The Perfect Pair: Who Killed Merritt? Dakota Fanning Explains the Ending

The perfect couple The killer answered some burning questions about the mysterious murder, changes from the book, and more.

Netflix’s limited series, which began streaming on Thursday, September 5, stayed true to the source material by featuring Abby (Dakota Fanning) the one who killed Merritt (Meghan Fahy) about Amelia (Eve Hewson) and Benji’s (Billy Howley) Wedding weekend.

Fans had to wait six episodes to find out who was responsible for Merritt’s death – but Fanning, 30, knew as soon as she joined the project.

“I worked with (director) Susanne Bier before, and we had become super close and I would do anything for her, and she called me the day before and said, “I want you to play this character. She’s pregnant. She’s the murderer,” Fanning said Weekly entertainment on Monday, September 9. “I thought to myself, ‘I’m all in.'”

The actress did not read a single script before taking on the role of Thomas (Jack Reynolds) wife.

“I didn’t even know what it was called at the time and couldn’t even look up the book,” Fanning said of the show based on the author Elin Hilderbrand‘s novel of the same name. “Then the cast started coming together.”

She continued: “I always wanted to Nicole (Kidman)“Eve and I are super close friends, Jack and I almost worked together before but it didn’t happen. It felt like it just came together in this amazing way that you never get a group together like that. It was really special.”

In the series, Abby killed Merritt by slipping something into her drink and then drowning her when she found out the maid of honor was pregnant with Tag (Liev Schreiber) child. However, the book shows how Merritt accidentally drowned.

“It would have had to be a different Abby to be an accident,” Fanning noted. “She was serious, which is even crazier. It’s so much more fun to play.”

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Fanning also wanted to add more context to Abby’s motivations, saying, “For me, it’s about more than just the money. For me, it’s about keeping up the facade of being the person who saved this broken family and held everything together. And of course, she’s going to win in the process, whether it’s for herself or for her child.”

According to Fanning, her decision was influenced by Abby’s anger at her own choices.

“If she doesn’t get her money, she’ll probably have to leave Thomas and find someone else. I think that decision stems from feeling unseen, unappreciated, and cast aside,” she continued. “And also feeling like, ‘I’m married to this fucking idiot and I’m angry at myself for being in this situation and I need to change it now.’ In our over-the-top world, that means drugging and drowning people.”

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Playing Abby in the six-part series was just the beginning for Fanning. She joked that she already had an idea how she could return The perfect couple with a spin-off series.

“I think Tom and Abby met in a bar last year in college or something and probably had a great time freshman year. So those were little things, but I think the most important thing was thinking about what she’s facing now, the environment she’s living in now, the pressure of trying to keep up with the neighbors,” she concluded. “We made a joke, Jack and I were in our own story most of the time, the two of us just had so much fun together and we’re the worst couple. We need a spin-off: The Worst Couple.”

The perfect couple is now streaming on Netflix.