The Perfect Lie Ending Explained: Will Hanneke Die? Who Killed Evert?

Created by Dorien Goertzen, Netflix’s ‘The Perfect Lie,’ originally titled ‘De Eetclub’ in Dutch, is an adaptation of the eponymous novel by Saskia Noort and tells the story of four couples whose clique begins to collapse when one of them dies. All attempts to return to how things were ultimately fail, and instead, the cracks and faults in their relationships become more apparent than ever. At the heart of this psychological mystery series is Karen, whose family is the newest addition to the group, and thus the most vulnerable to the net of lies that seems to have taken over every little detail of their existence. SPOILERS AHEAD.

The Perfect Lie Plot Recap

‘The Perfect Lie’ begins with Karen being questioned by the police about the death of a man from her friend circle, Evert. She is not alone in the questioning either, as each episode is told from the perspective of one of the seven friends who are still alive, including Babette, Evert’s wife. It appears that Evert tried to sedate his family and burn them to death, but Babette and their two children were rescued just in time. As the rest of the friends — Karen and her husband Michel, as well as Ivo and Hanneke, and Simon and Patricia — struggle to make sense of what has unfolded, the story dials back to a few months in the past, charting how things reached up to this point in the first place.

Karen and Michel moved into this town with their daughter on Hanneke’s recommendation, and since then, they seem to have found the perfect friend circle. The Dinner Club, as they refer to themselves, is a group of wealthy friends who love nothing more than to get together and have a feast. While Karen and her family initially have a hard time fitting into this circle, they soon form real friendships. However, a series of major and minor lies appears to be coursing through these dynamics in secret, silently affecting every one of them. Simon, who runs a gym chain with Evert, secretly uses the outlets to sell anabolic steroids. As the income discrepancies begin to catch up, he tries to alienate Evert from the business.

Meanwhile, Babette begins to suspect that Hanneke has feelings for her husband, Evert, which leads to a lot of friction between them. Hanneke herself remains deeply dissatisfied in her marriage with Ivo, mainly due to their lack of sexual intimacy. Karen, on the other hand, slowly ends up having feelings for Simon, and they begin a passionate affair right under everyone’s noses. Things begin to shift when Babette claims that Evert has become an abusive partner, and Patricia uses that as an excuse to kick him out of the gym business, allowing Simon to continue his illegal operations. Not long after, Evert ends up dead, and in the present, someone throws Hanneke off her balcony, sending her into a coma. As it turns out, the police questioning is about both cases at once, as something seems to be connecting them at their core.

The Perfect Lie Ending: Will Hanneke Die? Who is the Hooded Person?

‘The Perfect Lie’ ends with a cliffhanger as a hooded figure enters Hanneke’s room just as she begins to regain consciousness. Because we never see the person’s face, the scene has an ominous undertone, and it is only worsened by the way they lock the door behind them. Given that Hanneke almost certainly remembers who pushed her, or rather, who she was arguing with on that fateful night, her returning to consciousness means bad news for the potential attacker. They might even try to kill Hanneke for good this time, before sneaking out of the hospital, but some details from the scene suggest that this might not be the case.

One detail that stands out about the hooded person is how short they are, which somewhat rules out the possibility of this being Michel, Simon, or Ivo. At the same time, the person appears to be holding a get-well-soon balloon, and there is a 50/50 chance it’s either a fake or genuine. So far, this is most likely Karen’s daughter, who knows and loves Hanneke like an aunt and also fits the physical description. She also happens to know something about the night that she keeps hidden from Ivo in the final episode, which explains why she would sneak into the hospital room in secret, just as Hanneke is about to wake up.

Another possibility is that the person entering is none other than Patricia, one of the few who might have pushed Hanneke off the balcony. To begin with, the house itself belongs to Patricia, and she has a spare key at all times. Furthermore, she tells the police she was with Simon the entire night, which we know is a lie. While we may have seen her spying on Simon and Karen, it doesn’t explain where she was the rest of the time. Though the police seem to have locked onto Babette as their chief suspect for now, it is very likely that she is a red herring in this case, and that the real culprit, if there is any, is still walking free.

