The true-crime nerds Charles (Steve Martin), Oliver (Martin Short) and Mabel (Selena Gomez) might have thought they can take a break from mystery after solving Tim Kono’s murder mystery but the first season ended with another murder, putting the investigators under suspicion. After Mabel finds the building president Bunny Folger (Jayne Houdyshell) murdered in her apartment, stabbed with her knitting needle, she is taken into custody along with her partners. As she mentioned in the last season, “there are still a couple of loose ends left to tie up.”
The second season of Only Murders in the Building dropped recently, and the first couple of episodes bring a lot of new characters and subplots into the show. It began with the trio being investigated by the police as they are ‘persons of interest’ in Bunny’s murder. Mabel earns the nickname ‘Bloody Mabel’ and becomes an internet celebrity which seems to work in her favour. They are not asked to make a podcast about it but Cinda Canning (Tina Fey) is on their tail and making a podcast about them. So the trio has to hit back at her with their own. This season also introduces Amy Schumer as herself who moves into Sting’s old apartment and wants to make a small-screen adaptation of their podcast but with Jan in the focus.
With all these going on, they decide to break into Bunny’s apartment to find clues. While they are there, Howard and Uma also enter her apartment, looking for a painting that they think might be linked to her murder. The trio finds a secret elevator in Bunny’s closet which links to the exit of the apartment.
The painting in question is a nude art featuring none other than Charles’ dad with a woman. The painting mysteriously lands up in his home but they try to get it back to Bunny’s apartment so the suspicion is not on them. In this process, it somehow ends up in Amy Schumer’s apartment. Someone is clearly trying to frame Charles, Oliver and Mabel and they won’t rest until they uncover the mystery.
Bunny’s mother Leonora also makes an appearance in the show and reveals that she had an affair with Charles’ dad. As we said, the season brings a lot of new characters and subplots.
Talking of new characters, Mabel finds an artist friend, Alice Bank (Cara Delevingne) who is in love with her mural and offers to work with her. She also ends up being Mabel’s love interest after they share a passionate kiss in her art gallery.
This season focuses on the trio’s individual journeys and their personalities apart from being crime nerds. While Mabel wants to explore herself as an artist, Charles’ show Brazzos is getting rebooted and he is offered to play Uncle Brazzos. And Oliver needs to clear their name before Amy can make a show on their podcast, so he is hell-bent on making the second season of the podcast despite being a suspect. Mabel’s queer side is a new addition to the show and we hope the makers explore it more.
In the first season, Mabel’s link with the murder victim gave the show a personal touch and this time, the mystery lies in Charles’ past. The show continues to make the audiences feel connected to the characters by not just making them outsiders investigating murders in their building but also people who are in some way connected to those crimes.
Charles, Oliver and Mabel continue to weave the same magic with their weird yet perfect chemistry but compared to the first season, the second seems a bit over the place.
Only Murders in the Building is streaming on Disney+ Hotstar.
