The Perfect Couple episode 3 recap: what killer secret is Will hiding?

Sam Nivola as Will Winbury in The Perfect Couple episode 3
Sam Nivola as Will Winbury in The Perfect Couple. (Image credit: Netflix)

The Perfect Couple is a high-class mystery series on Netflix that follows Amelia Sacks, a bride marrying into one of Nantucket's wealthiest families. But when a dead body appears on the beach just before the big day, secrets are revealed and everyone is a suspect.

Here is everything that happened in The Perfect Couple episode 3... 

The third installment of the drama opens with a flashback to one year earlier when we see Merritt and Tag meet for the first time. They are at the Winburys' house, Summerland, for a party and Merritt is on the phone, arguing with her stepdad. Tag overhears and they get talking, and as they chat alone on the beach, Amelia sees them together. 

Time then returns to the present and Amelia is at the police station, telling Dan and Nikki that Merritt was pregnant. She also tells them that while Merritt came across as a flirt, she didn't sleep around and so she must have really loved Tag if she was sleeping with him. When she gets back to the house it is late at night and Tag is still sitting in his office. He almost says something to Amelia when she sees she is back, but Benji interrupts them and they head to bed. Later that night, Amelia gets up and sneaks into Tag's office, she tries to open the drawers but they're locked. Greer catches her in there and she warns her never to go into Tag's office again. 

The next morning, Greer's assistant, Roger, is helping her organize the book launch that is happening that day. Greer isn't acting like someone has just been found dead on her beach, while everyone else is struggling with her breeziness. As Greer pretends everything is normal, she reminds Tag that they are being interviewed by People magazine later that day and that the publication will want a family photo, which everyone is horrified by. 

Greer asks where Shooter is, but he's still at the police station and is demanding a lawyer. 

Over at Dan's house, Will drives past and is annoyed to see Dan's police car in the driveway, Instead, he sneaks into the back garden and climbs into Chloe's window, giving her a fright. They talk about their secret from the other night and Dan overhears them and barges into the room, cross to find Will in his daughter's bedroom. 

Time flashes back to the day of the rehearsal dinner and Will asks Chloe, who is working at the event, if she wants to sneak some mojitos and go to his secret hiding place on the beach. She agrees and they leave, but while they're talking Will sees Merritt on the beach and walks off, leaving Chloe. 

Later, Chloe wakes on the beach to find Will crying next to her and his hand is all cut. She uses her shirt to stop the bleeding, explaining why she has bloody clothing in episode 1. 

Nicole Kidman as Greer Winbury, Liev Schreiber as Tag Winbury in The Perfect Couple

Nicole Kidman and Liev Schreiber as Greer and Tag Winbury. (Image credit: Netflix)

At the pool Amelia asks Abby if the family has ever got her to sign a NDA, she says she signed one 5 years ago when Will's French tutor, Mae Pratt, left suddenly under strange circumstances. Amelia has never heard Benji talking about Mae, and Abby says she is surprised becasue Mae and Benji were close as she was a friend of his from school. Later, Amelia asks Benji about Mae and he fobs her off, telling her that NDAs are normal for his family and not to read too much into it.

Elsewhere Tag and Greer are being interviewed by a journalist who is asking them how they've made their marriage work for almost three decades. They both put on a front, acting like the perfect couple and even finishing each other's sentences. But once they are alone, they fight about what Tag said to the journalist and Greer is still silently seething about his affair with Merritt.

Over at the police station Dan and Nikki get Merritt's phone records and see there is a number that called her repeatedly but she never answered. They work out it is Benji's number and that he has left her a voicemail. When they listen it reveals Benji talking about a secret that he has with Merritt and that Amelia can never find out because 'it would kill her'. 

At the house, Amelia is looking through Benji's desk drawer and finds lots of photos of Merritt in amongst his sketches and paintings, but when someone calls for her, she quickly puts them back where she found them. 

Later they have a family photo shoot and it is all very awkward and fake. No one wants to be there and everyone puts on a smile, even though they hate every moment. Greer puts on a show in front of the journalists and says she wants Isabel and Amelia's parents, Bruce and Karen in the picture, so someone goes to get them all. 

The cast of The Perfect Couple

A family dinner soon turns into a nightmare.  (Image credit: Netflix)

Over at Dan's house, Nikki turns up and they watch footage of the wedding rehearsal video for clues about Merritt's final hours. In the background, they spot Will having a heated conversation with Merritt, but before they can talk too much about it, Chloe arrives home but is rude to Nikki when Dan tries to introduce her. 

The Winburys are having a family dinner and everyone is putting on a happy front for the evening. Shooter finally arrives home, having been released by the police due to lack of evidence but has been told to stay on the island. He takes Greer to one side and says that he didn't tell the police about the 'money' and asks her if he should be worried. She dismisses his concerns and walks off, avoiding the question.  

Over dinner everyone is making polite conversation when Amelia blurts out a question, asking why they get everyone to sign NDAs. Everyone is quiet as they wait for an answer, but when Amelia brings up what happened to Mae, all hell breaks loose. It is revealed by a very drunk Thomas that Tag was sleeping with Mae, and when he ended things with her, she tried to take her own life. Then to pay her off for her silence the family offered her a settlement to stop her from taking them to court. Will is horrified by the whole thing and storms off, yelling at his family that he hates them all. 

Meanwhile, Nikki gets a work call confirming that Merritt was definitely pregnant and that the prints on the oyster shucking knife are Will's and the blood on the sand is Will's and Merritt's.

Nicole Kidman in The Perfect Couple

Greer looks for her missing son.  (Image credit: Netflix)

Will is missing after the family argument and as Tag and Greer look for him, she tells her husband that if anything happens to Will she will never forgive him. 

What they don't realize is that Will has got a sailing boat and is taking it out on the water, despite the fact there is a huge storm brewing. Chloe comes to see him and tells him it's too dangerous to sail, but he refuses to listen and when he says he'll go on his own, she reluctantly jumps in, not wanting him to be alone.

Meanwhile, the search continues for Will and Amelia finds his secret hideaway on the beach. When she takes a closer look, she finds Merritt's diamond bracelet from Tag there and takes it to the police. Did Will kill Merritt?

All episodes of The perfect Couple are available to stream worldwide on Netflix now. 

Claire Crick
Assistant Managing Editor at What To Watch

Claire is Assistant Managing Editor at What To Watch and has been a journalist for over 15 years, writing about everything from soaps and TV to beauty, entertainment, and even the Royal Family. After starting her career at a soap magazine, she ended up staying for 13 years, and over that time she’s pulled pints in the Rovers Return, sung karaoke in the Emmerdale village hall, taken a stroll around Albert Square, and visited Summer Bay Surf Club in sunny Australia. 

After learning some tricks of the trade at websites Digital Spy, Entertainment Daily, and Woman & Home, Claire landed a role at What’s On TV and whattowatch.com writing about all things TV and film, with a particular love for Aussie soaps, Strictly Come Dancing and Bake Off

She’s interviewed everyone from June Brown — AKA Dot Cotton — to Michelle Keegan, swapped cooking tips with baking legend Mary Berry backstage at the NTAs, and danced the night away with soap stars at countless awards bashes. There’s not a lot she doesn’t know about soaps and TV and can be very handy when a soapy question comes up in a pub quiz! 

As well as all things soap-related, Claire also loves running, spa breaks, days out with her kids, and getting lost in a good book.