How Did Evert Die? Who Burned the House?

The finale also reveals that Babette is the one who drugged her family and set the house on fire, killing Evert and framing him as the culprit later. Though we are led to believe for the entire season that Evert is the one who tried to kill his own family along with himself, in reality, it was Babette who had that desire. While we don’t know for certain whether she intended to actually die alongside everyone or simply kill Evert and set him up, the overall motivation remains the same. Over the years, Babette developed a toxic bond with Evert to the point that she refused to entertain the possibility of them moving on from each other. Besides this, Babette’s paranoia about him and Hanneke having an affair is what ultimately pushes her over the edge.

While it is undeniable that both Babette and Evert were abusive to each other in their marriage, Evert seemed to hold more power over the relationship. That imbalance caused his partner to lash out and act deviously. Despite this, Babette still believed they could hold on to each other, at least as a pretense, but in doing so, she avoided the core problems in this dynamic. Her decision to kill her family was not spontaneous, though, as it appears that she had all the equipment ready in advance before she made the desperate plea to Evert to get back together.

What ultimately changed Babette’s mind, though, was seeing that her son, Luuk, never drank the sedative-laced tea and is still perfectly conscious. In that moment, her illusion of this being a peaceful sendoff breaks, and as she rushes to get help, Luuk tries to drag his father to safety, discovering the phone in the process and keeping it. In a way, this recalls the opening sequence of the show, where Luuk stands outside the burning house. Because of his oversized protective vest, we never see that second phone until the final episode, when Karen discovers the recordings just as the police apprehend Babette.

Will Karen and Michel Get Back Together?

With the truth about Evert’s death coming out, a sense of closure and peace descends over the town, and a small timeskip reveals that things are slowly improving. No character or relationship is left the same as before, though, and that holds very true for Karen and Michel in particular. After she confesses to him about her affair with Simon, Michel furiously leaves the house, with their daughter eventually deciding to live with him. While this leaves Karen alone and more helpless than ever, things seem to be looking up in the present. Karen reveals that she is going on a date with Michel, suggesting they are taking things back to basics in hopes of a fresh start.

While the title of the show refers to the lies surrounding Evert’s death, it also serves as a larger commentary on how lies and insincerity shape most of the relationships we see in this story, and ultimately lead to their downfall. The thing that Karen and Michel do differently, though, is that they come clean about their biggest lies, even if it means hurting each other. Michel even explicitly promises to tell no more lies to his partner, and this ultimately motivates Karen to take the necessary steps to reconstruct her life. Now, with both characters more open to each other and their respective flaws, their relationship is likely to bounce back stronger than ever.

What Happens to Ivo, Simon, and Patricia?

Unlike Karen and Michel, who end the season on a strong note, Simon and Patricia seem to have regressed to a more twisted version of their marriage. In their final appearance, the duo crosses paths with Karen at the school and only responds with a steely gaze. It’s clear that Simon is mad at Karen for revealing their affair to the authorities, but it appears that Patricia has forgiven him, at least on the surface. While the duo was imprisoned for tax fraud and money laundering, Patricia’s father apparently used his influence to get them out of prison with just a fine. However, this only means that Simon is now essentially forced to become Patricia’s puppet, distancing himself from the others.

Another mystery that goes completely unanswered is Patricia’s charging at Karen with a sword, destroying her car, and nearly killing her in the process. The story seemingly moves on from this too quickly, and we don’t know if she was acting with complete agency, or if she was under the influence of drugs, or perhaps sleepwalking. That aside, the season ends on a much more hopeful note for Ivo, who decides to open up about his sexuality at last, just as Hanneke begins to return to consciousness. While it is likely that they, too, will stop lying to each other from now on, everything depends on what plans the hooded person has for Hanneke.