Did you catch all the hidden gems in Netflix's murder-mystery dramedy? From clever episode titles paying homage to classic whodunits, to accurate White House recreations, and subtle references to real presidential history, we're revealing the most fascinating details you might have overlooked in this thrilling series.
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00:00This is us. This is the house."
00:03Welcome to Ms. Mojo, and today we're counting down our picks
00:06for the hidden details and references in Netflix's
00:092025 murder mystery dramedy The Residents.
00:12Since this list includes key plot points and clues,
00:15there are major spoilers ahead.
00:17I saw Elsie running out of the yellow over room
00:21with a candlestick in her hand.
00:24Number 10. Episode titles.
00:27For showrunner Paul William Davies,
00:28The Residents gave him the chance to pay homage
00:31to his favorite murder mystery influences.
00:33Part of the fun of the show and the genre
00:35is often to pay respect to predecessors.
00:39I was influenced by so many movies and books.
00:42I wanted to weave that in throughout the show.
00:44And each episode, I referenced famous murder mysteries.
00:48Episode one shows the discovery of Chief Usher A.B. Winter's body
00:52and is aptly titled after Edgar Allan Poe's
00:54The Fall of the House of Usher.
00:56Episode two is partly about tracing a mystery phone call,
00:59taking its name from Alfred Hitchcock's 1954 thriller Dial M for Murder.
01:03That's what he said after that.
01:06After he hung up.
01:12I am going to be dead by the end of the night.
01:15Episode three centers on a missing knife,
01:17a reference to Rian Johnson's 2019 Whodunit Knives Out.
01:21Episode four mainly focuses on Sheila Cannon,
01:23making the 1973 film The Last of Sheila a perfect title.
01:28Episode five, in which Harry Hollinger becomes a suspect,
01:30is titled after the 1955 dark comedy The Trouble with Harry.
01:35Harry Hollinger.
01:36Oliver Root.
01:37Director of the CIA.
01:38Yes.
01:39And Walpole Bing.
01:40The Australian industrialist.
01:42Exactly.
01:43And one of Harry Hollinger's best friends, apparently.
01:46Episode six comes from the 1949 film Noire the Third Man,
01:49with episode seven inspired by the 1892 Sherlock Holmes short story
01:53The Adventure of the Engineer's Thumb.
01:55The finale references Gaston Leroux's 1907 book The Mystery of the Yellow Room.
02:00Some episodes, the connection is more obvious.
02:03Sometimes you have to look for it a little bit.
02:05I think people who really love the genre do appreciate that history.
02:08Number nine, presidential cameo.
02:11Speaking of Davies, in the third episode,
02:13he takes a page from legendary filmmaker Alfred Hitchcock.
02:16Somebody asked me if I wanted to be in the show,
02:20and I was like, you know, that'd be fun.
02:21And makes a cameo as Calvin Coolidge, the 30th president of the United States.
02:26This quick cutaway scene shows him enjoying Bananas Foster,
02:29the dessert pastry chef Didier Godard wanted to serve for the state dinner.
02:33Didier wanted to make desserts that Calvin Coolidge would be excited about.
02:38Didier and Winter had always got along well, for years.
02:42Didier was a perfectionist and so was Winter.
02:45Davies also made a cool casting choice with SNL alum Al Franken
02:48as Washington senior senator Aaron Filkins.
02:51The real-life former Minnesota senator served from 2009 to 2018.
02:56You're not a political appointee.
02:58No, sir.
02:59The work of the White House residence staff is not political in any way.
03:03Same with this committee.
03:04Number eight, party crashers.
03:06Cordelia Cupp initially overlooked one of many things
03:09that went wrong on the night of the state dinner.
03:11Someone crashed a party.
03:13So just give us a minute.
03:15Two people crashed the party.
03:19A few guests and staff members tell her about two people,
03:22socialites Valentina and Lorenzo Moda, crashing the event.
03:25Valentina and Lorenzo Moda were two Washington socialites
03:29who arrived at the east entrance a little after 6.15,
03:32mingled with the other guests in the reception area
03:37and then met the president in the receiving line.
03:40Some fans of The Real Housewives of D.C. were reminded of the 2009 scandal
03:44with alum Mikkel Salahi and husband Tarek Salahi.
03:47It was alleged the then-couple attended President Barack Obama's first state dinner,
03:52despite not being invited.
03:54Valentina's also wearing a red gown like Mikkel.
03:57This reference is so far unconfirmed by the creators,
04:00but even if unintentional, the similarities are undeniable.
04:04These were not people the Morgans would socialize with.
04:06There's a little bit of a snook.
04:09It turns out that they had snuck into the White House.
04:11Number seven.
04:12An abundance of birds.
04:14Cordelia Cupp has instantly become a beloved fictional detective.
