‘The Residence’: Uzo Aduba delights in Netflix murder mystery

OK, so think “Scandal,” but take out the sex and the spying and the occasional gruesomeness and all but one suspicious death, and add more wit, a lot of bird-watching, a dash of “Knives Out” and a lot of behind-the-scenes-at-the-White-House-family-quarters dish, and you’ll get “The Residence,” the latest Netflix offering from Shonda Rhimes’ factory of addictive TV. Starring a delightfully unimpressed Uzo Aduba as eccentric detective Cordelia Cupp, “The Residence” is a murder mystery unfolding over eight episodes, in which Cordelia and a gaggle of hangers-on try to figure out why White House lead usher A.B. Wynter (Giancarlo Esposito, mostly turning up in flashbacks) was found dead on the Game Room floor after a state dinner. (Nonspoiler alert: Netflix didn’t make the final episode available for preview, so I have no idea whatsoever whodunit — but let’s just say I, like Cordelia, have my suspicions.)

Though now might not be the ideal time for a screwball comedy set in the White House, rest assured that “The Residence” is strictly apolitical and might actually provide a cheerful diversion from daily news; the residence staffers on the show emphasize that (as in real life) they work for the house, not the specific administration. The show is inspired by Kate Andersen Brower’s 2015 nonfiction book “The Residence: Inside the Private World of the White House,” and fascinating tidbits from that book pop up in the show; for example, the fact that first families, often to their surprise, are billed for their own food at the White House. And Lyndon B. Johnson’s legendary obsession with having the hottest, strongest shower possible appears in a late episode, as the pet cause of fictional president Perry Morgan (Paul Fitzgerald).

The fun here, though, is in the performances, and in the snappy pacing that wouldn’t be out of place in a rat-a-tat ‘30s rom-com. Series creator Paul William Davies (a “Scandal” veteran) rapidly introduces us to a vast crowd of characters: Cordelia, a genius detective who loves tinned mackerel and would really rather be bird-watching; FBI special agent Edwin Park (Randall Park), reluctantly paired with Cordelia; would-be head usher Jasmine Haney (Susan Kelechi Watson); usher/loose cannon Sheila Cannon (Edwina Findley); Reese Witherspoon-ish social secretary Lilly Schumacher (Molly Griggs); the president’s ne’er-do-well brother Tripp (Jason Lee); a rather dramatic pastry chef named Didier (Bronson Pinchot); and ... sorry, I need to catch my breath here, something the show doesn’t really let you do. Anyway, there seem to be approximately 200 main characters, including a senator played by Al Franken who caused me to think for much too long that wow, that actor really looks a lot like Al Franken, and a very funny running gag involving Hugh Jackman.

Things unfold in a way familiar to anyone who’s read an Agatha Christie novel or watched Daniel Craig as Benoit Blanc: The detective asks questions, hears multiple versions of what happened, looks for clues, gets distracted by rare birds. (OK, that last thing is a fresh twist.) It’s great fun to follow the twisty cameras up and down the beautifully re-created White House hallways, to watch as the rapid-fire narrative zips from one scene to the next, to appreciate Aduba’s multiple variants on Cordelia’s weary resignation to being the smartest person in the room. (I loved the slightly blase tone which she sighs, upon seeing an array of men determined to weigh in on the investigation, “That is a lot of dudes,” and the way she gets people to confess to things simply by holding her face very still.) And there are enough supporting players from “Veep” (Park, Fitzgerald, Isiah Whitlock Jr.) to make you wonder whether Julia Louis-Dreyfus’ President Selina Meyer might suddenly sashay into the room and start barking orders; a welcome thought indeed.

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