The Perfect Couple drug pentobarbital

Right, what is pentobarbital from Netflix’s The Perfect Couple and is it actually a real drug?

It’s a crucially important part of the show


If you haven’t woken up on this fine Friday and binged the Nicole Kidman starring The Perfect Couple on Netflix then what on earth are you doing with your life? I mean, probably working. Probably being productive and not rotting in front of the TV. But for the rest of us with no lives who can’t wait for the weekend, there’s one detail in the Netflix series The Perfect Couple that has been niggling at us and that’s all to do with the pentobarbital drug which forms a part of the plot detail around episode six. Is it real? Is it fake? What actually is it? Here’s a full explainer of the pentobarbital drug featuring all through The Perfect Couple on Netflix to make things simpler.

The Perfect Couple is a show full of mystery and twists, as the idyllic rich family gear up for the wedding of the century only to have plans upended by the body of one of the guests washing up on the beach. In a tale of deceit and lies, and big reveals, there’s a drug at the centre of it that has everyone wondering what it is.

Pentobarbital is actually a real drug

Pentobarbital, the drug used in The Perfect Couple, is actually a real drug that used to be used a lot. It’s in the barbiturate family, which means it’s a sedative-hypnotic medication which acts as a depressant on the nervous system and slows brain functions down.

They have mostly been out of use in medical practice these days because of their side effects and addictive quality – they’ve been replaced with the likes of valium.

How are they used in The Perfect Couple?

The murder victim is found with pentobarbital in their system – and the drugs are used by cancer patient Karen. She has the pills and keeps three on her at all times in case her condition worsens. “They were kind of like a security blanket for me in case things got worse quickly,” she tells her family and the police.

You’ll have to watch to get the rest of the secrets explained – but now you at least now what the drugs are.

The Perfect Couple is available to watch on Netflix now – For all the latest Netflix news, drops, quizzes and memes about the dancing sequence, like The Holy Church of Netflix on Facebook. 

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