“That’ll Make a Great Last Line for an Episode.”
When I first heard about Only Murders in the Building in 2021, I suspected it would be something I would love. However, I don’t have many streaming services (and don’t watch the ones I have enough to justify having them), so I was reluctant to subscribe to Hulu just to watch it. When ABC decided to air season 1 in January (thank you to the strikes), I jumped at the chance to see what I was missing. As expected, I loved it.
The show centers on the residents of an apartment building in New York City, specifically former actor Charles-Haden Savage (Steve Martin), former producer Oliver Putnam (Martin Short), and millennial Mabel Mora (Selena Gomez). The three barely know the others exist, and their couple of interactions haven’t gone well.
That is until one night when they have to evacuate the building. The three wind up having to share a table and discover they are all listening to the newest episode of their favorite true crime podcast. They start to bond over their theories about the current season’s case.
When they return to their building, they learn that one of the residents has died. The police rule it a suicide, but Mabel isn’t so sure. Oliver sees the possibility of creating their own podcast as they investigate with Charles as the narrator. Soon, they are uncovering evidence and suspects. But will they crack the case?
I will admit the casting had me scratching my head a bit when I first heard about the show. Steve Martin and Martin Short I get since they’ve done other projects together and are brilliant when they share a screen. I wasn’t sure how Selena Gomez would gel with them. She is perfect. She doesn’t just hold her own with the two legends. She shines. All three of them are phenomenal, and I can’t imagine anyone else in these roles. It was obvious by the end of the first episode the magic the cast has together.
And, keep in mind, that the characters aren’t really friends at that point. Even so, they are playing off each other so well.
The rest of the cast is fantastic as well. Watch for lots of cameos as the season goes along.
I am a mystery fan, and I approached the show as such. A time or two, it was obvious that the show was focusing us on a red herring, but that’s a very minor complaint. The mystery itself was solid. I couldn’t believe it when they revealed the killer. Yet, by the end of the season, it all made sense.
If you’ve read enough of my reviews, you’ll notice I have strong feelings about shows and books that open with an especially exiting scene, and then flashback to where the story really starts. This show took that to an entirely new low. I despised it with a passion. Yes, the star I am knocking off the season is purely for that.
Since this was a Hulu original, the show had to bleep out some swearing when it aired on ABC. It was in every episode, but it was still fairly minimal. And there were some other adult elements. As long as you know this, you’ll be fine.
I want to go back to the main trio for a minute. I wasn’t surprised by the direction their relationships with each other went over the course of the season. But I loved it. The bond they have is wonderful. Again, the chemistry of the casting is perfect. You can feel their friendship come through the screen, and I loved it when we got to see the three of them on screen together. Yet, they also got solo scenes to more fully develop their characters.
Obviously, with this cast, this is a comedic show. And the comedy worked for me. We’ve got broad physical comedy; we’ve got witty dialogue; we’ve got more subtle jokes; we’ve got meta jokes. This is a show where you don’t want to get distracted for a second because you might miss a clue or a laugh. Yet there is a sadness underlying everything that gives it a melancholy tone overall. It’s a tough balance to manage, and I’m impressed with how everyone does it.
If Hulu doesn’t get fully incorporated into Disney+ soon, I might have to break down and subscribe to watch the next season of the show. Yes, I enjoyed it that much. If you haven’t seen Only Murders in the Building yet, you’ll be glad you gave it a chance.
Hulu already merged with Disney+ (I think fully) on my service. Hopefully they will for you soon as well. I do get the ad-supported version of Hulu free with my cell phone plan, but I rarely watch it. I saw a portion of one episode of this show last year. I must admit, I was turned off from it because of the swearing, etc. and I never watched anymore of the episodes. I wish I could overcome that because otherwise I think I'd enjoy this show. :)
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