‘The Perfect Couple’: All the major changes Netflix made to Elin Hilderbrand’s bestselling novel
Contains spoilers for 'The Perfect Couple'
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Netflix's 'The Perfect Couple' takes several liberties from the source material, the 2018 novel of the same name by Elin Hilderbrand. While the core plot remains intact, the adaptation includes small changes, such as character names, and significant changes, including an altered ending.
Developed by Jenna Lamia, the six-episode series revolves around the murder mystery of Merritt Monaco (Meghann Fahy). The investigation disrupts Benji (Billy Howle) and Amelia's family, placing them and their close ones under suspicion. If you have either watched the series or read the book, take a look at all the major things that differ between both:
1. Changes made to the names of key characters
Eve Hewson who plays Amelia Sacks, the bride, in the Netflix series is originally named Celeste Otis. Even her physical appearance has been changed for the series. In the book, she is described as blonde while her friend Merritt has dark hair. In the series, it's vice versa.
Apart from her, Featherleigh Dale from the book becomes Isabel Nallet (played by Isabelle Adjani), Shooter Uxley becomes Shooter Dival (played by Ishaan Khatter), and Chief Ed Kapenash becomes Chief Dan Carter (portrayed by Michael Beach).
2. Detective Nick Diamantopoulos becomes Detective Nikki Henry
In the book, Detective Nick Diamantopoulos is assigned to solve Merritt's murder case. The male cop has charming looks and carries the notorious image of being popular among ladies. His irresistible charm leads women to open up to him.
In the series, Nick becomes Nikki Henry (Donna Lynne Champlin), a middle-aged woman, who isn't quite likeable. She isn't too fond of the elites and doesn't take crap from anyone.
3. Karen Sacks's plan to end her life
Karen Sacks (Dendrie Taylor) is dying of cancer in the book as well as the series. However, there's a big change to her story that changes the climax of the Netflix series.
In the book, Karen hasn't told Bruce (Michael McGrady) about her three pills that would help her to end her life in case she couldn't take the suffering any longer. She buys the drugs illegally through a website she found while googling about euthanasia.
By taking her life, she wanted to put an end to her husband and daughter's anguish. In the book, Bruce and Celeste never find out about these pills, but in the show, Karen tells Bruce who then tells Amelia (Celeste, as per the book). Unlike the book, Karen says that she got the pills from her cancer support group. With Karen's revelation about the theft of the pill, the cops can trace Thomas, who stole the pill.
4. Introduction of Broderick Graham
The show introduces Broderick Graham (Thomas Flanagan), a mysterious British man who appears at Greer's book launch party and creates a ruckus. Only in the finale episode, we come to know that he is Greer's brother whom she never introduced to her children.
Greer tells the cops that he took a loan from Shooter Dival (Ishaan Khatter) to pay off the gambling debts of her brother. Broderick is a new addition to the plot, who didn't exist in the Elin Hilderbrand's novel.
5. Greer's shocking past
In the finale episode, when Greer (Nicole Kidman) returns from the police station, she introduces her brother to her children while making a big revelation about her past. She reveales that she and Tag lied about the famous story of how they met at a gallery. She added that she used to work as an escort and Tag (Liev Schreiber) was one of her clients. Her brother, Broderick was her pimp.
For those who have read the book would know that this backstory doesn't exist in Hilderbrand's novel and was only added in the series to spice up Kidman's character arc.
6. 'The Perfect Couple' climax
The biggest change you must know is how differently the series ends from the book. In the show, Abby (Dakota Fanning) steals a pill from Thomas (Jack Reynor) that he originally stole from Karen. She then mixes it into a drink and offers it to Merritt, who is having an emotional breakdown by the beach. Abby then comes up with the idea of taking a swim and when Merritt begins to lose consciousness, Merritt drowns her in the water.
The novel offers a far better ending where Merritt's death turns out to be accidental. Abby steals the sleeping pills from Greer, with an aim to prevent Featherleigh from sleeping with her husband, Thomas. She spiked the water, expecting Featherleigh to drink it, but Merritt ends up consuming it instead. While drugged, Merritt heads into the ocean to retrieve the ring Tag had given her, thinking it would be something meaningful to pass on if she ever had a daughter.
She slips and drowns, primarily due to the drugs that were mixed in the water. So, Abby turns out to be the reason why Merritt dies, but it was unintentional.
'The Perfect Couple' is available to stream on Netflix