If you obsessively watched Big Little Lies, have ever paid $12 for a green juice, and think spiritual crystals are complete nonsense but set out your collection to charge under the full moon anyway, Hulu’s Nine Perfect Strangers is for you. Adapted from the book by Liane Moriarty (yes, the same Liane Moriarty who wrote the book Big Little Lies was based on), David E. Kelley and Nicole Kidman’s latest high-octane miniseries follows the stories of nine, well, perfect strangers who meet at a wellness resort called Tranquillum House. Run by a mysterious Russian mogul named Masha (Kidman), the resort seems idyllic at first glance, but over the course of their 10-day stay, the guests begin to discover that not all is as it seems. Factor in lush cinematography and bravura performances from the likes of Melissa McCarthy, Michael Shannon, and Manny Jacinto, and the result is a deliciously sinister slow burn you won’t be able to look away from even if you want to.
For fans of the book, though, some questions still remain. With the story relocated from Moriarty’s native Australia to Northern California, devotees may be wondering what other changes the series has up its sleeve. So let’s start with the good news first: The core of the story, the reason you fell in love with the original in the first place, remains intact. The mysteries of Tranquillum House—and the tangled personal conflicts that brought our nine protagonists there in the first place—are the same as in the book. As for how those secrets play out though? Well, that’s a little more complicated. Read on for a breakdown of what’s changed in the translation from page to screen.
Episode 1
As the series begins, we’re introduced to the leaders and guests of Tranquillum House much as we are in the book: Masha and her two wellness specialists, Yao (Jacinto) and Delilah (Tiffany Boone); romance author Frances (McCarthy); family man Napoleon (Shannon), his wife, Heather (Asher Keddie), and their daughter, Zoe (Grace Van Patten); young married couple Ben (Melvin Gregg) and Jessica (Samara Weaving); divorced mother Carmel (Regina Hall); wellness junkie Lars (Luke Evans); and middle-aged curmudgeon Tony (Bobby Cannavale). Still, there are already a few key differences between the book and the series.
A Not-So-Silent Retreat
In the book, the guests are welcomed to the retreat with a mandatory five-day period of silent reflection, known in Tranquillum terms as “the noble silence.” Perhaps unsurprisingly, the TV series does away with silence, instead allowing the guests to begin getting to know one another right from the beginning of their time at the resort.
Winery Rumble
On his way to Tranquillum House, Lars stops off at a wine store, where he learns from the proprietor that the people who run the wellness retreat just may be a little … off. In the book, that’s about all that happens in this scene. In the show, though, Lars’s stop-off for wine leads him to an encounter with Carmel, who he learns is also headed to Tranquillum. Let’s just say that they don’t exactly get off on the right foot.
Unnatural Causes
In both the book and the series, Masha welcomes her guest to Tranquillum by introducing herself and telling them a little bit about the near-death experience that led her to abandon corporate life in pursuit of becoming a wellness guru. But the specifics of that near-death experience are a little different. In the book, we learn early on that Masha suffered cardiac arrest but was brought back from the brink by her paramedic-turned-employee Yao. In the series, however, Masha was shot through the chest in the middle of an empty parking garage.
Episode 2
As the guests settle into their stay at Tranquillum, they begin to get to know one another—a process made easier by the fact that there is no noble silence for them to observe. Although the characters are able to start socializing sooner, their relationships are still largely developing along the same set of trajectories as in the book. That said, a few plotlines that aren’t in the book start to take shape.
Grapes of Wrath
In the episode, as in the book, Frances has an awkward encounter with Tony in the pool, which ultimately involves him giving her minor medical assistance. In the book, Tony helps Frances stem an unexpected nosebleed. In the series, however, Tony saves her from choking on a grape.
Under Threat
Yao comes to talk to Masha while she’s in the pool. He can tell that something’s bothering her. She admits that she’s been receiving strange messages—threatening messages. That specific scenario doesn’t happen in the book.
Matters of the Heart
While Yao and Masha are talking in the pool, we also learn that they have a romantic history. As a matter of fact, there’s a bit of a love triangle going on between Yao, Masha, and Delilah. While Yao does have a crush on Masha in the book, no such love triangle takes place.
Episode 3
By day three, the retreat at Tranquillum is well underway, and the programming is only getting stranger. In honor of Earth Day, Yao and Delilah announce that the guests will be expected to “live off the land” until dinner is served: They are all supposed to fast, with the exception of anything they can forage for themselves on the property. Here, the TV series begins to take more dramatic departures from the book’s story. The result? Drama, drama, drama.
Breakfast of Champions
Over breakfast, Lars spends some time needling Carmel about what he perceives to be her many flaws—which provokes Carmel to lunge across the table and try to choke the bejesus out of him. This moment of violence isn’t in the book, and it doesn’t just mark a change in Carmel and Lars’ relationship; it also signals a shift in Carmel’s portrayal, exposing a deep wellspring of rage beneath her cheerful persona.
