Does ‘The Perfect Couple’s altered ending leave room for a second season?
The Perfect Couple was anything but perfect. It was devious, messy, and all together a grand old time! A blueblooded whodunnit for the ages! While the Netflix adaptation of Elin Hilderbrand’s murder mystery novel was a hit, was the hype enough to clinch a second season?
First off, how did events of this season go down?
Oh, they went down alright. Down to the bottom of Nantucket’s frigid deep. Well, just to the shallow end where they found the body. But thematically? Morally? Dramatically? Abyssmal depths. The Perfect Couple starts with what every starry-eyed WASP hopes will be their perfect day: their expensive Cape Cod wedding! But alas, the wedding between Abbie and Benji was soiled by the dark specter of death! Specifically, the death of America’s Maid of Honor, Merritt, who was found floating face down in the cool blue waters of the Atlantic the morning of.
As it turns out, the death of the Maid of Honor was the result of foul play. Foul play orchestrated by Tag Winbury’s sister-in-law—one-half of the “perfect couple” for which the show is named. Tag’s sister-in-law Abby wanted to get her hands on the family’s fortune early since her husband and the rest of the Winbury children were in dire financial straights. Their lion’s share of the family money was locked away in a trust fund, which wouldn’t become available until the youngest Winbury turned 18. As it turns out, Merritt was pregnant with patriarch Tad’s child due to a previous affair. If this new Winbury kid was born, that would have pushed back Abby’s payday another 18 years. Abby couldn’t wait that long, so the mother-to-be took out another. What a mess.
So will there be a second season?
Despite the show’s critical and commercial success, Netflix has yet to announce a second season of The Perfect Couple. The show was branded as a “Limited Series” from the jump, meaning it was meant to run for just one season. Besides, the original novel on which the series was based doesn’t have a direct sequel. Though the show had a slightly different ending than the book, there’s no more story left to tell.
Or is there?
While The Perfect Couple doesn’t technically have a sequel, it’s a smaller thread in a larger tapestry of Nantucket-centric novels penned by the author. I smell an opportunity for an anthology series! Besides, The Perfect Couple’s ending was rather open-ended, with the previously frigid relationship between Greer and Amelia finally warming up. After all, showrunner and writer Jenna Lamia told TV Insider “I think their story is just beginning by the end of this series,” in a recent interview. Given the show reached Netflix’s coveted #1 slot in popularity for a week straight, I’d say there’s hope for more.
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