Netflix’s The Residence revolves around the night that AB Wynter was murdered, but the details of this fateful evening are all out of order. Things really kick off in this mystery comedy series when the body of Mr. Wynter, the White House Chief Usher, is found in the mansion’s game room. The best of the best, Detective Cordelia Cupp, was called in to discover precisely what had happened. However, with a state dinner on the floors below, hundreds of people could have committed the terrible crime.
As Cordelia worked out the mystery in The Residenceshe had to put together the pieces of that night. Such a massive event at the White House meant that the Chief Usher was immensely busy putting out fires, and his various angry employees didn’t help matters any. The stress of this dinner meant that many of the various characters in The Residence weren’t on their best behavior—but which of them committed murder? Once Detective Cupp had the timeline all worked out, the answer became clear.
AB Wynter Fights With Tripp Morgan
Wynter’s First Fight Of The Night
Wynter’s first fight of the night was with Tripp Morgan, the President of the United States’ brother. The man had initially planned to attend the state dinner and became angry when the POTUS said he didn’t want him to come. Tripp then called Wynter to his office to fix his clogged toilettaking all his rage out on the usher. Things grew even worse when Wynter clarified that he would tell the president all Tripp had been up to—including stealing from the White House. The fight ended with Tripp screaming after Wynter as he left the room.
AB Wynter Fights With Chef Marvella
Marvella Threatened To Kill Wynter
The next disaster Wynter had to handle the night of his murder in The Residence was in the kitchen. Marvella had a creative vision for her meal, but Wynter forbade her from featuring open flame in the dining room. This enraged Marvella, who had planned to light her entre on fire. Since the chef was in continuous competition with the pastry chef, Didier Gotthard, she saw the failed state dinner as a significant mark against her. Marvella’s final words to AB were a threat to kill him, which certainly didn’t look good when the usher turned up dead in the game room.
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AB Wynter Fights With Bruce Gellar
Bruce Got Called In To Fix Tripp’s Toilet
After Tripp Morgan blocked the toilet in The ResidenceWynter called in engineer Bruce Gellar to fix it. Bruce had been at his son’s birthday party and was naturally angry to be called in—especially since he was expected to unlock a poop-filled toilet.
AB Wynter Fights With Sheila Cannon
Sheila Was Angry & Drunk
This looked to be another potential threat against AB’s life.
Once Wynter had left his fight with Bruce, he returned to the dining room where the guests were having dinner. This was when he noticed butler Sheila Cannon sitting next to the former First Lady. The woman was getting drunker and drunker, and this led Wynter to order her off the floor. Though he didn’t fire her then and there, Sheila was concerned that he would the following day. However, she said that Wynter couldn’t fire her if he weren’t around anymore. This looked to be another potential threat against AB’s life.
AB Wynter Fights With Pastry Chef Didier Gotthard
Didier Felt Betrayed By Wynter
Just as Wynter ended his fight with Sheila, Jasmine Haney requested his help with a dessert-related issue. Wynter headed for the area in the White House where the chef Diddier Gotthard was setting up the kangaroo-topped desserts, but the Australian Foreign Minister David Rylance had taken offense to the animal figurines. Wynter ordered Diddier to remove the kangaroos, but the chef was angry that the usher for once again not standing up for him.
AB Wynter Fights In His Office With Lilly Schumacher
Lilly Was The Mysterious Figure In Wynter’s Office
Wynter retreated to his office after his fight with Didier in The Residencewhere the White House staff overheard him fighting with a mysterious someone. The usher angrily told whoever was there with him that he would tell the president “everything,” indicating that he had a big secret to share. It was eventually revealed that he was talking to Lilly Schumacher, who had been laundering money (along with other crimes). This was when Wynter realized that the retirement plan he had in place wouldn’t happen. With so much chaos, Wynter couldn’t stand to leave.
AB Wynter Tells Jasmine Haney That He Isn’t Retiring
Jasmine Had Been Excited To Take Over
Wynter rode the elevator back down to the dinner after his fight with Lilly, and this was when he told Jasmine Haney that he wouldn’t be retiring. Haney was supposed to take over as Chief Usher after Wynter left, but the conversation with Lilly changed everything. Wynter was afraid to leave things so tumultuous at the White House, but Haney was heartbroken to realize that Wynter wouldn’t go away willingly. This was one of the earliest scenes in The Residence and the last time Haney saw Wynter alive.
