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Breaking Down the Bait-and-Switch Ending of Netflix’s White House Murder Mystery The Residence

BBG News

Instead of continuing with the romantic world of “Bridgerton,” Shonda Rhimes is stepping away to offer a change of pace, serving up a storyline with reduced romance and increased mystery elements: “The Residence.

As a movie enthusiast, I’m thrilled to share that Paul William Davies, known for his work on shows like “Scandal” and “For the People,” has crafted an intriguing new murder mystery series now streaming on Netflix. The series revolves around the mysterious death of White House Chief Usher A.B. Wynter (Giancarlo Esposito), which occurred during a state dinner hosted by President Perry Morgan (Paul Fitzgerald) and First Gentleman Elliott Morgan (Barrett Foa) for Australia. The ensuing investigation leads to Senate committee hearings, promising eight episodes of suspenseful drama.

Following the gruesome discovery of A.B.’s body in the third-floor Game Room by Elliott’s mother, the eccentric detective Cordelia Cupp (played by Uzo Aduba) – who enjoys birdwatching as a hobby – is summoned to the case by Chief Larry Dokes of the Maryland Police Department. Over the following seven episodes, the series alternates between the night of the murder and subsequent hearings to reveal the events of that fateful evening from various viewpoints, including those of White House residents, visitors, and staff members.

In the climax of “The Residence,” it withholds the identity of the perpetrator and their reasons until nearly the very end, keeping audiences in suspense throughout most of the film.

Who killed A.B. Wynter?

In the concluding episode of The Residence, titled “The Enigma of the Yellow Chamber,” we begin by recounting the fateful night of the state dinner as seen through A.B.’s eyes, leading all the way up to his entrance into the Yellow Oval Room, which proved to be his last.

Later on, in the current time, Cordelia makes an appearance before the Senate committee during their hearings to share her account of solving the murder. Following the discovery of fresh leads at the White House that she overlooked during the state dinner, Cordelia assembled all her potential suspects and guided them through what she had already deduced.

Initially, A.B.’s lifeless body was found in the Yellow Room. However, engineer Bruce Geller (Mel Rodriguez) had previously transferred A.B.’s body to the Lincoln Bedroom and then carried it up to Room 301, which was undergoing a false renovation. He placed A.B. beside a sleeping Tripp Morgan (Jason Lee), the president’s wayward brother, with the belief that he was shielding his lover, housekeeper Elsyie Chayle (Julieth Restrepo), who had quarreled with A.B. earlier in the night. When Tripp awoke next to the deceased A.B., he became alarmed and shifted the body to the Game Room. In an attempt to evade suspicion, Tripp pilfered a knife from the office of pastry chef Didier Gotthard (Bronson Pinchot) and employed it to cut A.B.’s wrists, hoping to make his demise appear as a suicide.

It turned out that none of the suspects were actually the real culprit. After noticing that a big painting had been shifted into the Yellow Room to conceal the fact that a door to a secret passageway leading to the Treaty Room had been hidden behind a newly constructed wall, Cordelia finally figured out the identity of the murderer: White House social secretary Lilly Schumacher (Molly Griggs).

Lilly, a wealthy inheritor, held immense disdain not only for the White House itself, but for everything it symbolized – its past, its customs, and its personnel. She aspired to redefine the residence, which to her meant demolishing it, both literally and metaphorically. Therefore, she despised A.B., as he embodied what the White House represented and cherished the house and those who inhabited it. Upon discovering A.B.’s journal in the library, Cordelia deduced that he wasn’t just chronicling Lilly’s misbehavior, but also keeping track of the funds she had misused, along with various laws she had broken while securing contracts, trading favors, and much more.

On the evening of the state dinner, Lilly discovered that A.B. intended to reveal her secrets and made an attempt to snatch his journal from him. When she noticed that the fragment of paper she had picked up could potentially be interpreted as a suicide note, she devised a strategy to eliminate A.B. and present it as a suicide.

Initially, she visited the gardening shed at the White House, retrieving some toxic substances in the guise of pesticide paraquat. Next, she contacted A.B., instructing him to join her in the Yellow Room for a conversation, and subsequently phoned the Secret Service, pretending to be the First Gentleman, asking them to evacuate the second floor. Following this, she handed A.B. a page from his journal and saw him pocket it, then surreptitiously slipped poison into his glass of scotch. Unfortunately, he didn’t drink enough to cause fatal effects, so she resorted to hitting him on the head with a large clock she grabbed from the mantle in the room. She swiftly fled through the Treaty Room passageway and hid the clock in a secret storage compartment before the rest of the evening’s happenings continued.

The conclusion, while perhaps complex, effectively conveys the message the show appears to be attempting to impart: that the system A.B. stands for and believes in, symbolizing America, is worth fighting for. However, whether viewers will find this optimistic perspective relevant or applicable at this specific point in time is debatable.

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2025-03-21 23:06

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