In every version of ‘The Perfect Couple,’ Merritt deserved better

Like many of the questions posed in the Netflix blueblood whodunit The Perfect Couple, this one Merritts an answer! I apologize, but I simply couldn’t resist. But who is, or rather, was, Merritt? Why was she there? How did she die?

Merritt: A Biography

Merritt is played in the Netflix series by Meghann Fahy, who viewers will recognize from shows like The Bold Type and season 2 of The White Lotus.

Merritt was the Maid of Honor to Amelia (Eve Hewson), the bride-to-be. Alas, it was not to be, as Merritt’s body washed up on that sunny Cape Cod shore on the morning of Amelia’s big day. Wow, Merritt. Way to make it all about you.

Spoilers ahead for The Perfect Couple!

Sadly, this isn’t the first time that Merritt has been a part of some pretty serious drama. See, the “Perfect Couple” for which the show was named—famous author Greer (Nicole Kidman) and her husband Tag (Liev Schreiber)—were not so perfect after all. Tag was a real scoundrel. A dog. The man has had more than a few affairs during his sordid tenure as Greer’s beaux. His latest target was poor, dear Merritt.

And it gets worse. It turns out that Merritt became pregnant with Tag’s child, which ultimately made her a target and led to her death.

So how does Merritt’s story end? It’s really, really tragic. Again, seriously, spoilers ahead y’all.

Fans of the novel on which the series is based are sure to remember its devastating last pages, centered around the last hour of Merritt’s life. Merritt, due to the conniving machinations of another guest at the wedding, is poisoned with a sleeping pill the night before the ceremony. She asks Tag to take her out kayaking, and confronts him about their affair before jumping into the water. Tag drags the woozy Merritt back to the shore, and then leaves her in the sand because he is, if you haven’t guessed, a total selfish dick. She wakes up furious, and throws the ring that Tag gave her into the sea, then passes out on the beach. She wakes up to see the silver ring glinting in the water, and thinks that she’ll someday give it to the daughter that she is expecting. She wades into the shallows to pick of the ring, but at that moment her body succumbs to the drug in her system. She loses consciousness and drowns just a few feet from the shore.

In the Netflix adaptation, her murder is much more straightforward., as Abby drugs her and holds her head underwater until she drowns.

In both versions, Merritt deserved better.