04:18And like all great sleuths,
04:19her talent for solving unsolvable crimes stems from her quirks.
04:23I didn't set out to make her a birder from the start,
04:26but the deeper I got into the story,
04:28I realized it was one of the defining characteristics
04:31of the way that she approaches her job.
04:33Her love of bird watching,
04:34a passion that requires patience and tons of research,
04:37informs the way she investigates.
04:39She's falcon-like in her sharp eye for detail
04:42and ability to hone in on a suspect or piece of evidence.
04:45Cordelia often uses birds to explain human behavior
04:48and regularly shares facts with the people around her.
04:51You know the amazing thing about birds?
04:54Birds have the ability to focus.
04:57It's not that they're just good at hunting for food,
05:00they literally filter out things that are not food.
05:04The show does feature actual birds,
05:06but bird designs also appear in places like Nan's wallpaper
05:09and St. Pierre's clothing.
05:10Hopefully viewers found the bird motif interesting,
05:13unlike some of the characters.
05:15Can we not with all the birds this time?
05:18Just like, enough with the birds.
05:20Number 6.
05:21Real White House Stories
05:23While The Residence tells a fictional story of murder and mayhem,
05:26the idea originated from a non-fiction book.
05:29Nancy Reagan had an astrologer who set the presidential schedule.
05:32The Gorbachev-Reagan nuclear summit in Iceland?
05:34Planned by the astrologer.
05:36People think the Cold War ended because of containment,
05:38but really it was just a new moon in Libra.
05:39Davies was inspired to create the series after reading The Residence,
05:43Inside the Private World of the White House by Kate Anderson Brower.
05:46He inserted various anecdotes about real accounts of the occupants,
05:50guests, and staff members over the years.
05:52Some stories were made into plot points,
05:54such as the first family faking a guest room renovation
05:56to keep people from staying over,
05:58which former first lady Jackie Kennedy apparently did in real life.
06:02I know there's a room across the hall from me that's being renovated.
06:04It's not being renovated.
06:05Oh, so you're talking about a different room.
06:07No, I'm saying that the room you think is being renovated
06:10is not actually being renovated.
06:11The president and Mr. Morgan asked the staff to make it look like
06:13it was being renovated because there was someone they didn't want to stay here.
06:16President Morgan is rather particular about water pressure,
06:19supposedly mirroring former president Lyndon B. Johnson.
06:22Davies also took inspiration from the real-life Ficklin family,
06:26who had multiple generations working at the White House,
06:29much like the three generations of McCutcheons.
06:31In this case, all named George.
06:34No, you want the other George McCutcheon.
06:36Yes, there's a big George, and a little George, and me,
06:39and there were two other George McCutcheons before any of us.
06:43Number five, White House design accuracy.
06:46Even for people who haven't seen it all in person,
06:48it's evident that the White House set of The Residence looks great on screen.
06:52Did Winter have an office?
06:54Yes, on the mezzanine.
06:55Show me, and take the long way.
06:57The show didn't film in Washington, D.C.,
06:59but instead used soundstages in Los Angeles.
07:02Production designer Francois Odui managed to recreate these historical places,
07:06including the Yellow Oval Room,
07:08the Red Room,
07:09the Green Room,
07:10the Blue Room,
07:11the Treaty Room,
07:12the Lincoln Bedroom,
07:13and the State Dining Room.
07:15I really wanted to show the audience all the rooms,
07:18and each of them has a history.
07:20So we picked the version of it that we liked,
07:22and then sometimes embellished it slightly.
07:25Everything from the wallpaper and furniture to books and dinner plates
07:28are highly detailed.
07:30For accurate decor,
07:31production even sourced or recreated artwork
07:34that might look familiar to anyone who's visited the White House.
07:37Almost every detail you see in the White House,
07:39we tried to get as right as we could.
07:41In the China Room,
07:42we really carefully selected all of the plates to China in that room,
07:47just like we cared about everything that was in the pastry kitchen.
07:49White House consultant Haley Rivero O'Connor
07:52also provided details for unphotographed areas
07:54like the basement and staff offices.
07:57Number 4.
07:58Betty Ford Portrait
08:00When White House butler Sheila Cannon is interviewed by Detective Cup and Agent Park,
08:04she tells them about the First Gentleman's mother, Nan Cox,
08:07and her alcohol use disorder.
08:09I took a shot of the vodka before I delivered the bottle to Ms. Cox.
08:14Two shots.
08:18Three shots,
08:19but I consider the gratuity and I needed it.
08:21Sorry, not sorry.
08:22Sheila eventually admits that she also indulged during the state dinner.
08:26Behind her is a portrait of President Gerald Ford's wife,
08:28Betty,
08:29painted by Felix DeCosio in 1977.
