Ah, Nantucket in the summertime. Sunbathers are enjoyable on the seaside, the whales are placing on an acrobatic present out within the Atlantic, and lifeless our bodies are washing up on the shores of $40 million greenback “cottages” on the morning of very costly, high-profile weddings. There’s simply nothing prefer it, is there? That’s precisely how we kick off issues on the journey of The Excellent Couple — we’re closing out the summer time season in type … and probably homicide. Enjoyable!

You need to know the precise second I knew The Excellent Couple was proper for me? That we had been in for a sudsy seaside learn in TV kind? It was the second I noticed these opening credit. A choreographed group dance quantity to Meghan Trainor’s “Criminals”? Once you get Nicole Kidman and Liev Schrieber to gleefully carry out a line dance for a present about secrets and techniques and homicide, nicely, we’ve received, okay? Yeah, Nicole Kidman is likely to be the “we come to this place for magic” woman however she can be a fucking Academy Award winner; The lady commits and it’s clear she is committing to this vibe. A vibe that claims we’re right here to entertain. A vibe that claims, “Sure, somebody is lifeless and everyone seems to be a suspect, however we’re having enjoyable.” And if that’s not your explicit vibe, to not be imply, however you must get off this journey.

That is all a praise, by the way in which. The primary episode of The Excellent Couple, primarily based on the queen of the seaside learn Elin Hilderbrand’s novel of the identical title, offers me quite a lot of hope that the six-episode restricted sequence is not going to solely be pleasurable end-of-the-summer fare, however will finally be a satisfying yarn. This primary episode units up the whole thriller at hand and introduces us to a truckload of characters with a complete heap of character — and in underneath 60 minutes, no much less.

We’re gathered right here at the moment for the nuptials of Amelia Sacks, a normie zoologist, and Benjamin “Benji” Winbury, son of famed creator Greer Garrison Winbury and belief fund DILF (so says his daughter-in-law, sure, for actual) Tag Winbury. The Winburys are extraordinarily loaded and include all of the pretentious fixings. We get a fast take a look at Amelia and Benji’s beachside rehearsal dinner on the Winbury property, Summerland — costlier and elaborate than many individuals’s weddings — the place issues appear to be going alongside swimmingly. We’re comfortable! The champers is flowing! The bride and groom-to-be appear excited and in love. However you by no means notice simply how creepy the sentiment “I like this lady to dying” is till you instantly lower from that line to blood-curdling screaming and a few sort of water-based battle.

“We’ve obtained a floater,” a Nantucket Deputy named Carl tells his boss, Chief of Police Dan Carter, within the wee hours of the next morning. The marriage will likely be known as off — the investigation has begun. The episode makes use of the interrogations of a number of the characters to dump a complete lot of exposition in a brief period of time. There’s Gosia, the Winbury housekeeper who positively has a factor for Tag; Roger, the marriage planner, who calls the Winburys “kill somebody and get away with it” wealthy; Isabel, a household pal from France who describes Greer as “having a stick up her asshole”; and pregnant spouse of eldest Winbury son Thomas, Abby, who is sort of unbothered about saying issues like “Gosia needs to fuck Tag so unhealthy. I wager she rubs one out to that little child image of his she retains subsequent to her mattress” throughout a police interrogation.

Pals, I didn’t know I wanted Dakota Fanning as a heinous wealthy bitch, however now I can not imagine I lived so lengthy with out Dakota Fanning as a heinous wealthy bitch. What a present. Fanning performs the boundless entitlement and chopping passive aggressiveness with aplomb. Abby is the scariest of imply ladies — those who do all of it with a smile. Later, we study that Amelia’s mom Karen is dying of most cancers, they usually moved up the marriage to the Fourth of July weekend to verify she might be there (or, as Gosia places it, “accommodate [her] dying schedule”). When Karen and Amelia’s father Bruce arrive on the Winbury property, Abby greets them with a cheerful “so comfortable we may rearrange our plans for the Fourth to be right here.” She is the worst and in addition one of the best.

There’s yet one more character at the moment pulled in for questioning: Amelia, in her marriage ceremony costume and in a state of full shock after discovering the physique within the water. The Excellent Couple waits till the tip of the episode to disclose the sufferer, however primarily based on not solely the characters we see throughout the quick time we spend on the crime scene, but additionally the truth that actually solely Amelia is beside herself over the dying, it wasn’t a lot of a shock to study that the morning of her marriage ceremony, Amelia discovered her greatest pal and maid of honor Merritt Monaco lifeless within the water. Even if you happen to guessed that large episode one reveal earlier than it occurred, it doesn’t imply there isn’t nonetheless quite a lot of thriller to mull over. We nonetheless don’t know the precise explanation for dying — at this level, it might be some kind of accident. If Merritt was murdered, although, there’s a couple of motive, and there’s a entire gaggle of suspects.

For the time being, two on the high of the listing are for certain the titular Excellent Couple — Greer and Tag. As soon as we return to the morning of the rehearsal dinner to get the total story of that day, we watch Greer uncover in actual time that Tag is having an affair. When the jeweler delivers the rings for Benji and Amelia (it says a lot about Greer that she is the one choosing these out, doesn’t it?), the girl asks her in regards to the attractive gold bracelet with the pave diamonds that Tag purchased for her. You instantly see on Greer’s face that not solely did she by no means obtain that bracelet, however she is aware of precisely what it means: Tag purchased it for another person. When Greer finds the receipt — for a cool $18,476 — we get a great take a look at the bracelet, too. Eagle-eyed viewers, I’m certain, noticed that very same bracelet on Merritt’s wrist when she was giving her toast on the rehearsal. Maybe Greer noticed it, too.

