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Repair common Windows errors and clear accumulated junk for a smoother, more stable PC - no reinstall needed.Free scan · no reinstallSpoilers for Elin Hilderbrand’s novel and the Netflix series. In the Netflix series, Abby Stokes Winbury (Dakota Fanning) kills Merritt Monaco (Meghann Fahy) by drugging her drink and drowning her during a night swim. The novel also links Abby to the chain of events that leads to Merritt’s death, but there Merritt takes a drugged drink by mistake and drowns accidentally. Showrunner Jenna Lamia said the adaptation made the killing intentional because a targeted murder felt more satisfying for a television mystery.
Who killed Merritt in the Netflix series?
Abby is the killer. She crushes one of the euthanasia pills brought to the Winbury estate by Amelia’s terminally ill mother, mixes it into orange juice, and gives the drink to Merritt. Later, during a night swim, Abby forces Merritt underwater. Netflix’s ending explainer describes the method and the clues that connect Abby to the crime.
Merritt is pregnant with Tag Winbury’s child. Abby fears that the baby will affect the Winbury inheritance she expects to share with her husband, Thomas. In the series’ plot explanation, the sons are due to gain access to a shared trust when the youngest, Will, turns 18—only weeks after the wedding. The new heir would delay access by another 18 years and further divide the inheritance. That fictional inheritance threat, alongside Abby and Thomas’s financial pressure and Abby’s desire for wealth and comfort, supplies the show’s stated motive.
What clues point to Abby?
Showrunner Jenna Lamia said the writers wanted viewers to be able to look back and see that the mystery had played fair. One early clue is Abby washing a glass herself, even though she usually calls for the housekeeper; the finale connects the glass to Merritt’s drugged drink.
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The show also links the toxicology report’s high pentobarbital levels to the drugged drink, and identifies tallow from Abby’s tummy butter in Merritt’s hair. Lamia explained that the tallow is not water-soluble, so it remains on the hair shaft after the drowning. These details are clues within the series’ fictional investigation, not general forensic guidance.
How does the Netflix ending differ from the novel?
| Story element | Elin Hilderbrand’s novel | Netflix series |
|---|---|---|
| Who the drugged drink targets | Abby puts a barbiturate in a drink intended for her husband’s mistress, called Featherleigh in the novel. | Abby deliberately drugs Merritt’s drink. |
| How Merritt drinks it | Merritt takes the drink by mistake. | Merritt is the intended target. |
| Intent and cause of death | Merritt’s death is accidental: after drinking the drugged liquid, she swims and drowns. | Abby intentionally makes Merritt drown during the night swim. |
| Motive emphasized | The novel’s setup involves Abby’s attempt to drug another woman; the series foregrounds Abby’s financial goals and the threatened inheritance. | The pregnancy and inheritance deadline give Abby a direct reason to target Merritt. |
| Aftermath | Lamia described the family as carrying on after Greer understands what happened. | Police arrest Abby, giving the series a concrete law-enforcement resolution. |
| Amelia’s final direction | Not stated in the cited adaptation interviews. | Amelia works at the London Zoo and begins a period of self-discovery rather than settling immediately into a romance with Benji or Shooter. |
The key change is intent. In the book, Abby’s scheme is aimed at Featherleigh, whom the Netflix show calls Isabel; Merritt drinks the drugged liquid accidentally. On screen, Abby knowingly targets Merritt and ensures she drowns. The series therefore turns a fatal mistake into a planned murder.
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Why did the show change the reveal?
Lamia said she loved the novel’s ending, but she and the producers thought a deliberate, targeted murder might feel more satisfying in a television mystery that asks viewers to weigh clues and suspects across six episodes. She described the adaptation’s aim as honoring parts of the book while giving viewers the payoff of an intentional murder committed by someone who meant to kill the victim. That explanation comes from Lamia, not from Hilderbrand.
The change also supports a different kind of ending. A purposeful killing gives the police a clear case to resolve and allows the show to depict Abby’s arrest. Lamia told TheWrap she wanted viewers to feel that justice had been served, the police had a win, and Amelia had closure. Director Susanne Bier said she would not have made the series if the murder had not been intentional.
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Amelia does not leave the story paired off immediately with either Benji or Shooter. The series shows her working at the London Zoo and beginning to discover what she wants on her own. Greer leaves for New York to write; Bier interprets that departure as Greer leaving the marriage, while Tag remains in Nantucket. Lamia also described Greer’s book project as shifting away from a story centered only on her past toward one shaped by what she learned from Amelia and Merritt’s friendship.
For readers who want the original version of the reveal, Elin Hilderbrand’s The Perfect Couple is the source novel; its accidental death is distinct from the series’ deliberate murder.
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