The Perfect Couple – Season 1 Episode 1 “Happy Wedding Eve” Recap & Review

Episode 1

Episode 1 of The Perfect Couple begins with a wedding rehearsal at the Summerland Beach estate in Nantucket. The super-rich Winbury’s second son, Benji is getting married to Amelia who is a middle-class zoologist. It seems that everything is going smoothly but Benji’s older brother, Thomas clashes with everyone including the bride and his pregnant wife, Abby.  

That night at the beach, a drink with a lipstick mark is left on a table while there is a female corpse in the sea. The next morning, Chief Dan Carter is called in to handle the case of the dead female guest. His daughter, Chloe was to be one of the wedding caterers and she panics as she has a bloody shirt with her.  

Detective Henry arrives as well and keeps butting heads with Carter who doesn’t approve of her. They begin the investigation by questioning the wedding planner, Roger Pelton, Abby, the maid Gosia, and a family friend, Isabel. Amelia is in questioning as well and they notice that she is wearing her wedding dress and has a cut on her foot.

It cuts back to the morning of the wedding rehearsal. Amelia is a kind-hearted woman who wouldn’t hurt a fly as we see her carry a ladybug out to the garden even though she is in her bra. This, of course, doesn’t sit well with Benji’s uptight mother, Greer who prides herself in decorum. At breakfast, Amelia and Greer are snarky with each other which the men of the family find funny.

We also see that Greer’s husband, Tag doesn’t give her much attention. She accidentally learns from her jeweller that Tag has bought a bracelet and she suspects an affair as he hasn’t given her any bracelet. At the same time, Benji confronts her about breakfast and it becomes obvious that she doesn’t like Amelia as she believes the girl is disrespectful and beneath their class.

Greer’s editor, Enid calls and we see that the former is a very popular novelist. However, her fame is shared by Tag as Enid insists on couple interviews to keep up the illusion of them as the perfect couple. Greer tries to cancel but drops it when Enid tries to question her. In the flashforward interrogations, the suspects all share that Greer is a mystery who keeps her cards to herself.

As for Tag, everyone is enamoured with him but he is an enigma. He plays golf by trying to hit birds and pays more attention to his canoe than Thomas who needs a loan from him. And when Tag learns that Amelia’s mother, Karen has cancer, he suggests marijuana and recreational drugs.

When Karen and her husband, Bruce arrive, there is again tension as the Winburys find them too ordinary and scoff at the fact that they have brought fruits as gifts. While Bruce goes swimming, Karen hides a couple of pills that have a caution label. 

Meanwhile, the youngsters are hanging out at the pool. The maid of honour, Merritt wants a selfie with the best man, Shooter when they are interrupted by the youngest Winbury, Will who has just been dumped. Merritt has Shooter take a photo of her with Will so he can post it online and make his ex jealous but he gets enamoured with her. As for the suspects, they call Merritt promiscuous. 

Back at the pool, Amelia confides in Merritt that she hates Greer and they joke that she must have married Tag for his money. But the conversation takes a serious turn when Amelia starts doubting if she truly loves Benji. This has Merritt wondering if Amelia is only getting married since her mom is dying.

As Amelia heads in, Benji gifts her a painting that he has made of her and she observes that he has tried to make her look regal. She makes a move on him but when he tries to make eye contact with her, she is annoyed. She believes that she doesn’t deserve him and leaves the room.

Back to the interrogation, all the suspects comment on how Amelia doesn’t fit in and how it is all moving way too fast as the couple only met a year ago. The cops also find the possible murder weapon which happens to be an oyster shucker knife.

It cuts back to the rehearsal day and it’s evening. The rehearsal dinner has begun and everything is going smoothly. Benji gives a romantic speech about how he met Amelia at a zoo and he instantly fell in love. Meanwhile, Abby and Thomas bicker about getting a new apartment and he is angry as his father denies him the loan.

He takes out his anger by making inappropriate comments about Merritt. Benji tells him to go for a swim and Thomas leaves. At the end of The Perfect Couple Episode 1, Amelia is trying on her wedding dress in her room when she spots the body. She rushes to it when she realises that the dead body is Merritt’s.

The Episode Review

The much-awaited Netflix show is finally out and it definitely seems promising. The Perfect Couple Episode 1 begins with the interrogation which shows us how the accusations of the suspects tie in with the actions of the Winbury family during the rehearsal day. And so far, everyone is suspicious except Amelia. 

The most obvious suspect would be Thomas since he is told to go for a swim and seems to be eyeing Merritt. But where would the fun be in that? Benji clearly knows Amelia is having doubts and could have confronted Merritt while there is also Will who is smitten with her. And let’s not overlook Shooter who she snubs as she tries to help Will.

But we do wonder how all of this circles around Greer and Tag who are said to be the lead characters. We doubt someone of Nicole Kidman and Liev Schreiber’s abilities would take on a project where they would be relegated to the sidelines. Was Tag having an affair with Merritt? Guess, we need to tune into the next episode to find out.