Written by Andreas Babiolakis

Binge, Fringe, or Singe? is our television series that will cover the latest seasons, miniseries, and more. Binge is our recommendation to marathon the reviewed season. Fringe means it won’t be everyone’s favourite show, but is worth a try (maybe there are issues with it). Singe means to avoid the reviewed series at all costs.

The premise of the first season of Hulu’s Only Murders in the Building felt like a gimmick: three people that would otherwise never cross paths (they are united by their affinity for true crime podcasts) create their own series as they try to investigate a death in the apartment building they all share. At the end of season 1, I had to eat some of my words. While not the strongest whodunnit, it felt like a great whodunnit tribute, especially with its actual devotion to the genre amidst all of the self-referential silliness. The only thing is that the clues felt like they happen with such extreme convenience, which is sometimes a bit off putting, but maybe that’s a part of that self awareness that Only Murders in the Building possesses. Nonetheless, I was hoping for a second season that wasn’t a rehashing of the first, where we meet and learn more about these oddballs (washed up Charles-Haden Savage, struggling Broadway director Oliver Putnam, and millennial old-soul Mabel Mora, in the middle of a buzzing New York City). We already know their tales. I wanted to see progression. With the first season being resolved and a murder capping the finale off, it felt like we may be running circles.

Well, that luckily isn’t the case. Sure, we have a new murder to solve in season 2, but we also feel like we already know everything about our protagonists (outside of smaller details), so we can just enjoy them as people. Only Murders in the Building actually feels like a continuation and not the same old song and dance of a one-trick-pony show (which we sadly see a lot), despite there literally being another case of death. Now that board president Bunny Folger has been killed and our three friends have been framed (mainly Mabel), the stakes feel higher. That would mean that the mystery should feel a lot more inviting and interesting, right? You would be correct. If anything, season 2 feels like it is ticking off so many of the same boxes (a murder in the building, our trio of protagonists finding themselves in hot water, a celebrity cameo tenant getting entangled in the case, pets getting involved, loved ones being prime suspects), but these are actually the clues that Only Murders in the Building use to throw you off. The cast and crew know you’ve likely seen season 1 if you’ve reached this point. With that in mind, here is a lot of the same, so you won’t suspect a thing.

As season 2 continues, we get familiar with these red herrings, and that’s when you’ll realize that Only Murders in the Building is getting more clever with how it toys with its audience. While the first season was more fun with a little bit of a murder mystery in there somewhere, this actually feels like a game that you want to solve at home. Whether you watched this season week-by-week or have waited to binge the series all in one afternoon (don’t feel guilty: I’m with you on this), Only Murders in the Building will keep you interested and guessing. This all builds up to the finale that just dropped yesterday, which I think is undoubtedly the strongest episode so far; it leaps off of the series’ final misdirection and hits you with a bevy of twists, and most of the loose ends feel tied by the final satisfactory “huh” you will emit. Having said that, there are still a few questions that don’t really feel tended to (I won’t spoil, but a hint I will drop is a “bloody” one that feels forgotten about); we could have to wait until next season for these to be answered, as season 2 has proven with some of the first season’s neglected plot points finally getting nurtured. Everything seems to be lined up into place in this show, so I don’t doubt that there will be closure.

This is also because season 2’s only false note is that, like season 1, everything feels incredibly convenient. In the same way that the risks feel larger, the resolutions also feel much more pre-meditated. These aren’t red herrings, either. These are actual clues and discoveries that are needed to solve this case, and they seem to appear in the right place at exactly the right time (again, without spoiling too much, I’ll discretely ask how a certain character and their puzzle knew to drop a specific hint exactly when they do without actually knowing who the killer is). The show’s tone is goofy, so this kind of flaw doesn’t feel too bothersome, but I do pick up on these missteps whenever they happen. You’re supposed to feel excited to stumble upon another clue, not feel like it was hand gifted to you right before the delivery time that was given to you (these revelations almost feel like Uber Eats deliveries).

Still, what these revelations are are still intriguing enough, especially when these discoveries really change the game. In the same way that season 2 ironed out some of the wobbliness of the first season, I’m sure that the upcoming third season (the renewal was just announced) will continue to fine tune what we have and make for an even better show. What’s important is not just the genre bending, but how well everything gels here. It felt like a miracle that Steve Martin and Martin Short work so well with Selena Gomez in that first episode, but that’s old news at this point and we’ve long accepted that. Generally, almost everything that comes through this series is out of left field, and yet all of these decisions feel like they fit perfectly within this strange-yet-reasonable world. Only Murders in the Building is a fluid comedy-mystery where everything just works (even if all too well), and while it may not be the most thrilling series on television, it is definitely an amusing one that does exactly what it sets out to do: make me escape real life for half-hour chunks (like a great podcast would). It knows that both comedy and suspense are the best forms of making an audience forget their problems, and it does both well enough individually (but quite strongly as a combined formula of escapism). What’s next for the series? Who knows, but it isn’t stale yet, so I am still looking forward to the oddities that take place in this peculiar show.

Andreas Babiolakis has a Masters degree in Film and Photography Preservation and Collections Management from Toronto Metropolitan University, as well as a Bachelors degree in Cinema Studies from York University. His favourite times of year are the Criterion Collection flash sales and the annual Toronto International Film Festival.

Only Murders in the Building Season 2: Binge, Fringe, or Singe?

Written by Andreas Babiolakis