First of all, click on this link and watch the intro. How can you not already love this?
Only Murders in the Building is a 10-episode TV show1 about two boomers and a zoomer solving a murder that’s taken place in their downtown New York building. They meet upon discovering they’re all fans of the same true crime podcast, and decide to start their own.
I’ll quickly explain what I liked and didn’t like, spoilers-free. You should watch the show, then come back and read the rest of the review. Or just scroll to the end if you’re lazy. I will say this though: this review really isn’t worth the price of ruining the mystery for you.
Despite a surprisingly mediocre performance from Steve Martin (played by Steve Martin),2 the characters are cross-generational, strong and relatable. I love the character of Oliver Putnam (Martin Short) the most, an overdramatic playwright trying to act half his age to hide some deep secrets that you’ll find out by watching this really cool thing. The mystery is strong, the whodunnit is clever, the music is good, the visuals are charming, and the extended cast is all hits, no misses.
Honestly, is there anything I really didn’t like? Yeah, there was. Episode eight and the start of nine have a disappointing and artificial plot swerve that stops everything to a halt. I understand why they did it, but they could have figured out a better way… still, this is an overwhelmingly strong “yes, watch this” from me.
SPOILERS START HERE
I’d like to say the Arconia—the building the plot takes place in—is its own lovable character, but that’s the kind of thing a hack review writer would say. I’ll just say it’s just a dumb building made out of three or four sets. What’s contained within is the interesting part.
Beyond the main cast, the 10 or so recurring inhabitants are so, so good. You already love fictionalized Sting, or the Cat Guy, or the MLM3 lady within the first five minutes of their appearances, and they don’t overstay their welcome either—this show is surprisingly conscientious in retiring jokes when it’s time. In addition, most of them were weird casting choices. I think the showrunners must have intentionally avoided Hollywood faces, and you get a lot of gremlin or fat looking people that feel completely at home in New York.
Getting more into spoilers territory, I liked that the victim was so unlikable. This is not Twin Peaks. Tim Kono is kind of an asshole that died trying to do a good thing for his friends, but that doesn’t take away the fact that he was a weirdo and none of his neighbors liked him.
Similarly, the flashback culprit had a really original,4 captivating introduction, and he and his partner-in-crime showed a rarely seen relationship in a pair of criminals, sometimes creepy, sometimes wholesome, always interesting.
The dive of quality I mentioned early? The cast grabbing multiple Idiot Balls in a row5 and choosing the wrong murderer. They needed to build up tension for the reveal in a weird attempt at a “darkest hour”, but it didn’t feel in-character and it took too much wind out of the show’s sails, to the point the finale needed to be really, really good to make it a net positive. Thank god it was good.
It doesn’t help that that mini-arc contains another of the weak points of the show: the meta-nods, with the weirdo fans of the podcast being obvious stand-ins for fans of the TV show, up to and including one of the main characters telling the fans: “get more hobbies than just this show, please”.
The finale was a nice merge of character development, funny physical comedy (the paralyzing poison is a masterstroke, and redeems Steve Martin’s shitty acting throughout) and a great resolution of the central mystery. Usually in mystery media, especially recent mystery media, the writers are afraid of the Internet figuring it out early. Their usual hacky solution: there are fifty red herrings and only one true hint towards the actual murderer as a proof they didn’t make it up as they went along.
But in Murders, they didn’t give a shit. About six separate clues point towards the main culprit, and the red herrings are arguably hints in and of themselves, like the cat. I’m sure the Internet figured the killer out, but I didn’t, and it felt more organic and real than any Uminekian6 bullshit I’ve had to sit through in the last decade.
I guess I’m a bit disappointed with Mabel’s character. She was a focal point of many episodes, since she was what ostensibly should make us care about the flashback era, but she was designed to be kind of flat and expressionless—sure, depression explains it, but it still wasn’t very engaging. I hope they do something better with her in the second season.
And this is the kind of filler paragraph we all hope for when we see a huge “spoilers end here”-style header drawing your eyes. God, I love those, protecting me from the endgame spoilers right above.
SPOILERS END HERE
It’s not a bombastic Marvel spectacle, but it’s the kind of cozy above average show that should have never stopped existing. You know those memes containing a caption like “he’s just a lil guy”?7 That’s exactly how I feel about this series compared to the current media zeitgeist.
This show could have ended at the end of season 1 and I’d still be happy. A definite must watch.
8.5/10 - They said a comfycore crime show could never exist. They were wrong.
It’s available on Hulu, but hell if I’m going to link to it.
So far. This review only covers the first season.
I know this is hard to believe, but I just checked Steve Martin’s filmography and I’ve managed to dodge literally every single movie he’s ever been in. This is probably the first thing I’ve watched with him in it. This might apply to Martin Short too, actually? I should watch more mainstream films.
The not gay one.
Well, I know Mr. Robot did it, but that show will never stop ruining the Hacker Mystique so I refuse to give it a win.
Umineko was pretty good, but people who’ve played it know what I mean.