Clockwise from top left: Steve Martin and Amy Ryan; Selena Gomez, Martin Short, and Steve Martin; Jane Lynch and Steve Martin; Selena Gomez, Ali Stroker, Jaboukie Young-White, Daniel Oreskes, and Aaron Dominguez (Photos: Craig Blankenhorn/Hulu)
Update, 6/23: To mark the return of Hulu’s Only Murders In The Building on June 28, we’re revisiting our burning questions about the season-one finale, which originally published in October 2021. (Be sure to check out Saloni Gajjar’s episode recaps once season two starts.)
Hulu’s Only Murders In The Building ended its first season with customary humor and verve—and a whole new case to investigate from our couches.
The identity of Tim Kono’s (Julian Cihi) killer was finally revealed. Mabel (Gomez), Oliver (Short), and Charles (Martin) even managed to redeem themselves to their Arconia neighbors, who just last week had voted them out of the building. But the mysteries are far from over. As seen in the final moments of “Open And Shut,” Mabel finds herself in a bloody precarious position—she was found in the same room as a now-dead Bunny (Jayne Houdyshell).
We’ll definitely be wondering about “the who, the how, the why, and the why now” as we wait on season two, but The A.V. Club’s in-house sleuths also have some lingering questions following season one.
Only Murders in the Building Season 2 | Trailer | Hulu
1. Who framed Mabel for Bunny’s murder?
Jayne Houdyshell and Martin Short Photo Craig Blankenhorn/Hulu
This is the $64,000 question, the one that will undoubtedly make up the backbone of . The final moments of “Open And Shut,” directed by Jamie Babbit and written by John Hoffman and Rachel Burger, take us back to the series opener. We see Mabel crouched in front of a bloodied and be-hoodied body, and finally learn the victim’s identity: Bunny, the irascible leader of the tenants’ board. She’s been stabbed in the chest with Mabel’s knitting needle—you know, the one she spoke of so fondly in the premiere?Of course, we know Mabel didn’t kill Bunny. But someone’s gone to a lot of trouble to make it look that way, and even managed to bring down Charles and Oliver as well. As Mabel noted shortly after Jan (Amy Ryan)’s arrest, Bunny had just become the “most hated woman in the building.” But did someone really want her dead, or was she just collateral damage in some plot against Mabel and/or Charles and Oliver?Also, where was Oscar (Aaron Dominguez)when all of this was going down? (For that matter, where is Mabel’s aunt?) He and Mabel had a tender moment before she made her way to the rooftop for a toast with her podcasting buds. Could Oscar be harboring some resentment over what happened in their youth? And while we’re on this subject… [Danette Chavez]
2. Who told Charles and Oliver to get out of the building as the police approached?
Photo Craig Blankenhorn/Hulu
After Mabel heads to her apartment for more bubbly, Charles and Oliver hear sirens, which they observe are getting louder and closer to the Arconia. Then they both get a text message from an unfamiliar number, telling them to “Get out of the building now!!!” They race down the stairs to get Mabel, only to find her with Bunny’s body, mere seconds before they’re all apprehended.This question is related to the one above, about who framed Mabel, because we also have to wonder if the text warning is part of the same scheme. Or did someone really try to help Charles and Oliver get out of the building before the police arrived? Could it have been Oscar? [Danette Chavez]
3. Who will take over podcasting duties from the trio?
Photo Craig Blankenhorn/Hulu
Season one ends with Mabel, Oliver, and Charles in police custody. Their podcast is wrapped up now that Tim Kono’s murder has been solved, but their arrest for Bunny’s death opens the door for a brand new podcast to stem from within the Arconia. Yes, Cinda Canning (Tina Fey) is already earning mileage with Only Murderers In The Building, but who will take over rookie podcasting duties now? The trio, if they’re behind bars for long, might not be able to solve their own mystery. Will their superfans from episode eight have a larger role in season two, kicking off their own investigation to aid their heroes? Or will someone else from the building, like Howard Morris (Michael Cyril Creighton) or Ndidi Idoko (Zainab Jah), dive into the world of true crime/amateur sleuthing? [Saloni Gajjar]
4. What role will Detective Williams play in clearing the OMITB podcasters’ names?
When the series began, Detective Williams () was no fan of the podcasting trio; she was sick of true-crime obsessives exploiting other people’s lives and tragedies. But she shook off her true-crime fatigue to take a closer look at the evidence in Tim’s case, which she tried to share anonymously with the group (as seen in the clip above, she wasn’t really able to maintain her distance).Detective Williams is at the Arconia as Mabel, Oliver, and Charles are led away in handcuffs. , she tells the group “Don’t say a fucking word.” Is she just offering up a very succinct version of their Miranda rights, or is she trying to help them? Will the detective be swayed by the evidence against the trio, or will she try to help them prove their innocence? [Danette Chavez]
There were so many good moments in Only Murders In the Building, but few could rival Jane Lynch’s appearance as Charles-Haden Savage’s stunt double Sazz Pataki in episode nine. (Just the multiple sight gags of everyone doing a double-take when they saw her alone.) Sazz is not only the perfect stand-in for both Charles and Tilda Swinton, she is a vital connection to Charles’ former life as the star of Brazzos, one of the few people he’s ever really opened up to. The cast of OMITB was already functioning at an extremely high level, but in the penultimate episode “Double Time,” Lynch’s character was a welcome jolt of charming adrenaline, as well as unexpectedly savvy about murder investigations. So Sazz Pataki really should return, right? (Series co-creator that the show has “invited back” many of the season-one cast members, so…) In fact, if Charles et al. are actually incarcerated at the start of season two, it seems like having a Charles lookalike may come in handy—not only for possible jailbreaks, but as a link to the outside world to help find Bunny’s real killer(s). Hopefully while unfurling myriad entertaining anecdotes as she does so. [Gwen Ihnat]
