The Residence is a series that knows exactly what it wants to do and does it well. It's been a few years since Shondaland, the production company of Shonda Rhimes (the producer behind hits like Grey's Anatomy, How To Get Away With Murder and Scandal) signed a deal with Netflix. That previously brought us series like Bridgerton and Inventing Anna. And now there's The Residence. Is it a worthy addition?
The Residence is a classic so-called whodunnit. A murder has been committed, there are many possible perpetrators and an eccentric detective comes to solve the whole thing. Wonderful (if done well)! However, this whodunnit is set in a fun and special setting, namely: the White House.
The first few episodes convey well how the power games are played in the White House. The many staff members who walk around there all have their work secrets, work relationships and work tensions, but especially their own ambitions. After all, you work in the home of the President of the United States. Add to that a 'high stakes' state dinner, plus a murder that is committed during that state dinner, and you have a wonderful series.
Cupp is very straightforward, doesn't care about any bigwigs and is also a master murder solver.
It's really fun to learn a little more about the White House and how people work there. The series is inspired by a journalistic book that gives a glimpse into the lives of butlers, servants and other professionals in the White House. Much of what is shown in the series about working life is based on reality, but nicely dramatized of course. It's funny and interesting to see how things work in such a presidential house. That alone makes the series fun to watch.
The story is told along two lines. On the one hand, what happened during the investigation is told linearly, and on the other hand, we get to see bits of a later hearing in between, in which different characters tell their version of the story. This creates a nice dynamic in the series. Which is mainly due to the comical and clever way of editing, between the two narrative methods.
What stands out for me is the eccentric detective of this whodunnit. Here she is called Cordelia Cupp and is played by the always strong Uzo Aduba. Cupp is very straightforward, doesn't care about any bigwig and is also a masterful murder solver. It is wonderful to watch and to philosophize with her about what might have happened.
The series is inspired by a journalistic book that provides a glimpse into the lives of butlers, servants and other professionals in the White House.
And that last point also makes every whodunnit fun. Because who did it? That alone makes you want to continue watching. Whodunnits have a somewhat lighter approach than a drama or a thriller anyway. It is really a mystery. Think of Sherlock Holmes, Agatha Christie, or the Knives Out franchise. It is easy to watch, also for in between.
All in all a great addition to the genre, and also very nice to get a look behind the scenes of the (fictional) White House. I'm going to watch more soon, because all episodes are already streaming on Netflix! I'm curious who the murderer is. An 8.0!
About the writer, Karzal
Mike (1995) has been a member of MySeries since 2016 and is mainly active on the English version of the site. Since 2018, he has been actively translating news articles, columns, reviews and basically everything that ends up on the Dutch site. The original articles, columns and reviews were actually written by others. During the week Mike can be found at IKEA, where he is a national systems specialist and occasionally also in the classroom to teach an English lesson. In addition, Mike logically enjoys watching series and has actually been spoon-fed this from an early age. The genre doesn't matter, there is a place for everything in the otherwise busy life.
