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For those who have already watched Nicole Kidman's latest television odyssey, The Perfect Couple, which premiered with six episodes on September 5, 2024, there may already be some burning questions about the series. One of the elements that was pivotal to the story of The Perfect Couple was barbiturate, which resulted in the death of Merritt.
Though the story of the series is fictional and adapted from the novel of the same name by Elin Hilderbrand, the drug mentioned in the show is absolutely real. Barbiturate is a family of depressant drugs that are used to treat a variety of conditions like anxiety, depression, and seizures, among other things.
The version of barbiturate used in the show was Pentobarbital, a sedative-hypnotic medication that slows down brain and nerve functioning. The drug was widely used in the earlier days, but it has been significantly reduced over the past years due to its side effects, risks, and addictive qualities.
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In The Perfect Couple, the drug was used as a murder weapon by the killer. Read on to find out more about the drug and its usage.
What are Barbiturates and how are they used?
Barbiturates are a group of medications that are used to induce relaxation and drowsiness in patients, effectively treating many disorders like anxiety, restlessness, seizures, and insomnia.
Since there are many varieties of barbiturates, the drug has also been used for pre-surgery anesthesia and intracranial hypertension.
Cleveland Clinic defines barbiturates as:
"Barbiturates are medications that cause you to relax or feel drowsy. They can also stop or prevent convulsions and seizures. The most common uses are for anesthesia reasons, treating epilepsy and nonepileptic seizures, insomnia and other conditions."
The drug works by increasing a brain chemical called gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA). This slows down the activity of the brain, causing relaxation and drowsiness.
What kind of barbiturate is Pentobarbital?
In The Perfect Couple, the killer uses a specific form of drug from the barbiturate family. This is Pentobarbital, a kind of short-acting barbiturate that is used to induce anesthesia before surgery. This means among the family of the drug, this is one of the stronger variants.
Drugbank describes Pentobarbital as:
"A short-acting barbiturate that is effective as a sedative and hypnotic (but not as an anti-anxiety) agent and is usually given orally. It is prescribed more frequently for sleep induction than for sedation but, like similar agents, may lose its effectiveness by the second week of continued administration."
An overdose of Pentobarbital can be fatal to most humans. It is a drug that has to be used with utmost caution, and hence it could be used as a murder weapon in The Perfect Couple.
What is The Perfect Couple all about?
The Perfect Couple is a mystery drama miniseries based on Elin Hilderbrand's novel of the same name. It stars some of the biggest names in Hollywood, like Nicole Kidman, Liev Schreiber, Eve Hewson, and Dakota Fanning, among others.
The plot follows a lavish wedding that is disrupted by a murder hours before the ceremony. The synopsis for the show reads:
"When a lavish wedding ends in disaster before it can even begin, with a body discovered just hours before the ceremony, everyone in the wedding party is a suspect."
You can catch all the episodes of The Perfect Couple on Netflix right now.