Simply the thought of Tag having an affair severe sufficient to warrant such a purchase order, even when she has but to determine who he’s dishonest with, is sufficient to throw Greer off her axis a bit. Benji walks in proper after Greer finds the receipt. He’s there to speak to his mom about being nicer to Amelia. Like, if you happen to’re questioning whether or not or not Greer may kill an individual, simply watch that second within the kitchen when Amelia takes a chew of a croissant and Greer says, “Wedding ceremony costume be damned, huh?” You may’ve simply tipped me over right into a coffin at that time. So, sure, Benji is correct that Greer isn’t a fan of Amelia, more than likely as a result of Amelia doesn’t care about maintaining appearances or appearing the a part of a Winbury. Greer doesn’t take the accusations nicely, attempting to clarify that she’s simply watching out for her son — she doesn’t purchase that Amelia has emotions for him the way in which he does for her, and she or he needs she would present a bit extra curiosity in being a part of the household. Greer is, clearly, a girl obsessive about maintaining appearances, however her anger is kicked up a couple of ranges on account of Tag’s extracurriculars. She tells Benji that marriage doesn’t essentially imply devotion — one thing we all know she’s coping with at that very second. And if you happen to don’t assume Greer might be misleading sufficient to cowl up a homicide, it’s value noting that Benji walks into that room demanding his mom strive tougher to be nicer to his fiancée and walks out of it telling Greer that he’ll get Amelia to strive tougher to be part of the household.

Greer additionally lets her feelings come to the floor a bit when she’s on the telephone together with her editor, Enid. Greer has a brand new novel popping out — she’s made her title together with her Sprint & Dolly sequence of novels — and Folks journal is doing a giant interview together with her and Tag this week. The headline will apparently be, ahem “The Excellent Couple,” taking part in up Greer and Tag’s 29 years of marriage and enviable love — they’re the inspiration for Sprint & Dolly, in spite of everything. Greer needs to lean away from that angle, however she’s too deep into this idyllic image she’s painted for her adoring readers to get out of it now. All of this anger and frustration would possibly boil over on the precise fallacious time for Merritt.

And talking of Merritt, she’s form of the other of Greer in most methods. She’s heat and open and free. Positive, each Abby and Isabel point out she “likes to have a great time,” which is certainly their code for “slutty,” and Abby has a heart-warming story about Merritt being a gold digger up to now, however principally she looks like a reasonably nice pal. We get a poolside dialog between Amelia and Merritt the day of the rehearsal during which Amelia worries that she isn’t head over heels for Benji (nobody inform Greer she’s proper). Merritt assures her that it’s simply chilly toes but additionally tells her that if she needs to name this marriage ceremony off she has each proper to — Merritt will again her pal up it doesn’t matter what she decides. She additionally instantly decides that Abby is a large bitch (true) and the gals even have a pleasant dialog about how Greer’s butthole is certainly bleached and waxed and that’s simply actual friendship proper there.

Merritt is good to Will, who simply obtained dumped and positively has a crush on Merritt. Is it a powerful sufficient crush to get overwhelmingly jealous? She additionally appears fairly hooked up to Amelia. May their closeness hassle Benji? After which there’s the mysterious greatest man, Shooter Dival. Amelia’s positively lusting over him, however does he have something to do with what occurs to Merritt? Like I stated, the suspect listing is a protracted one in the intervening time — it’s time for The Excellent Couple to begin whittling it down.

• Different crime scene particulars: There’s a path of blood resulting in the water from two Adirondack chairs. There’s one damaged glass within the sand and one with a lipstick stain nonetheless sitting on one of many chairs.

• Okay, hello, hey, I’m already obsessive about our police duo. Chief Carter is a person born and bred in Nantucket, and though he isn’t one in every of them, you’ll be able to inform he has expertise dealing with the uber-wealthy lot. He definitely doesn’t love the detective from out of city the DA sends in to “babysit” — Detective Nikki Henry. She is tough across the edges and doesn’t give a shit. She’s right here to get the job finished. Though, she’s going to admit when a donut is out of this world, she’s not a monster. They’ve a tough begin however I can not wait till these two develop into an actual crew.

• When Chief Carter informs his teen daughter Chloe that her marriage ceremony catering gig will likely be canceled as a result of somebody died, she begins to freak out. It might need one thing to do with the bloody shirt she’s hiding in her room.

• Um, couldn’t Amelia have discovered a window to free that ladybug? Would’ve saved us all quite a lot of hassle.

• Folks getting unusual telephone calls and ignoring them: Greer dismisses a name from a Broderick Graham and appears slightly vexed about it; Merritt will get a name from a DL and explains that it’s a codename for a man she used to hook up with.

• One among my favourite particulars from the interrogations is when Gosia tells the police that Greer has a gift-wrapping room in her home however it’s Gosia who really does all of the reward wrapping, and all from her bed room. So not solely does Greer power another person to do this job, however she nonetheless needs folks to assume she does it for herself.

• I don’t assume it may be a coincidence that we study Tom’s favourite pastime, tablet roulette, during which you toss a bunch of random prescription drugs collectively and take one at random and get an prolonged scene during which Karen tucks away three drugs from a baggie with a warning signal on it. Let’s anticipate that to come back into play in some unspecified time in the future, proper?