenings drawing in, many of us have been cosying up on the sofa and indulging our love of crime dramas with Netflix's The Perfect Couple . Starring Nicole Kidman and Liev Schreiber, it has everything you’d want from a thriller - a murder, a family with secrets and a huge amount of twists. If you love the best British crime dramas then prepare to cross the pond with this American-set Netflix show that follows the immensely wealthy Winbury family as the youngest son Benji prepares to marry Amelia Sacks. His mother Greer (Kidman) is less than thrilled, though the plans for their big day are stopped in their tracks when the Maid of Honour is found dead - something we find out in the very first episode.

Unsurprisingly, all eyes are on the family when the police investigate and building to The Perfect Couple ending we will all have formed our own theories about who the guilty party is. If you’re still a little confused about why and how the events unfolded, we’ve got you covered with all the key details about the killer and their crimes.

*Warning: Spoilers Ahead*

The Perfect Couple ending explained: Who killed Merritt?

The suspense had been dialled up to maximum leading into The Perfect Couple ending and after everyone had faced their fair share of suspicion, the killer of Merritt Monaco - Amelia’s Maid of Honour - was finally revealed. As fans of the Elin Hilderbrand book that the Netflix show is based on will have known already, it was heavily pregnant Abby Stokes Winbury who killed Merritt. However, unlike in the book where Merritt was her accidental victim, in the show Abby deliberately targeted her and the motive was, of course, money.

The Perfect Couple by Elin Hilderbrand | Was £9.99 , Now £6.99 at Amazon

After watching Netflix's adaptation of this spellbinding thriller you might well be tempted to delve into the original book. There are some significant changes between the show and novel, but this brilliantly tense read generally has the same storyline as a bride prepares to marry into the wealthy Winbury family - and her Maid of Honour is found dead. View Deal

As the wife of Thomas Winbury, the eldest son of the family, she had a charmed life, but it looked to be slipping away from them thanks to her husband’s recklessness. Thomas was heavily in debt to his mistress Isabel and it didn’t look like he was going to get bailed out any other way than by inheriting a huge amount of money from the Winbury family trust fund. The rules stated that the children each get a share when the youngest turns 18 and 17-year-old Will Winbury's birthday was mere weeks away.

However, Merritt was pregnant with Tag Winbury’s child and Abby knew that they’d then have to wait another 18 years to see any of that trust fund money - and that it would then be divided by even more of them. Because of this, she decided to murder Merritt and used a pill that Thomas had stolen from Amelia’s mother Karen, who was battling cancer and had brought them with her.

Abby crushed the pill, added it to some orange juice and gave the drink to an unsuspecting and very upset Merritt on the beach, where she talked about not being able to trust men to “just get the job done”.

In hindsight, this was an incredibly ominous line, but Merritt didn’t realise and Abby then suggested that they should go for a swim. When Merritt began to fall unconscious, Abby held her head under to ensure that Amelia’s Maid of Honour drowned. This was a horrific moment and whilst some crime drama fans might have debated the justice secured in The Jetty ending , you couldn’t here.

Abby was arrested outside the Winbury's Nantucket home on a sun lounger and taken away in handcuffs by the police, watched by the family, as she loudly asserted, "I can’t go to jail, I’m pregnant."

Flashbacks then showed viewers exactly how the murder of Merritt happened and before her arrest a few pieces had begun to click into place, including the suggestion that tallow found on Merritt’s hair could have been from Abby as she regularly uses hand cream with it in. All in all, the reveal of who killed Merritt was a huge twist in The Perfect Couple ending, though it wasn’t the only huge moment.

What happened to Greer?

Throughout The Perfect Couple the veneer of the perfect marriage of Greer Garrison Winbury and Tag Winbury gradually began to fall apart as we found out about his affair with Merritt and how she was pregnant with his child. Greer, a mystery writer, was also acting very strangely and the police were determined to get her to crack after she was found to have been in contact with criminal Broderick Graham.

In The Perfect Couple ending it emerged that he was her brother and she’d been helping him with debts by asking for a loan from Benji's best man, Shooter. None of the Winbury family knew that she even had a sibling and when she finally explained it to them, Greer had another truth in store.

She shared that she and Tag hadn’t met in a bar like she’d previously claimed and had in fact met during her time working as an escort, with Tag as one of her clients. In a scene that takes place after Abby’s arrest, it’s revealed that Greer is leaving Tag, who admitted that it "never occurred" to him for even a moment that she’d ever do this. They appeared to part amicably enough, though, as Greer said she’d write her next book from the city.

What happens to Amelia in The Perfect Couple ending?

Bride-to-be Amelia lost her friend Merritt during the course of The Perfect Couple and she ended up separating from Benji too. In the final stages of The Perfect Couple ending, we saw Amelia back working at ZSL London Zoo and Greer approaching her. This scene took place six months later and Greer handed Amelia the manuscript of her latest book.

She said that Amelia had been hard to find and that she was in London to meet with her publishers. The new book turned out to be all about Amelia, which is why she wanted her to read it first and give her blessing, before Greer would give it to the publishers. Admitting that she had been delighted to see the back of Amelia, Greer then confessed that she’d actually been jealous of her.

"I was dreadfully angry at you," Greer said. "But then I started thinking about things and I realised…I was jealous. Anyway, I’ve written it all down as a good writer should do, so give it a read, and if you don’t hate it, give me a call."

She added that she really hoped Amelia would call and she’d "love" to see her again. We’ll never know for sure whether they will meet again, but it was a very hopeful moment in The Perfect Couple ending.