AB Wynter Trades Shirts With The Australian Foreign Minister
David Rylance Was Wearing A Dead Man’s Shirt
On the main floor, AB Wynter saw David Rylance, the Australian Foreign Minister, come back inside from the grounds. Rylance had been outside having sex with Marvella, and they were so enthusiastic that Rylance ended up with a bloody nose. The blood had gotten all over the foreign minister’s shirt, so Wynter exasperatedly offered to trade. The two men went to Wynter’s office to change, which is when Rylance heard the usher receive an alarming phone call.
AB Wynter Gets A Mysterious Phone Call
Wynter Announced He Would Die That Night
While trading shirts with David Rylance, Wynter answered a phone call and seemed to agree to meet someone somewhere in a few minutes. Rylance told Cordelia that Wynter then turned to him and said that he would be dead by the end of the night. Of course, Wynter was correct, and it became immediately clear to Cordelia that whoever had made the call was surely involved in the murder. She later deduced that the caller was Lilly Schumacker.
AB Wynter Goes To The Yellow Oval Room To Meet Elsyie
Elsyie Was The Last To See Wynter Alive (Besides His Killer)
Wynter told Lilly he would meet her in the Yellow Oval Room in 5 minutes. However, on his way down, he noticed that the Lincoln Room hadn’t yet been cleaned. So, he called Elsyie and asked her to meet him in the Yellow Oval Room too. Wynter told Elsyie that he had received a call earlier in the night from someone who claimed that she had a criminal record she hadn’t disclosed. Elsyie left the room in tears, fearing she would be fired in the morning. She then told Bruce that she wanted to “kill him,” though The Residence revealed she had meant her ex-husband (who made the call).
Lilly Confronts AB Wynter In The Yellow Oval Room
Lilly Murdered AB Wynter
While Wynter talked to Elsyie in the Yellow Oval Room, Lilly waited patiently in the adjoining room, mixing a drink with the herbicide Paraquat (from the greenhouse). Once Elsyie had left, Lilly entered the Yellow Oval Room and played nice, offering Wynter the drink. However, the usher realized from the first sip something was wrong. He poured the rest of the drink over some flowers, and Lilly threw a vase at Wynter’s head (though she missed). Wynter fell against the mantle, knocking a candlestick to the ground before Lilly smashed the back of the man’s head with a clock, killing him.
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Lilly hid the clock in a secret compartment behind the hidden door, which Cordelia found later to prove Lilly guilty.
Bruce Gellar Moves AB Wynter’s Body To Room 301
Bruce Thought He Was Protecting Elsyie
Bruce saw Elsyie leave with the candlestick and assumed she had killed Wynter.
After Lilly had escaped the Yellow Oval Room through a secret door, Elysie returned, hoping to convince Wynter not to fire her. She was horrified to find the man dead on the floor. Elsyie, unthinking, picked up the candlestick, realized her fingerprints would make her look guilty, and ran out of the room to hide it. Bruce saw Elsyie leave with the candlestick and assumed she had killed Wynter. Hoping to help her, he dragged the usher’s body through a secret stairway to Room 301. However, he accidentally dropped his keys near the body before he escaped.
Trip Morgan Moves AB’s Body To The Game Room
Trip Made Wynter’s Death Look Like A Suicide
The second time that Wynter’s body was moved in The Residence came when Trip Morgan woke up in Room 301 (he had been taking a nap there) to discover Wynter’s body. Scared he would look guilty, Tripp dragged Wynter’s body to the game room, stole a knife from the chef’s office, and used it to slice the corpse’s wrists. He hoped to make it look like a suicide, but when he went to put Bruce’s keys in Wynter’s pocket, he discovered Wynter’s suicide letter. Tripp realized he hadn’t needed to go through all the effort since it appeared to have been a suicide anyway.
AB Wynter’s Body Is Discovered In The Game Room
The Scene That Started It All
The game room is where AB Wynter’s body had been found at the start of The Residence. Shortly after, Detective Cordelia Cupp was called in to investigateand she immediately realized that this wasn’t a suicide after all. Lilly Schumaker had ripped an entry from Wynter’s journals in a rage (during their office fight) and realized that the words sounded like a suicide note if read out of context. This inspired her to murder the man to keep all her secrets from being revealed to the resident. The Residence certainly established a complicated mystery, but it all came together in the end.
The Residence
8/10
- Release Date
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2024 – 2024
- Network
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Netflix
- Directors
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Liza Johnson
- Writers
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Paul William Davies
