Greed is a hell of a drug. It makes people do the weirdest things, like dancing in synchronized choreography on a beach while a dead body floats just a few yards away in the Nantucket surf. If you spent any time on the internet lately, you’ve definitely seen the chatter about The Perfect Couple, Netflix’s massive limited series that basically took the White Lotus formula, dunked it in some Cape Cod clam chowder, and added a dash of Nicole Kidman’s icy stare. It was a total juggernaut. People couldn't stop watching, even if they were yelling at their screens the whole time.
Honestly, the show is a bit of a contradiction. It’s a murder mystery where the "mystery" part sometimes feels like an afterthought compared to the sheer, unadulterated drama of the Winbury family. This isn't just a "whodunit." It's a "why are these people like this?"
The Nantucket Vibe and Why We Love Watching Rich People Suffer
There is something deeply satisfying about watching the ultra-wealthy fall apart. It’s a trope for a reason. The Perfect Couple leans into this with zero shame. You have the Winbury estate, Summerland, which looks like it smells exclusively of expensive sea salt and old money.
Greer Garrison Winbury, played by Nicole Kidman, is the engine of this whole thing. She’s a famous mystery novelist—meta, right?—who has curated a life so perfect it’s brittle. One tap and the whole thing shatters. When her son Benji is set to marry Celeste Otis, a girl who clearly doesn't fit the "Nantucket blueprint," the cracks start showing before the first bottle of Veuve is even popped. Then, a body washes up. Suddenly, everyone is a suspect, and everyone’s secrets are being aired out like dirty laundry on a multimillion-dollar porch.
The show succeeds because it captures that specific brand of New England elitism. It’s not just about having money; it’s about the performance of having it. The way they talk, the way they dismiss "the help," and the way they treat the local police—led by a very exhausted-looking Donna-Lynne Champlin—is spot on. It’s frustrating. It’s gross. You’ll love it.
That Opening Credits Dance: What Was That?
We have to talk about the dance. If you’ve seen the show, you know exactly what I’m talking about. The entire cast, including a very stoic Liev Schreiber, performs a choreographed dance routine to "Criminal" by Meghan Trainor on the beach.
It felt... weird.
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It turns out, the cast mostly hated it at first. Ishaan Khatter, who plays Shooter Dival, mentioned in interviews that there was definitely some resistance. They thought it didn't fit the tone of a dark murder mystery. But director Susanne Bier insisted. She wanted something that signaled to the audience that this show isn't taking itself too seriously. It’s a campy, soap-opera-adjacent romp. Once you realize the dance is a metaphor for the Winburys' need to keep up appearances regardless of the horror surrounding them, it actually kind of works. Sorta.
The Big Differences Between the Book and the Screen
If you read the Elin Hilderbrand novel that the show is based on, you probably noticed some massive changes. Like, huge.
First off, the victim. In the book, the death feels much more like a tragic accident that unspools a web of lies. In the Netflix version, they leaned way harder into the "murder" aspect to keep the tension high for a binge-watching audience. Also, the character of Greer is much more sympathetic in Hilderbrand’s prose. On screen? Kidman plays her with a level of coldness that makes you wonder if she’s actually capable of human emotion.
The ending is the biggest pivot. No spoilers for the three people who haven't finished it yet, but the "who" and the "how" in the finale of The Perfect Couple series are tweaked to feel more like a traditional thriller payoff. Some fans of the book were annoyed. They felt it lost the nuance of the original story's exploration of grief. But let's be real: Netflix wants a "wow" moment, and they definitely got one.
The Cast is Carrying a Lot of Weight
Let's talk about Eve Hewson. As Celeste, she’s the audience surrogate. She’s the one looking at this family and thinking, Are you guys for real? Hewson brings a groundedness that the show desperately needs. Without her, it would just be a bunch of caricatures yelling about trusts and prenups.
Then there’s Liev Schreiber as Tag Winbury. He spends about 80% of the show high, wandering around in a robe, or being generally useless. It’s a brilliant bit of casting. He represents the rot at the center of the family—the man who has everything and values absolutely none of it. His chemistry with Kidman is uncomfortable to watch, which is exactly the point. They are "the perfect couple" in name only.
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Why the Mystery Might Feel a Bit "Meh" to Some
If you are a hardcore Agatha Christie fan, The Perfect Couple might leave you feeling a little unsatisfied. The actual investigation is... well, it’s a bit messy. The cops seem to bumble around quite a bit, and some of the red herrings are so obvious they practically have neon signs on them.
The show is much more interested in the interpersonal drama than the forensic evidence. It’s a character study masquerading as a thriller. The mystery is just the engine that forces these characters to stop lying to each other—or at least, to start lying more desperately.
The pacing is also wild. You’ll have an episode that feels like a slow-burn family drama, followed by a sequence that feels like it’s from a completely different, faster-paced action movie. It’s jarring. It’s inconsistent. But honestly, that’s part of the charm. It’s chaotic.
The Real Stars: The Wardrobe and the Houses
Can we just acknowledge the linen? The sheer volume of high-end linen in this show is staggering. The costume design by Signe Sejlund is doing a lot of the heavy lifting. You can tell exactly where someone sits in the social hierarchy just by looking at the thread count of their shirt.
And the house. Summerland isn't just a setting; it's a character. The way the camera lingers on the sprawling lawns and the perfectly appointed kitchens makes the eventual reveals of the "trashiness" inside the family feel even more biting. It’s the classic "gilded cage" scenario, but with better views of the Atlantic.
What Most People Get Wrong About the Ending
There’s a lot of debate online about whether the "killer" had a good enough motive. People keep saying, "That’s it? That’s why they did it?"
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But that is the entire point of the story.
In the world of The Perfect Couple, lives are ruined over things that seem trivial to us but are everything to them. It’s about the preservation of status. When you have everything, the smallest threat to that "everything" feels like a life-or-death situation. The "weak" motive is actually a commentary on how shallow these people really are. They aren't killing for grand, Shakespearean reasons. They’re killing because they don't want to lose their spot at the country club or their share of a payout. It’s pathetic, and that’s the point.
Is It Worth Your Time?
If you want a deep, philosophical exploration of the human condition, maybe go watch something else. But if you want a show that you can binge in a weekend while drinking a glass of wine and judging people who are much richer than you? The Perfect Couple is top-tier entertainment.
It’s fun. It’s stylish. It has Nicole Kidman in a series of increasingly elaborate wigs. What more do you actually want from a Netflix series?
How to get the most out of your watch (or re-watch):
- Pay attention to the background: A lot of the best clues aren't in the dialogue; they're in the way characters react to things in the corners of the frame.
- Don't skip the intro: Even if you hate the dance, watch it once and look at the faces of the actors. They are all "in character" even during the dance, and it tells you a lot about their personalities.
- Check out the book: If the ending of the show felt too "Hollywood" for you, Elin Hilderbrand’s original novel offers a much more grounded and emotional resolution.
- Look for the symbolism: Water is everywhere in this show. It’s not just because they’re in Nantucket. It represents the things being washed away and the things that refuse to stay buried.
The real takeaway here is that no one is actually perfect, and the more someone tries to convince you they are, the more likely they are to have a literal or metaphorical body in their backyard. Just enjoy the ride, the drama, and the absurdly high-end knitwear.