‘The Perfect Couple’s murder motive, explained

Weddings are supposed to be the best day of a newlywed’s life! You’re supposed to kiss and have cake, not dredge your best friend’s corpse out from the ocean! Netflix’s The Perfect Couple decided to crash the party with sheer tragedy. But why did [redacted] kill Merritt? All this, explained.

First off, who’s who again?

Abby (Dakota Fanning) is the pregnant wife of Tag’s (Liev Schreiber) son Tom (Jack Reynor). Merritt (Meghann Fahy) was the Maid of Honor at Amelia’s (Eve Hewson) wedding. This is the last sentence I can write that is totally clear of spoilers, you’ve been warned.

Spoilers ahead for The Perfect Couple!

Despite the show being named after “The Perfect Couple”—famous author Greer and her husband Tag—these two were anything but a match made in heaven. See, Tag didn’t just have eyes for Greer. He pretty much had eyes for anything with two legs and a bank account. Tag had a slew of extramarital affairs, the latest of which was with the Maid of Honor herself, Merritt. Dramaaaaaaaaa!!! Oh it gets wilder. After their tryst, Merritt became pregnant with Tag’s child. Oh noooooo…

That proved to be poor Merritt’s undoing.

Why was she undone?

Abby doesn’t seem like the killing type. Surely this demure pregnant woman wouldn’t take the life of another mother-to-be? Would she? When money is on the line, Abby’s willing to anything. See, Abby has gotten used to the finer things in life. She doesn’t want those finer things to go away, especially not with a new baby coming. Merritt’s child was threatening to take Abby’s money away. How? It’s complicated, but I’ll explain.

The Winbury kids are broke. Cash poor, to be specific. Sure, they’ve got assets, but that money ain’t liquid, it’s tangled up in investments. Tag Winbury himself scrapes by on the money that his wife makes churning out a novel a year. Abby’s husband Tom is in similarly dire financial straights, and the pair are anxiously awaiting a final payout. You see, the rest of the Winbury fortune is locked up tight in a trust fund, and won’t be dolled out until the youngest of the three siblings turns 18.

But here’s the rub: If Merritt gives birth to her child, that child will be a Winbury. Meaning Abby and Tom will only receive a fourth of the family fortune rather than a third, and they’ll have to wait 18 years for it.

Abby couldn’t wait that long, so she took matters into her own hands. Or rather, a hefty dose of medication into Merritt’s drink.