Upamanyu Biswas
After setting the stage in the first couple of episodes, the third and fourth installments of ‘The Residence,‘ titled ‘Knives Out’ and ‘The Last of Sheila’ respectively, focus on a series of exciting new developments. A.B. Wynter’s death takes on greater dimensions as more and more White House folk get pulled into the murder scandal, bringing their reputations and their agendas into question. While the ineptitude on display may sway others, Cordelia tries to keep her mind as open as possible until the final solution arrives by itself. As the last episode ended with the detective setting her sights on Didier Gotthard, the executive pastry chef, episode 3 leans into that angle, establishing a pattern and an array of possibilities that might explain how and why he may have been involved in Wynter’s murder and who else could be a part. SPOILERS AHEAD.
Cordelia Seeks More Context Before Jumping to Conclusions
Episode 3 begins with a flashback of what Didier Gotthard was up to right after A.B. Wynter was killed. He found Wynter’s body in the game room and fled from the scene with the knife lying next to the Chief Usher. He cleaned the blood from his knife in the kitchen and hung it on the rack. He then went downstairs to the basement to dispose of a cloth with blood in the incinerator. After taking care of business, Gotthard returned to the kitchen and slumped to the floor in weariness. Cordelia walked in with Haney at that moment and noticed that one of the knives on the rack was more crooked than usual. We saw this scene from a different perspective earlier. The chef held his breath, fearing that Cordelia might notice something was off. But fortunately, the detective does not bring up anything. He breathed a sigh of relief when Cordelia walked away.
We go ten months back when Didier Gotthard made a gingerbread version of the White House to scale. He showed Wynter a gingerbread version of himself as thanks for all these years of his service. In the murder investigation timeline, Cordelia tells Park she wants to talk more to Emily Mackil. Park and the FBI director are confused as to why she won’t talk to Gotthard first, as he is a suspect. However, Cordelia wants more context and does not believe in suspects in general. We once again go back to the Christmas flashback from 10 months back. While the gingerbread White House was planned to be the main attraction of the Christmas White House event, it was put away by Lilly, who, encouraged by her energy medium, St. Pierre, wanted the main hall to display a Wellness Room.
Wynter was unhappy about the change but helpless to influence it in any way. He broke the news to Gotthard. The pastry chef was devastated. Haney explains that it created resentment in Gotthard toward the Chief Usher, especially as the latter should always fight the cause for the White House staff first and foremost. One night, a staff member even found Wynter’s gingerbread avatar with a knife sticking out of it. Another layer is added to the story as we learn that Gotthard and Marvella have beef with one another. They both have big egos and come from completely different backgrounds – one is a perfectionist, while the other is a maverick. As a result of their different outlooks, there are constant clashes in the kitchen between the two. However, Gotthard always felt Wynter had his back on the dispute as they were both somewhat alike. Still, the trust was weaning since the Christmas debacle.
Didier Gotthard Comes Clean About His Role
Cordelia questions Didier about his story, which she finds faulty. However, he keeps his mouth shut about it. The detective gets a break when Trask arrives to tell her something. It is simply a summons that they have her coffee ready with oat milk, which is spilled on her accidentally by Sheila. In the restroom, Sheila tells Cordelia that she saw Didier come down to the basement earlier in the night with a box in his hand. She says that Gotthard seemed determined to have it obliterated because he put it in the incinerator. Fortunately, the incinerator is out of commission, meaning that the box was never destroyed. The box is brought in front of Didier, who panics at the sight. Cordelia brings out the knife from inside the box, the same one Gotthard fled with from the crime scene. The chef finally tells his story without any hesitation.
First, Gotthard admits that he did enter the game room on the third floor, but Wynter was already dead by then. He says that he found the knife next to Wynter’s right hand and was worried he would be suspected because the knife belonged to him. So, he ran away with it. Another reason he felt that he might be questioned was that he tried to serve a dessert earlier in the night, which David Rylance disapproved of. Wynter also disapproved of it being sent to the guests, which made him even angrier towards the Chief Usher. Cordelia is interrupted by Trask summoning her again. Cordelia follows Emily Mackil to the greenhouse, where she realizes that someone else was in the place before. She also identifies that the leaf in the murder site belongs to the Cedar of Lebanon, a tree on the White House grounds.
