Reel Review: The Residence Is the Perfect Murder Mystery Binge-Watch
My town set the scene for the coziest binge-watch this week! With rain pouring down, a comfy sweatshirt, and gobs of popcorn, I sat down to watch Netflix’s newest murder mystery, The Residence. Shondaland has done it again with the perfect binge-worthy Netflix show. The only crime—other than the murder obviously—is that this was a limited series.
When the dead body of the Chief Usher is found during the State Dinner at the White House, America’s most famous building becomes a real-life Clue board game. Giancarlo Esposito stars as A.B. Wynter, the loyal White House employee who met a gruesome end. When his body was discovered by Jane Curtin’s drunken character, the scene was set for the world’s best detective with a deep infatuation with birding, Cordelia Cupp. Uzo Aduba plays the quirky investigator who stops at nothing to find out who killed A.B. even though most of the White House staff wants to rule it a suicide.
The show thrives with an ensemble cast of shady suspects who all had reasons to kill Wynter. Jason Lee, Ken Marino, Paul Fitzgerald, Julieth Restrepo, Taran Killam, Mary Wiseman, Barrett Foe, Mel Rodriguez, Susan Kelechi Watson, Bronson Pinchot, Molly Griggs, and Edwina Findley make up the suspects with Randall Park and Isiah Whitlock Jr. aiding Cupp’s investigation.
Each episode is mostly contained within that fateful night at The White House as Cupp tries to solve the murder. The show cuts between the night of the murder and the judicial hearings months later. Al Franken and Eliza Coupe play U.S. Senators leadings the hearings. The story does a great job simultaneously showing the hearings with the progress of Cupp’s investigation.
Each episode dives into a different employee’s realtionship to Wynter, their movements the night of the murder, and the motives each had to kill the Usher. It’s reminiscent of Only Murders in the Building with deep backstories for each character no matter how minor they seem to the story at first. While at times it was difficult to keep up with all the small stories in relation to the larger plot, it all pays off in the end with a twist that no one would expect.
Perhaps the only pitfall of the show is that it ended! Cordelia Cupp is a wonderfully quirky character who would thrive in more mysteries. Netflix is already pursuing a murder mystery series through the Knives Out franchise where Benoit Blanc returns in every film to a new set of suspects and a puzzling mystery. While I think it’ll be hard to beat a setting as fun as The White House and its staff at the center of the story, Netflix has so much potential with Cupp, and Shondaland never misses. Let’s bring back Cupp for a season two with a new setting, a new flock of suspects, and a bewildering mystery that only she can solve.
The Residence is now streaming on Netflix.
