Exclusive Interview
‘The Residence’ Creator on Elsyie & Bruce’s Surprising Romance
[Warning: The below contains MAJOR spoilers for The Residence Season 1.]
The Residence may be all about a murder mystery, but it’s the unexpected romance between White House workers Elsyie (Julieth Restrepo) and Bruce (Mel Rodriguez) that really took us by surprise.
While the duo shared glances with one another in earlier episodes, as investigator Cordelia Cupp (Uzo Aduba) dug into the mystery surrounding White House usher A.B. Wynter’s (Giancarlo Esposito) death, the depth of their bond wasn’t initially apparent. “I think that that’s one of the beautiful things about this show, is that nothing is as it appears,” showrunner Paul William Davies shares.
As Cordelia nears the end of her investigation, it turns out that Elsyie and Bruce are both considered suspects and even suspect each other of being the potential murderer. However, time reveals that they were merely protecting one another, regardless of their assumptions. In flashbacks, the duo, who never fully embraced a relationship but showed potential for one, discuss their dreams for the future, including a trip to Italy.
Netflix
It’s a rather sweet storyline, which Davies reveals that “the idea of Bruce and Elsyie in that relationship, I had that really early on, and that to me was one of the fun things about the show, is that when you watch Episode 1, you have no idea that that’s coming. If you go back now and you watch the pilot, you see them and the way Bruce looks at Cordelia in the staff break room and the way Elsyie closes the door.”
“But I knew about that relationship from the start,” Davies reiterates, explaining that Bruce and Elsyie’s bond was a certainty from the beginning of the series. “It was part of the whole fabric of the show.”
Revealed in Episode 7, “The Adventure of the Engineer’s Thumb,” Bruce and Elysie’s bond makes room for a poignancy that’s missing from the more comedic segments of the series. When it came to romance, Davies says, “I liked incorporating that. I like the fact that there are different things going on… It’s about the show being multi-tonal and not just doing one thing, and this was an element I was always looking forward to writing.”
Davies couldn’t discuss the episode without praising the performers, as he concludes, “I think Mel and Julieth are amazing, and it’s a really satisfying episode.”
What did you think of the unexpected romance revealed in The Residence? Let us know in the comments section below, and relive every twist and turn in The Residence by streaming episodes on Netflix.
The Residence, Streaming now, Netflix