The Hunt
Over the course of Earth Day—which doesn’t occur in the book at all—the men and women separate, with the women retreating to the hot springs and the men venturing into the woods. For both groups, the day begins to get a little fuzzy from there, prompting revelations and out-of-character outbursts at inopportune times. This all culminates in a pivotal scene that appears only in the TV series: When they encounter a goat, the men recall Yao and Delilah’s instructions to “live off the land,” and one of them kills the goat with his bare hands. There’s just one problem—that goat is Masha’s beloved pet, and she does not take the news well.
“Have you been medicating us?”
By the end of the episode, Heather puts two and two together, and figures out the reason behind everyone’s increasingly surreal experiences at Tranquillum: Masha has been dosing the guests with something. In the book, this discovery doesn’t take place until Masha ends the noble silence and gathers the guests in the yoga studio. There, the drugs begin to kick in, and the guests each succumb to their own hallucinations. When they recover, though, they find that something is amiss: They’ve been locked into the yoga studio—and Masha is gone.
Episode 4
The truth behind Masha’s mysterious “new wellness protocol” is finally out: She’s been micro-dosing her clients with hallucinogenic mushrooms. Most of the guests are outraged, but after some consideration, they all decide to stay and see this unconventional treatment regimen through a little longer. Here, we see the show’s most significant departure from its source material; where the book consolidates the post-revelation portion of the retreat into one long, shared hallucinogenic trip in captivity, the guests in the show continue their retreat as planned … for now.
Breaking News
Early in this episode, we learn something new about Lars, and it’s another major change from the book. In the novel, he’s a regular client, just your standard-issue wellness junkie—but in the miniseries, he’s an investigative reporter working on an exposé of Masha’s unconventional (and technically illegal) approach. In a still weirder turn, this information doesn’t seem to bother Masha at all. In fact, she appears to welcome it.
Skeleton in the Closet
We learn something about Tony that differs from the original story too. At this point, everyone has learned about Tony’s past as a football all-star. (In the novel, he played Aussie-rules football, whereas the show’s version of Tony plays American football, in keeping with the series’ transposition from Australia to the California coast.) However, there’s something else: One night, about a year after the accident that ended his football career, Tony was drinking at a bar when a drunk guy recognized him. The stranger goaded him into a fight, Tony rose to the bait—and tragedy ensued. In Tony’s words, the other guy “went down … and he never got up.” That guy died in the hospital several days later, and Tony has been carrying the guilt ever since.
Buyer Beware
Meanwhile, Masha’s still receiving threatening messages—including a new one scrawled on the wall of her office, reading, “It’s good to die.” Could these messages be connected to a mysterious incident at a past retreat? Or could they be coming from one of the guests?
Episode 5
It’s Zoe Marconi’s birthday, and the guests are planning on celebrating—but first, they’ve all got their own matters to attend to. Frances and Zoe are experiencing hallucinations related to the losses they’re grieving, Napoleon and Heather are (literally) jumping off cliffs together, and Ben and Jessica are working on rekindling their relationship. In the meantime, a few more plot developments that weren’t in the novel take shape.
The Math of Love Triangles
There’s a new twist in the Masha-Yao-Delilah love triangle (none of which appears in the book)—it appears Masha and Delilah have an entanglement of their own. “Yao can never know,” Delilah whispers to Masha. This won’t end well.
Birthday Girl
In the evening, the guests all gather to celebrate Zoe’s 21st birthday. (This scene is new to the series: In the book, Zoe turns 21 while they’re all locked in the yoga studio, tripping on mushrooms.) There, Zoe tells everyone that she’s started to think of her fellow retreaters as family. Aww! But the celebratory mood takes on an eerie tone when Zoe’s hallucination recurs—she sees her dead twin brother, Zach, at the edge of the woods, wishing her a happy birthday. Masha then goes up to her. “He’s here, isn’t she?” she murmurs to Zoe in Russian. “It’s you. You’re the key.” What does that mean?
Episode 6
The next day, Masha reveals that she has yet another twist in store for Tranquillum’s wellness-seekers: she’s increasing everyone’s dosage. The group is skeptical, but ultimately, they all take Masha’s “medicine.” Unsurprisingly, that means more vivid hallucinations for everyone—Frances sees a tiny, tap-dancing version of her scammer ex-boyfriend; Jessica stares in the mirror as her nose appears to fall off her face; and all three of the Marconis come face to face with Zack.
The Other Woman
After Masha announces that she’s upping the dosage, Carmel comes to see her. She’s on psychotropics—another change from the book—and is worried about how the hallucinogens will interact with her medications, but Masha assures her that it will be fine. Masha then asks Carmel to admit why she really came to Tranquillum. We discover that while Carmel was still married, her husband had an affair—apparently his first—with Masha, and Carmel hoped that by coming to the retreat she could study Masha and learn how to get her husband back. (In the book, there’s no connection between Carmel and Masha.) Masha confesses that she accepted Carmel to the program so that she could apologize for her actions—and help Carmel begin to heal.
