One genre Netflix has been delivering on is murder mysteries. While Hulu has shows like Only Murders in the Building and Paradise, and Paramount+ has School Spirits, Netflix has been elevating the genre through shows like Adolescence.

Now, the streamer has another murder mystery to engage sleuths: Shonda Rhimes' The Residence. As much as it takes influence from Rian Johnson's Knives Out franchise, these eight episodes pull off one element much better.

The first Knives Out dealt with the death of the wealthy Harland Thrombey. . In the end, the detective deduced that the grandson, Ransom, was the culprit, orchestrating things so Harlan and Fran would die. He was angry that his grandfather gave the will to Marta, so he wanted to frame her and keep the inheritance in the family.

. Blanc caught the villain, Miles, who wanted to cover up that he built his empire on Andi's intellectual property. Andi's twin, Helen, and Blanc suspected Miles and Andi's friends, the Disruptors, of lying to earn money from Miles, building the cover-up.

While both stories were thoroughly engaging, a big issue stood with the supporting cast. . The characters' personalities, idiosyncracies and their reasons for betraying others were essential to the plot. These would have explained who had killer instincts, who was smart, and who was desperate.

Character development informs who would commit suicide, as these killers try to frame many crime scenes as. . But if it's just a movie, there isn't much space to work with, and audiences are forced to fill in the gaps themselves. In the process, every guess is a Hail Mary toss-up, as the viewers haven't truly connected with the rest of the ensemble. It's a lesson that Netflix should factor in with a Knives Out 3 due soon.

. It dials into the apparent suicide of the White House's Chief Butler, A.B. Wynter, but with eight episodes and over six hours of story, everyone gets a fair share of the spotlight. The diminutive, temerity-laden investigator, Cordelia, examines the personal conflicts, illicit romances, and who had a motive to fight back against the egotistical Wynter. This also shows more of Wynter's life and if he, too, would contemplate ending his own life.

. It's the opposite effect of compressing rich, twisty stories into movies. This helps the viewers come up with their own informed theories, rather than make blind guesses from minimal detail. More believable stories and alibis form amid the tragedy. The whodunit also gets more sympathetic villains this way. It enriches the cast and makes them all pivotal to the story rather than ancillary.

. The Knives Out movies couldn't do this, as time restricted them to shaping villains mostly. But in The Residence, even the investigator gets more backstory to hint she may be flawed and guessing wrong. It's something Knives Out fans wanted more of with the queer Blanc, but never got. Instead, Knives Out and others like it (for example, the Kenneth Branagh Poiriot movies) run the same course.

They are fun stories that end up being distilled into narratives that need more time to breathe and to be fleshed out. Thankfully, Netflix understands the shortcomings of this plot. By the time The Residence's shocking ending drops, fans connect fully with why Wynter's secretary -- among many others -- would want him dead. That's the kind of world building that could organically pave the way for new mysteries in The Residence Season 2 if Netflix wants to capitalize on its overall successful reception.

All eight episodes of The Residence and the Knives Out movies are available on Netflix.