The Residence - Season 1

When The Residence of the President of the United States becomes the scene of a murder, the world’s best detective is called to solve it. Imagine the White House, bustling with staff and guests for a large state dinner. Now imagine a murder. What else can we do than invite in the world’s greatest detective to solve it? Enter, Cornelia Cupp, played by Uzo Aduba, who has been known to solve the most unsolvable crimes. And watch birds.

The series has an interesting premise: a murder in the White House

The series has an interesting premise: a murder in the White House, on the Chief Usher A. B. Wynter (Giancarlo Esposito), in the middle of a state dinner with the Australians. The staffing of the White House has been a gigantic mess since the arrival of a new (fictitious) president some six months ago, and the friction between the ‘old’ staff (that always works in the White House, irrespective of the President), and the new staff (the one that comes and goes with the President) takes the center stage.



Cupp gets to work. It seems like everyone has a motive. Is it the Australians? The maid? The person next in line to become Chief Usher? The person who insists it was just a suicide? The chef who screamed “I am going to kill you”? Or the drunken waitress? Overall, this show has gathered an eccentric collection of characters who all seem to have their reasons to want our Chief Usher gone.

The series covers approximately one suspect per episode, culminating in the resolution in the final episode. Whereas most murder mysteries have trouble sticking the landing, this final episode was actually quite epic, being the highest rated episode of the show. The earlier episodes are a bit slow to get the story really going, however. Nonetheless, I don’t recognize the critique of some that the series is too slow or even boring. Yes, it takes them eight episodes to get to the murderer, and yes, maybe they could have done it with less characters and six or seven episodes. But covering a bunch of suspects is what you are watching a murder mystery for, and all episodes are enjoyable.

For me, the weaker point lies in the continuous connection made to birding, the hobby of watching birds. I get it, an eccentric detective needs an eccentric hobby that connects to crime solving. But honestly, it felt forced to me, and just could never quite convince it was as clever or fitting as it pretended to be.

But what really sells this series to me is the dry humor and the quick shots

But what really sells this series to me is the dry humor and the quick shots. The humor lies in the characters’ quick responses and off-handed comments. Especially Cupp manages to entertain by her straight-faced commentary on what her suspects bring to the table. The series is absurd in its humor and story lines, reminding of the Knives Out movies. It is all insanely over-the-top, and yet you almost believe these people could exist.

Besides that, the series uses juxtaposed shots to show contradictions or help you along in the story. While we have the murder and Cupp’s attempt to solve it in the one timeline, there is another timeline with a type of senate hearing about the events of that night. By the quick back and forth between the hearing and that night in the White House, humorous contradictions are shown. Moreover, later episodes contain many short flashbacks in succession to show possible motives and chains of events. This helps counteract the slower pacing mentioned earlier.

Overall, this has been one of the more enjoyable murder mysteries in the past few years. If you are into this type of show, this is for sure a recommendation. Let’s hope for a bit more of Detective Cupp in the future!