Netflix recently released “The Residence,” an eight-episode murder mystery show set in the unusual location of the White House–it’s the best TV show that I’ve watched in a long time.
The basic premise is that the White House Chief Usher, who essentially runs everything behind the scenes of White House events and programs, is suddenly found dead during a state dinner. They bring in a world-class detective to investigate, and a whole interesting chain of interviews and events ensues.
The show features Uzo Aduba as Cordelia Cupp, the detective called in to deal with this case. She does a fantastic job of portraying the role as a very matter-of-fact person who has a dry sense of humor. I loved watching her come to life as a nuanced person with a very interesting backstory who is just really good at her job.
All of the characters are played phenomenally, and each one is fully developed with lots of intricate details that are central to the story. The balance between the plot as well as character development is nailed perfectly.
The story is set up in a way with intrigue at the center – we start the first episode understanding that something has happened, and then we jump back to the beginning of the story. The timeline is a little bit twisted throughout, but if you are able to look beyond that, it’s really cleverly executed. Everything is presented in a logical order that simultaneously makes things very understandable while also maintaining the idea that there’s something more to be uncovered.
Not only that, but the cinematography is absolutely stunning. The whole show is so visually pleasing to watch–the jewel-toned colors, the outfits, even the visual repetition of the set up for interviews–they all contribute to a refined feel overall that serves the murder mystery plot extremely well.
There’s a perfect balance of trying to figure out what happened with humor and with the real lives and feelings of each character. They blend into a show that I find practically perfect–I was left so utterly satisfied after watching the eight episodes as fast as I could, and I bet you would be too.