After investigating, Cordelia finds a cigarette butt under the tree, one with a lipstick mark on it. Even though Park thinks Gotthard is the murderer, Cordelia ignores his hunch and follows up on another. She questions Sheila Cannon about the murder once more and brings up her smoking habit. Sheila denies she is a smoker. However, Cordelia is able to extract what she wants from the woman, who admits she is a smoker and the cigarette butt under the tree belongs to her. The detective asks her what she was doing in the game room earlier that night. Meanwhile, in the Christmas event timeline, we see someone with black gloves sticking a small knife in the gingerbread version of Wynter.
Sheila’s Story Adds More Spice to the Drama
We get an extensive glimpse into Cordelia’s personal life through a flashback event where the detective is out on a birding excursion with her nephew. After the scene, we return to Sheila Cannon’s interview session, where Cordelia asks her about why she was in the game room that night. Sheila says that Nan Cox, the president’s mother-in-law, and a huge drinker, asked for some drinks from the kitchen. The butler states that she was simply following orders when she went up to the third floor, which is where Nan Cox lives. However, she admits that she took a few sips from the vodka she was delivering to the woman. Unimpressed by the lack of details in her explanation, Cordelia wants to know why and how exactly Sheila went to the third floor. She finally agrees to recite the whole thing.
Earlier in the evening, Sheila was serving guests in the state dining room with seemingly great gusto. She thought she was a great host by intermingling and socializing with guests until Rollie approached her and told her she was off the floor. She was devastated by the move and had no idea why it was made. The other staffers explain that her recollection of her efforts is flawed. She was pretty drunk and sat next to Former First Lady Kim Abkins throughout the night. Sheila had a great rapport with Abkins when she was staying in the White House. When the Abkins left, she was devastated and never really gelled with the Morgans. She also constantly ran into trouble with Wynter, who was not happy with her constant love for the Abkins. However, that night, it irked President Morgan to see a butler socialize so freely with a former regime member.
A.B. Wynter read President Morgan’s unhappy expression and sent Rollie to get Sheila off the floor. Subsequently, she and Wynter had a huge argument in one of the other rooms in front of the staff. Sheila was dismissed by Wynter who told her he will be seeing her in his office in the morning. Upon hearing the message, Sheila was worried that it was a loaded threat about firing her. She expressed her fears to different people, including Rollie. The Head Butler told her she should acknowledge her faults and apologize to Wynter the next day. However, Sheila was worried that she might lose her “dream” job and said she would be fine if Wynter was no longer here. Meanwhile, in the interview, Sheila tells a different version of events to hide how desperate she was that night.
Cordelia Cuts Through Sheila’s Lies and Establishes Something Important
Despite being led astray by Sheila, Cordelia manages to ascertain the truth by questioning other staffers who tell her the truth about the woman. As such, Sheila cannot keep up her facade for too long. Eventually, she cracks and spills the truth about everything that happened. She says that she did all those things and wanted to have A.B. Wynter fired to escape from a potential job loss. Frustrated by how the evening had panned out, she went to the third floor after receiving a summons from Nan Cox for some vodka. There, she slipped into the game room to have a few sips of vodka to handle her frustrations. She then delivered the remaining vodka to Nan Cox. However, this all proves to be a lie as well because Nan Cox said earlier that she never received any vodka.
Now well and truly exposed, Sheila asks for a smoke break to calm her nerves. A bunch of the men, including Glick, Hollinger, and Lawrence Dokes, enter the room and squabble about the entire night’s proceedings and Cordelia’s detective work. She pays them no attention and instead asks them if Anne Dodge is here yet. When they can’t answer, she leaves. Outside, she confronts Sheila once again, this time laying the truth of what happened that night in front of her. Cordelia figures out that Sheila actually went to the game room twice. The first time, she just left the decanter on the pool table. The second time she came back with a glass, she drank the whole bottle, which is why Nan Cox never received any. As a result, Sheila became extremely drunk and saw someone at the end of the hall but couldn’t make out who it was.
Agent Trask breaks up the conversation and says Anne Dodge is here. It turns out that Dodge is a forensic doctor. She performed a preliminary report on Wynter, stating that he was killed via a blow to the head. Cordelia learns that Wynter was killed elsewhere at around 9:30 and dragged to the game room. She and Park find a guest room, Room 301, that looks like it is in the middle of a renovation. After talking to Haney, they learn that the Morgans had just made it look like renovation because they did not want anyone to be their guests that night. Back in the room, Cordelia uncovers a spot where paint has been applied to cover a bloodstain. Trask arrives out of nowhere again and tells them that someone across the street wants to speak to Cordelia. The detective sees a hazy silhouette in the distant building through her binoculars.
Read More: The Residence Episodes 1 and 2 Recap
