Only Murders In The Building: I Know Who Did It

2.5/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

The trio reveal who the killer is.

I worried last week that the show would swerve away from having Cinda, played by Tina Fey, be the main villain of the series, and then this episode proved that worry to be founded by having it be her assistant instead. I think this reveal was way less satisfying and felt quite anti-climactic.

Moreover, another thing I didn’t like about this episode, which has also been at the borders of this whole second season more broadly is a sense of smugness. I know the show has been nominated for a number of awards and has quite a devoted fanbase, but the series seems to be a little too into itself now, giving far too many knowing looks to the audience.

I will give the episode some praise for bringing back Cara Delevingne’s character, even if she is still being incredibly under used, I think Delevingne’s new arrival is probably the best thing about what is otherwise a very mixed season.

Overall, a decent end, but one that highlights the shows key issues, it’s long in the tooth continuation onwards, and its smugness.

Pros.

Bringing back Delevingne

It was watchable

A few funny moments

Cons.

The smugness

It ignored the best possible villain

It like the rest of the season was badly paced

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Only Murders In The Building Sparring Partners

3/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

An old enemy rears their head as the gang home in on a murderer.

So I think this episode was again a mixed bag, for the most part it is filler and padding, however the final twist reveal more than makes up for it. By pointing the finger at Cinda, played by Tina Fey, the show really capitalises on the dislike the audience has for her and creates a satisfying ‘it all makes sense now’ sort of moment. I will say however, that if the show doesn’t go with Fey’s character being the villain of this season then it will feel like a huge missed opportunity.

Again the Oliver, played by Martin Short, parenting subplot continues to not even remotely interest me, as we all know the secret will come out it is just inevitable. I think some of the side stories this season has done has expanded and deepened the character of a lot of our favourite Arconia residents however, in other cases such as this it has just ended up feeling like filler.

I liked that Cara Delevingne’s character returned and that it looks like she won’t be the villain, hopefully in the next episode we can have her origins explored a bit more so that her character can start to feel less two dimensional.

Overall, a fairly standard episode made a lot better by a great and satisfying twist ending.

Pros.

The ending

Delevingne’s return

The sparing sequence

Cons.

The Oliver parentage side story

The pace is really quite off

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Only Murders In The Building: The Last Day Of Bunny Folger

2.5/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

The last day in the life of Bunny, played by Jayne Houdyshell.

Honestly I am not really digging this season of Only Murders In The Building, and I think that it is just being stretched out for the sake of stuff to put on Disney +. As I have said in earlier reviews the mystery this time around is not particularly interesting and unlike with the first season you don’t care about what is going on. To be frank I could stop watching this show right here and not miss it at all.

However, something that I will give this episode credit for is that it at least takes a chance and tries to do something new. Rather than focus on the central trio we get to see a day in the life of a fairly important side character, and not many shows would dedicate a whole episode to a supporting character in this way so that was pretty cool as it helped to flesh out the wider world of the show.

Although through this focus on another character this episode highlights our central trio in a less than stellar light. I do understand that the point of this episode’s shifted perspective is to reframe things, but it does this a little too well and clearly illustrates all the worst traits of our lead characters and makes them unlikeable. The charm of the show is really gone after this episode.

Overall, I might stop watching as I don’t want to continue watching a once promising show continue to drag itself through the mud.

Pros.

Be brave enough to focus on a smaller character

It is watchable

It makes you care more about Bunny

Cons.

It is fairly dull

The mystery doesn’t seem to be leading anywhere

The leads are unlikeable

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Only Murders In The Building: Framed

2.5/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

The mystery continues but honestly I am starting to lose interest.

I am not saying this is a terrible episode, as by all accounts it is watchable. However, it is also far from good.

As I mentioned in the previous review of this latest season the mystery is feeling more and more needless and forced and this episode did nothing to change my mind on that front. All of this jazz around the painting just feels like clutching at straws to try and give this season a purpose. Moreover, Amy Schumer is once again forced into the episode as even though she is just a guest character they have to get her overly involved the plot as the producers of this show seem to be the only people on earth to not understand how unpopular and disliked she is.

However, it is not all doom and gloom. Much like the first episode had the Brazzos’ remake, this episode explores Mabel, played by Selena Gomez, and her artistic side. I think it is apparent that Cara Delevingne’s character will be the villain of the season, however, despite this rather obvious direction I am glad to see that this season is exploring Mabel more as she is the most interesting of the three characters by a long stretch and also the one we know the least about.

Overall, not without some enjoyable aspects but the mystery really needs to get into gear, and they need to get rid of Amy Schumer if they want to keep me around.

Pros.

Exploring Mabel’s character

It is watchable

There is still some fun to be had

Cons.

It is still struggling to justify its existence

Schumer

The mystery is boring

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Only Murders In The Building: Persons Of Interest

3/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

After being hauled in for murder the trio try and prove their innocence and begin to find themselves staring down another mystery.

I find this show to be good comfort viewing, you aren’t really watching it to see something you have never seen before or to be challenged you are just watching it to be casually entertained. In that view I enjoyed this first episode well enough it was very easy to watch and the central trio all had great chemistry, as they did last season.

My question for this season which the first episode made very more crystal clear, is why did it need a second season, where is there to go from here? Honestly, I feel like the mystery this time around feels a little forced, but who knows maybe they will go somewhere interesting with it and justify why the show needed to come back for a second season.

I liked that the Charles, played by Steve Martin, storyline had him return to his former role as Brazzo’s, and in doing so pointed out and made fun of the idea of legacy sequels wherein the previous main character is only kept around for nostalgias sake and the show or film usually tries to reinvent itself to mixed results.

I won’t spend long talking about the Amy Schumer cameo as a lot of you will know my thoughts on Schumer, though I will say here scene sucked all of the life out of the sequence and certainly was a low point of the episode. The fact some of the characters are in awe of seeing Amy Schumer in a lift is laughably up her arse, also if it was true to life she would be angry for being recognised.

Overall, an enjoyable first episode but not one that justifies why this show needed to come back for season two.

Pros.

It is watchable

The leads all still have great chemistry

I like the meta commentary on legacy sequels

Cons.

Schumer

It doesn’t justify its existence

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