Upamanyu Biswas
When a mysterious murder rocks the hallways of the White House during a highly-anticipated state dinner, eccentric consulting detective Cordelia Cupp arrives on the scene to unravel the hidden agendas, machinations, and truths lurking amidst the web of dignitaries invited. As explored in the first two episodes of Netflix’s ‘The Residence,’ titled ‘The Fall of the House of Usher’ and ‘Dial M For Murder’ respectively, Cordelia has her work cut out as the shocking death of the White House’s Chief Usher, A.B. Wynter, leaves everyone scared and rearing to return home. However, with so much at stake, the protagonist insists on handling the case’s investigation her own way, priding herself on her ability to solve “unsolvable crimes.” The only issue here is the amount of political and personal conflicts at play, which leaves Cordelia with a lot on her plate. SPOILERS AHEAD.
A Sinister Murder Ruins a Night of White House Merriment
We begin with a montage of the White House, mainly concentrating on one central figure, the Chief Usher A.B. Wynter. Eventually, we see a woman screaming and Wynter’s dead body lying inside one of the White House’s rooms. The night is October 11th. The show cuts to a few months later, where a congressional committee meeting is being held to discuss the details of Wynter’s death and what transpired that night. Jasmine Haney, the successor to Wynter’s post, is called in to provide her side of the story for what happened on October 11th. We return to the night of the incident when Haney seems unhappy about something and drinks in the lobby. She says she has already done something she regrets to Rollie Bridgewater, the head butler. Haney is called up to the game room by Agent Rausch, the same room where Wynter’s body was found.
Upstairs, we learn that Kylie Minogue is staying in the Lincoln bedroom. A group of gathered officials appoints Haney as Chief Usher as Wynter is gone. Haney recalls a talk she had with Wynter in the elevator where he says he won’t be leaving. The brass informs her to keep Wynter’s death a secret from everyone and call it an “incident” to staff downstairs. She spreads the news about the incident everywhere. She then heads back to the room to see a bunch of people squabbling. The group of important male officials includes Harry Hollinger, the President’s adviser; Colin Trask, a Secret Service agent; Wally Glick, FBI Director; and Irv Samuelson, the National Park chief. Lawrence Dokes, the Chief of Police of Washington DC, also enters the crime scene.
Cordelia Cupp Makes Her Eye-Catching Entrance
Seeing the nature of the crime and its severity, Lawrence calls in the best detective he knows, Cordelia Cupp, an eccentric personality with a penchant for bird-watching. Hollinger is unhappy about Cupp’s appointment, but the latter works through the entire room as diligently as possible. She also realizes that some people also occupy some rooms next to the murder site. Hollinger’s room is also in the same corridor, a fact he decidedly omitted because he is adamant Wynter’s death is a suicide. Downstairs, a state dinner is going on to treat Australian dignitaries – Hollinger wants to stop the spread of information to their Australian “friends.” FBI Special Agent Edwin Park makes an entrance, whom Cordelia does not appreciate. Cordelia examines the body and finds a suicide note, seemingly backing Hollinger’s claim.
For a brief moment, everyone in the room is relieved it is a suicide. Cordelia, however, points out a lot of discrepancies in the death that suggest it is not a suicide but a murder. She brings up the angle of the cuts on Wynter’s wrists as an example: the blood on the shirt marks on his face, and ulcerations in his mouth that suggest poison. He also has a contusion on the back of his head. More importantly, she also notices that the shirt Wynter is wearing is not his. Cordelia decides to head downstairs to the dinner with Haney and Park accompanying her. We get an overview of the White House and where Kylie Minogue is playing. The trio runs into Lilly Schumacher, the social secretary. As the events planner, she is involved in all the affairs of the White House for the state dinner.
