The Perfect Couple wants to be a complicated murder mystery

Who killed Merritt Monaco? That is the question that The Perfect Couple poses by the conclusion of its first episode. What was supposed to be a beautiful wedding weekend quickly became a tragedy as the Winbury family faces the emotional aftermath of the Maid of Honor's death the night before Benji and Amelia's wedding.

The limited series only has six episodes to introduce its storylines, characters, and deliver a motivation for the killer. Where this series shines is by introducing various characters with a potential motive to kill Merritt. By striving for multiple possibilities, The Perfect Couple leans into the aspect of the red herring in a way where it never feels too off base to suggest anyone could have been capable of killing her. It also does not hurt that the show strives to reference that many of these characters hold complicated relationships with each other.

Amelia admitting to being uncertain about if she truly wants to marry Benji gains another layer after a flashback story reveals how Amelia may have found herself having a stronger connection to another man. Greer and Tag's supposedly perfect marriage is anything but healthy. Benji and Thomas appear to care so little for their younger brother Will that they do not know when his birthday is. Will has a clear dislike for Tag. Greer has her family's secrets under a legal lock and key.

However, where The Perfect Couple falls apart is by not devoting more time to exploring where the conflicts or issues in these relationships came from. What was the Winbury family dynamic like when Benji and Thomas were growing up in comparison to when Will was born? At what point did Will begin to have problems with Tag and why? Why is Greer so secretive?

The Perfect Couple devotes most of its time to being a slowburn build up to revealing how and why Merritt died, and explores the various relationships different characters had to her, and questions different motives that characters could have had toward wanting her gone.

Rather than just focussing on the revelations of the Winbury family, the narrative of unraveling the mystery if left to Detective Nikki Henry and Chief of Police Dan Carter. These two are an interesting team, as many of their scenes have them directly interrogating the characters involved and working to solve the case. The main narrative might be about the Winbury family, but it is Detective Nikki Henry and Chief of Police Dan Carter who make sure that the storyline forges ahead in order to reach its conclusion.

In the end, even its revelation of the killer is granted to be an interesting choice, and is presented in a way where The Perfect Couple never makes it appear too obvious or easy to guess, allowing the audience to still have some fun in trying to guess who the killer is themselves.

Ultimately, The Perfect Couple is an entertaining short murder mystery that a viewer can enjoy in a day. But, this is not a show that will have the audience on the edge of their seat or deeply connecting to the central characters, whether it be due to their lack of development or how few feel like stand outs among the ensemble cast of characters.