The Residence - Dial M for Murder / Knives Out
Beginning with the Australian delegation, Cordelia Cupp (Uzo Aduba) continues to interview staff and guests piecing together a timeline of the night while looking for motive. The Foreign Minister (Brett Tucker) explains how he happens to be wearing a dead man's shirt while also revealing some other activities he got into with the chef (Mary Wiseman) who had plenty of confrontations with everyone that night including the victim. The awkwardness of the situation allows Cordelia to pressure the Australians into helping lock down the White House and sniffing out what really happened to the head usher (Giancarlo Esposito).
By the end of the night a new suspect will emerge who too had arguments with the victim that night and has evidence on his clothes of being in the room where the body will discovered. In much the same way as the first episode, "Dial M for Murder" concludes with Bronson Pinchot's pastry chef as the lead suspect (although Cupp would never call him that and, this early in the mystery, there's a pretty good chance he won't be our guy). The following episode spends time exploring his accounting of events including how he found the body and why he removed the murder weapon (which he was unsuccessful in destroying). And, just in time for another cliffhanger, a new suspect (but let's not call her that) emerges in the butler (Edwina Findley). But surely the butler wouldn't do it, right?
Highlights from the pair of episodes include showcasing the trouble with eye-witness testimony which often proves contradictory and fallible even when everyone is legitimately attempting to be helpful. And, as we saw in the opening episode, the committee is on their seats listening to how exactly all of this unfolded, while occasionally interrupting to add some commentary or questions of their own.