Cordelia and Park enter Wynter’s office and find Hollinger pawing through political documents; it is all very shady. Once Hollinger is gone, the detective finds a bloody handkerchief with Wynter’s initials in the trash bin. At the congressional meeting, Senator Margery Bay Bix is very skeptical about the case. After seeing the office, Cordelia asks to interview everyone in the White House, which Hollinger says is impossible. News of the murder has already spread downstairs. The President is unwilling to lock up the White House for any investigation. When Australian Prime Minister Roos, Foreign Minister David Rylance, and Ambassador Tamridge burst into the secret meeting, Cordelia notices that one of them, Rylance, is wearing Wynter’s missing shirt. The President has no choice but to lock down the White House.
David Rylance Catches Heat Because of a Culinary Tryst
After realizing David Rylance is wearing the same shirt as Wynter’s, everybody wants to know why. We see a flashback of the night Wynter was killed when Rylance was taken to the kitchen by the Chief Usher for protocol checks. However, Marvella, the chef, was really mad at Wynter because she was disallowed from doing her flaming Wagyu, and Wynter was interfering in her space. Marvella eventually proclaims she will “kill” Wynter. During the dinner and Kylie Minogue’s performance, Rylance kept feeling bad about Marvella being undermined. He went to see her in the kitchen, and the two started kissing. They left the building to continue their tryst. The foreign minister got a bloody nose when Marvella hit his head by mistake, which led to the blood on his shirt. He saw someone on the grounds while having sex with the chef.
When Rylance walked back into the White House, he ran into Wynter, who saw the blood on his shirt. He gave him his handkerchief to wipe the blood from his nose. Wynter took him upstairs through the back to help him get cleaned up. After Rylance and Wynter exchanged shirts, the latter got a phone call. He then told Rylance, “I am going to be dead by the end of the night.” Rylance divulges the entire incident to Cordelia via an interview. With the mystery of the shirt finally solved, Hollinger and the President suggest that they let everyone go back home now. However, Prime Minister Roos steps in and convinces Perry Morgan, the President, to allow Cordelia to finish her investigation that night itself. Apparently, Cordelia struck a deal with Rylance that she would keep his affair with Marvella a secret if he convinced the Australian delegation to stop anyone from leaving.
A Chaotic Interview Process Only Muddles Up the Investigation
They set up interview spots in three places in the White House – the state dining area, the Green Room, and the China Room. The first person to be interviewed is Eddie Gomez, a staff worker who reveals that he heard Wynter shouting angrily at someone that night. Didier Gotthard, the executive pastry chef, is interviewed, followed by Shelia Cannon, a butler, and Elsyie Chayle, a maid at the White House. She seems scared and hiding something. People report conflicting incidents regarding Wynter, some claiming that he came out of the East Room around 9 with Harry Hollinger, while others say he went out to respond to a van crash outside. Hollinger denies any claims of following or speaking with Wynter. A lot of staff saw Hollinger follow Rylance out of the concert room, but the man remains stubborn about his innocence.
Tripp Morgan, the brother of President Morgan, is interviewed even though he was not invited to the state dinner. While the interviews are ongoing, the guests make themselves home downstairs. The next person brought in for questioning is Bruce Geller, an engineer who shares a meaningful look with Elsyie as he enters the interview room. He was working on Tripp Morgan’s bathroom at 9 pm. Eventually, we learn from Lilly that the whole state dinner event was a debacle because Wynter was constantly under pressure because the staff above him had been making his life miserable for a long time, mainly attributing this to the Morgan family’s new style of management. She says that Wynter never really clicked with the Morgans – with Elliott in particular, the President’s husband.
When asked the question, everyone says they had a great relationship with Wynter. It seems disingenuous to the point of lying. Cordelia questions Marvella about her threatening Wynter with the word “kill” earlier in the night. She expresses her innocence in the murder by stating that she could not have killed Wynter because Angie Huggins, the painter, saw her reenter the White House after her tryst with Rylance. The detective eventually gets news from Trask that they have traced Wynter’s call from earlier when Rylance was in the room. Apparently, the call came from the White House garden where only the gardener, Emily Mackil, works. Cordelia decides to have Wynter’s body wheeled out the front door of the White House as a way to sort out who seems the most suspicious. The first person who catches her attention is the executive pastry chef, Didier Gotthard.
Read More: The Residence Episodes 5 and 6 Recap