Special Attention
While the Marconis’ revelations are largely the same as in the book, things are unfolding a little differently. Rather than coming to terms with Zack’s death while the group is locked in the yoga studio, as in the novel, here the Marconis get a little closer to him with each day—and each new dose of psilocybin. It’s also clear that, in the series, Masha has taken an extra-special interest in their treatment. At the end of the episode, she tells them that she wants to try to use the drugs to induce “shared psychosis hallucination”—a shared hallucination of Zack that would be experienced by all three of the Marconis. What could go wrong?
Episode 7
As the day’s hallucinatory trip continues, things at Tranquillum are going increasingly wrong—and the guests are starting to notice. Meanwhile, Masha desperately scrambles to keep the retreat from falling apart.
Have a Nice Trip
Zoe thinks Masha’s idea to induce a shared hallucination of Zack among all the Marconis is insane. Her parents insist that it’s a good idea, but by the time they are supposed to take the medicine, they’re having second thoughts as well. Desperate to keep them on track, Masha declares that she is going to trip with them and downs a dose of the drugs before anyone can protest. The Marconis reluctantly follow suit.
Past is Prologue
Before the Marconis and Masha take the medicine, Lars confronts her. She told the Marconis that she’s successfully employed this protocol before, but Lars has done his research, and he knows the truth—the last time Masha purposefully induced hallucinations at a retreat, the guest she was dosing ended up dead. She insists it’s because he had a heart condition, and this time, everything is perfectly fine.
Fight or Flight
While tripping, Carmel mistakes Masha for her ex-husband’s new girlfriend—and physically attacks her, choking her with her bare hands. Yao and Masha sedate her and lock her in her room, where she is left alone to come down from her trip. Later, when Masha comes to check on her, Carmel has packed her bags—she doesn’t think it’s safe for her to be around Masha, and she’s pretty sure she belongs in a real hospital. As the Marconis’ medicine begins to kick in, Masha begs Carmel to stay… but as she stares at her guest, Carmel suddenly starts to look an awful lot to Masha like the man who shot her in the parking garage.
Episode 8
In this week’s bracing finale, the Hulu adaptation of Nine Perfect Strangers at last comes full circle: as Masha’s wellness protocol spirals further out of control, Tranquillum’s guests—most of them, anyway—find themselves locked in a room together and contemplating their lives as a (fake) fire rages outside, just like in the novel. Still, as this episode wraps up the last loose threads of the plot, the end of the series cements some final differences between the story told in the book and the version that’s made it TV.
Killer Instinct
Right away, we learn that Carmel is, in fact, the one who shot Masha—she’d disguised herself as a man with makeup—and she’s also the one who’s been sending Masha the threatening texts. Carmel asks Masha to call the police and turn her in, but instead, Masha forgives her. (She also locks Carmel in a padded room later on in the episode, though, so there’s that.) At the end of the episode, we see that Carmel eventually becomes a group therapy counselor of some sort. All this marks a pretty big departure from the book for Carmel’s character.
Together Forever
When Carmel is locked in the padded room, the other guests—except the Marconis, who are still tripping—hear her screams and demand that Masha let them into the room with Carmel. She does so, but then leaves to keep monitoring the Marconis’ drug trip, locking all six of them in the padded room. (For those keeping track, that means that Frances, Tony, Ben and Jessica, Lars, and Carmel are locked in the padded room; in the novel, by contrast, all nine guests—including the Marconis—are locked in a basement yoga studio.) Here is where Ben and Jessica’s storyline departs from that of the book: in the novel, the two realize they’ve grown apart as a couple and need to break up, whereas in the series they reaffirm their commitment to their marriage. At the end of the episode, we learn that Ben and Jessica later become the new leaders of Tranquillum.
Peace of Mind
In the book, Delilah steals Ben’s yellow Lamborghini to escape the retreat, but in the series she flees the premises in her own pickup truck. She’s also got more of a conscience than in the novel: instead of being pulled over for speeding, she goes to the police voluntarily and tells them about everything that’s taken place at Tranquillum. In the show’s final scenes, we see that she and Yao at least leave Masha and Tranquillum behind to join the Peace Corps.
Masha, Masha, Masha
As for our mysterious leader, well, we learn that the reason she’s been pushing her hallucinogenic regimen is because she hopes the protocol will enable her to see her dead daughter again. After the Marconis share one final, emotional vision of Zack, Masha gets her wish, and she experiences a hallucination of holding her daughter one last time as the police close in on Tranquillum.
Watch Nine Perfect Strangers on Hulu now.
