The Residence is rated TV-MA due to strong language, mature themes, alcohol use, murder-related content, and suggestive dialogue. It includes frequent profanity, political corruption, heavy drinking, a murder investigation with mild violence, and flirtatious interactions. The show is intended for mature audiences (17+).
The Residence Tv Series Review & Ending Explained
The Residence is an energetic comedy, an overstuffed dramedy that begins with a blur and rarely pauses for breath across the first seven episodes of the eight episodes provided to critics. The rather farcical mystery played out too broadly for me to engage with the characters emotionally – despite Aduba’s manic energy and the manic staging provided by a densely packed ensemble-cast of over thirty players.
The series takes place during a state dinner in honor of the Australian Prime Minister (Julian McMahon, half-assed) with musical guest Kylie Minogue (Kylie Minogue, in on it) and an Australian actress/celebrity whose visit or absence is the punchline/set-up.
The president (Paul Fitzgerald’s Perry Morgan) and first gentleman (Barrett Foa’s Elliot) are entertaining various celebs, and the White House staff is frantic at making sure everything runs smoothly to its perfection, which runs smoothly until the White House chief usher, played by Giancarlo Esposito, is found dead upstairs in the game’s room.
Sick and tired of taking responsibility for Wynter’s actions and scared of an international conflict, Hollinger wants to bring the case to a close — a classic cut on the wrist and a suicide note should suffice.
Instead, the impeccably dressed and somewhat dimwitted Metropolitan Police Department Chief Larry Dokes (Isiah Whitlock Jr.) arrives, alongside the observant MPD consultant Cordelia Cupp (Aduba), an eccentric bird-watching, canned fish loving, internationally renowned detective. Cupp’s new partner is Edwin Park (Randall Park), a gentle man and an optimistic but skeptical cop, and they start working on the case, with more than one hundred VIPs getting frustrated. Also impatient? Some Senate committee or another conducts hearings on the investigation for purposes that remain unspecified even after seven episodes, with help from Senator Filkins, aka Al Franken, and distracted by conspiracy theorist Senator Bix (Eliza Coupe), who covers anywhere between three and five MAGA character types.
Cupp and Park get to interview different party guests and members of White House staff, such as Wynter’s right hand, Jasmine (Susan Kelechi Watson); chef Marvella (Mary Wiseman) and the pastry chef Didier (Bronson Pinchot, who plays this role in an unrecognizable Swiss-German accent); and other randoms like Tripp (Jason Lee), the president’s brother obsessed with salt and Marvella’s first husband Vladimir (Jane Curtin) who has a thing for vodka.
Recollections of what actually happened that evening in the White House and distortions perpetuated by other individuals are revealed through flashbacks. By the sixth and seventh episodes, they are starting to show you things that have happened in the earlier episodes just in case you have forgotten or are confused. It’s just a lot. This raises the question of spices which is fine for two hours of movie but stretched across eight episodes (or more) with no investment in the case/victim is not ideal, and The Residence hasn’t fully figured that out yet.
The Residence isn’t doing the old card trick where you take the different parts and move them around so fast you hardly realize they only have three parts, but is instead doing the simple card trick. I haven’t seen the eighth episode, which will presumably tell who committed the crime, but if someone asked me to guess, my reaction would be, ‘Wait, do I have to?’
Developed by Paul William Davies, The Residence was clearly influenced by various movies and franchises. This is a light-bending mystery that includes a nod to Agatha Christie and the film Knives Out. This gets audiorouted through the soundtrack to The Third Man and Charade. Cuity animated episode names: The Trouble with Harry (Harry Seng-oh, yes I did say Ken Marino); The Last of Sheila (Sheila, the house help that was perfectly portrayed by Edwina Findley); The Fall of the House of Usher (because the dead man was actually an usher).
There are other similar shows about the best detective (or Detective Variation) in the world that may come to mind when watching The Residence, such as Monsieur Spade, A Murder at the End of the World, or Death and Other Details.
