“The Residence” Series Review: A Love Letter to Detective Fiction

About a month ago, out of Netflix and into my living room strides “The Residence” with its detective tropes, its classic detective story episode titles, and a new charming yet quirky detective. Sounds standard so far, huh? If you’re looking for a modern cozy mystery, look no further than this Shondaland and Paul William Davies insta-classic. “The Residence” is a darkly comedic mystery from beginning to end, using its variety of unhinged characters to propel the plot and help us solve the central mystery.

Premise

AB Wynter, The Chief Usher of The White House, has been murdered *shocked gasp* during an Australian State Dinner! Everyone is a suspect! The maid, the cook, the president, Kylie Minogue, even Hugh Jackman are all up for interrogation.

Inspiration

The credits inform us that “The Residence” is based on the nonfiction book of the same name by Kate Anderson Brower. This book exposes the lives of the people working in the White House, and Davis cunningly crafts homage to every detective mystery in its setting strongly based on the real people from the book.

Starring Uzo Aduba as Detective Cordelia Cupp

Detective (not Miss) Cupp steals the entire show, as is any Detective’s wont in their own story. Played by Uzo Aduba (of “Orange is the New Black” fame), she kept me watching even when I doubted by episode 4 that we’d ever find out whodunnit (because I’m impatient, I figured I’d already guessed, and I just wanted them to be out with it already!).

She’s a brilliant addition to the tradition of fictional detectives. If I must pin her down, I believe she fits squarely in the Hercule Poirot tradition for various reasons. She has a signature appearance, and she keeps herself well-groomed; she needs to order the investigation the way that she knows it needs to be solved; she keeps a distance from the people around her. She also does not allow the popularity or unpopularity of guests of the White House to sway her investigation. In fact, just as Hercule Poirot hides from society behind his mustache, Cordelia Cupp hides behind her birding binoculars. Aduba herself captures the essence of her character’s Detective style:

“She’s a bird–truly a bird–watching and listening and looking for the slightest flutters.”

Narrative Structure

This narrative is non-linear, told in a series of flashbacks and flash forwards. In the present, Al Franken (Senator in reality and on TV!) leads a Senate hearing that gradually hints that Detective Cupp did not solve this case. The show starts in the past when we get a long exposition to the setting and crime which, using some sharp comedic observations and timing, feels more informative than it does dull.

Then, Detective Cupp begins her interrogations, and the flashbacks begin into each character’s individual backstory and fraught interactions with AB Wynter (played by the always suave and slightly insidious Giancarlo Esposito). Through these, we find out why so many of members of the White House detest him. We then find out from the Senate hearing that the great detective has disappeared. But, through some plot and an obsession for completion that one must respect, Detective Cupp returns to brilliantly solve the mystery and save the day!

Episode Titles

If you devour Golden Age Detective Fiction, the episode titles have a familiar ring to them. Each matches the title of a famous detective story. The most obvious of these is the first, “Fall of the House of Usher”. Literally, in this episode the Usher of the Whitehouse has died. It’s cute, and the more you think about each story the episode titles refer to, the cleverer it gets.

My Personal Highs

1. Kylie Minogue and (not quite) Hugh Jackman: I have never seen a more frequent real celebrity cameo alongside a more frequent fake celebrity cameo, and they are brilliant comedic additions to the Australian delegation. Also suberb: the Secret Security Agent fully fanboying over Kylie Minogue.
2. Representation: First, the show never mentions politics. No platforms, no planks, not even red or blue decorations. The president is gay, but we can’t guess his political opinions. The show doesn’t make the presence of a First Man remarkable, even though its 2025 audience knows it is. Additionally, Detective Cordelia Cupp herself is a Black woman (flouting the traditional detective demographic) and everyone in the story just thinks she’s weird and frustrating because she likes bird-watching (and won’t let them leave the Whitehouse). The seeming banality of both is what makes this representation stand out brilliantly, and any longtime Shondaland fan will know that’s a clear hallmark of the production company’s creations.
3. Watson: Randall Park plays FBI Agent Edwin Park, a likable and serious guy assigned to Detective Cupp to “assist” her. We quickly find out that he is likely competent at his job, but not next to Detective Cupp. He constantly questions her and (like Dr. Watson to Sherlock Holmes) voices the audience’s thoughts aloud, reminding us of the status of the investigation. He’s hilarious and witty, and I’m glad the show wrote his character to juxtapose the rather serious and mildly intimidating detective.

My Personal Lows

1. Flashbacks to Cordelia’s life: One thing that modern (especially American) TV writers don’t seem to understand is not every character needs a backstory. Detective Cordelia Cupp is certainly a great character without one, and her flashbacks are outstandingly dull. Perhaps they will become important in future seasons, but for now they do not propel the story and make me impatient to just get back to it. The show is full of flashbacks to the past events and lives of other characters, and Detective Cupp should have been left a mystery. For at least one character, just leave it to us to make assumptions.
2. Last-minute clues: I’d be surprised if any audience member were able to draw a whodunit conclusion based on the first few episodes. Important clues are revealed in the final episode, which could have helped us solve the mystery with Cordelia rather than being three steps behind Watson/Agent Park. Classic detective fiction gave the reader a fair chance at solving the mystery before the detective. This show perhaps has too many episodes: as soon as I thought I figured it out, another twist would come along to keep the story going. Ugh! You could argue that it’s all part of the shtick, but I think more than five twists is too many for this genre. What happened to a good 3-4 episode miniseries? Though I guess compared to quite a few shows, 8 episodes is mini…

Call to Action

In conclusion, watch this show! Devour it and the nonfiction book and the detective fiction it’s based on! Consume all the things! Netflix has a too-long habit of cancelling shows right as they’re starting to get good, and I need more seasons of this show like I need more seasons of “Bridgerton” (which is to say…desperately!).