08:32The former First Lady of the United States was candid about her personal struggles
08:36with substance use disorders
08:37and co-founded the Betty Ford Center in California.
08:40While this framing may have been unintentional,
08:42it's a nice nod to her legacy.
08:44But Ms. Cox,
08:46and I know,
08:46I know she is the President's mother-in-law,
08:48I shouldn't say anything,
08:49but I'm saying,
08:51she likes to drink.
08:52Number 3.
08:54No Oval Office
08:55Even though the residence is set in the White House,
08:58the creators opted out of discussing politics and didn't mention any political parties.
09:02The work of the White House residence staff is not political in any way.
09:05In fact,
09:06they avoided the non-residential areas like the East and West Wings altogether.
09:10The yellow oval room plays a major role in the show,
09:13but did you notice we never see the other oval-shaped room?
09:17The President and his family live on the second and third floors,
09:20although there are guest bedrooms on both floors, as you know.
09:23The first floor,
09:24the state floor,
09:25contains the great ceremonial rooms,
09:27the state dining room,
09:29the red room,
09:31the blue room,
09:32the green room,
09:33and the east room,
09:34the largest room in the house.
09:36Similar to its source material,
09:37Davies wanted to focus on the inner workings of the residence staff.
09:41The state dinner,
09:42employee drama,
09:43and the eventual murder of A.B. Winter all take place in the same behind-the-scenes areas,
09:48so it makes sense that we wouldn't venture into other rooms,
09:51even THE room.
09:53Her parents,
09:53historically supporters of the other party,
09:55were major donors to the Morgans,
09:57and their support was instrumental, some think,
10:00in Perry Morgan's then-victory.
10:02Number 2.
10:03Murder Mystery Homages
10:05In addition to episode titles,
10:06Davies also peppered references and Easter eggs of legendary authors,
10:10writers,
10:11and filmmakers throughout the show,
10:12beginning with some name drops.
10:14I don't care if she's Miss f***ing Marple or Sherlock Holmes
10:18or whoever the f*** Daniel Craig is in that f***ing movie.
10:21Benoit Blanc.
10:22I want her in here now.
10:23Nan Cox comes across the 1946 film Terror by Night,
10:27featuring Sherlock Holmes,
10:28arguably the most famous fictional detective in history.
10:31What makes you so sure he's murdered, Mr. Holmes?
10:33The door was locked.
10:35Hey!
10:36Do you consider this loud?
10:37Your voice?
10:38No, it's a little throaty for my taste,
10:39but it's not loud.
10:40The TV.
10:42No.
10:42Agatha Christie,
10:43known for iconic literary detectives Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple,
10:47gets a few mentions.
10:49Elsie's daughter is shown reading her 1926 novel The Murder of Roger Ackroyd.
10:54Chief Doakes,
10:54Detective Kopp,
10:55and Agent Park also discuss 1934's Murder on the Orient Express
10:59and its film adaptations.
11:01Someday I'll read the book.
11:05Right, uh, okay, that's weird.
11:07Uh, anyway, if you remember,
11:09it turns out they all did it,
11:10all the suspects.
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11:27Number 1.
11:29One Big Clueboard
11:31As we've discussed,
11:32The Residence has various references to genre classics.
11:35Lock it down.
11:36Now.
11:40However, one of the first things about the many rooms of the actual White House
11:44that caught Davies' intrigue was how much it sounded like a clueboard,
11:48designed and manufactured in the 1940s.
11:50The murder mystery game is set inside a mansion
11:52featuring nine rooms as potential crime scenes.
11:55The show has similarly themed rooms,
11:57including a game room,
11:59dining room,
12:00kitchen,
12:00and library,
12:01along with secret passageways.
12:03She wanted to see everything,
12:05and so I showed her.
12:07132 rooms,
12:08147 windows,
12:1028 fireplaces,
12:118 staircases,
12:13and 3 elevators spread across 6 floors and 2 mezzanines.
12:16A knife plays a post-mortem role in Winter's Death,
12:19and engineer Bruce Gellar sees Elsie leave the yellow oval room
12:22holding a candlestick.
12:23Two of the six weapons in Clue.
12:25The physicality of the characters is also reminiscent
12:28of the 1985 Clue film adaptation.
12:31How can we possibly find out which of you did it?
12:33What do you mean, which of you did it?
12:34Well, I didn't do it!
12:36Well, one of us did.
12:37We all had the opportunity.
12:38We all had a motive.
12:39Great!
12:40Did you catch any of the details?
12:41Share your findings in the comments below.
12:44Chief, how did I not see this?
12:46Do you agree with our picks?
12:48Check out this other recent clip from Ms. Mojo.
12:50And be sure to subscribe and ring the bell to be notified about our latest videos.