Perhaps the first thing that sets The Residence apart is the absurdity of the show’s premise and the careful way it is done. On the staff-side of the house, inspiration was much closer at hand: Kate Andersen Brower’s nonfiction upstairs/downstairs White House chronicle The Residence: Inside the Private World of the White House was one of the show’s earliest inspirations, and the interconnection between trivia and murder is far more explicit and well-handled than one might imagine. Cordelia Cupp wants to learn things about the White House, and that coupled with her want to learn things about a crime becomes adorable.
The series directors – Liza Johnson directed the first four and then Jaffar Mahmood – seems to relish moving the camera through François Audouy’s copy of the White House, transforming it into an oversized dollhouse of themed rooms, secret stairs, and geographical quirks.
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Equally noteworthy is the casting put together by the talented Meredith Tucker. You just have to realize that not everyone will be fully, if at all, well-used, but that the occasional luck of having certain characters show up for one or two scene to help fill up the universe is good enough.
Many of the people that are underutilized are still competent and productive. Curtin has a few lines here, probably under a dozen, and she plays mostly as a drunken character but every face she pulls is priceless.
Coupe and Marino especially, as well as Lee, work in a comparably broad comedic register, tapping into notes of humorous exasperation. Subtler turns come from Watson, very comfortably playing the straight woman to all of the outsized performances around her; Esposito, no stranger to this sort of unnervingly proper and repressed character; and Mel Rodriguez and Julieth Restrepo whose shift of the seventh episode shows the show come as close to having a meaningful center as it’s gotten.
Aduba anchors it all with finesse, making sure that Cordelia Cupp never feels like a stereotype of what she might be on paper. It is a physically understated show wherein simply a movement of the head: Cupp’s greatest trick is the silent glare — or the meticulous manipulation of birding binoculars adds depth to the monologues that have become a standard part of the genre and allow for Cupp’s faculties of observation and ratiocination to shine. Her overweening maternal impatience with anyone who doesn’t share such talents adds an amusing spin to her interactions with Park’s Edwin, where Fresh Off the Boat star milks his generally bewildered role for all its worth. Their scenes together make for the best of Aduba and Whitlock are great and this may be the funniest Whitlock has ever been in a part that doesn’t allow her to say the word, ‘shit’ over and over again.
Besides the setting that was established as the White House and many other characters who are part of its team, the three leading ladies – Aduba, Park, and Whitlock – are lovable, and I’d be interested in following throughout other investigative adventures in other locations. It’s a great core, and Davies has a great feel for the general banter which pervades the cinematic rendering of the sport. Still I think the only thing tha could have been done better here is to take the same elements and try it on a case with a little more depth and a little more time to spend on it (does not mean that I wish the series were to be “longer”, I simply wish them to be “better”).
Which actress from Orange Is the New Black should have the chance to go murder solving on TV next? The three that immediately come to mind are Danielle Brooks, Samira Wiley and Adrienne C. Moore. However, I will go with the combination of Dianne Guerrero and Jackie Cruz. The idea of Flaca and Maritza finally being paired up and working as detectives sounds hilarious. That’s TV gold.
Violence & Gore: The series revolves around a murder investigation, though the depiction of violence is not excessively graphic.
A dead body is discovered in the White House, and while the show does not heavily focus on gore, some crime scene elements may be unsettling.
Flashbacks reveal different versions of events, and some may include tense or slightly disturbing imagery. Some physical altercations or scuffles may occur, potentially played for dramatic or comedic effect.
Mentions of a potential suicide cover-up may be distressing to sensitive viewers.
Profanity: Frequent strong language is used throughout the series.
Political satire and heated discussions between characters include insults, crude humor, and expletives. Certain characters, including the Metropolitan Police Department Chief, may use explicit language for comedic emphasis.
Alcohol, Drugs & Smoking: Alcohol consumption is frequently depicted, particularly at the White House state dinner.Some characters, including Vladimir (Jane Curtin), are portrayed as habitual drinkers, often appearing intoxicated.
Vodka consumption is mentioned as a recurring character trait, and drinking is sometimes played for laughs.
No explicit drug use is mentioned, but the presence of heavy drinking and drunken behavior is notable.
Sex & Nudity: No graphic nudity or sexual content is expected.
Created by: Paul William Davies
Starring: Uzo Aduba, Barrett Foa, and Edwina Findley
Release Date: 20 March 2025