Things started to heat up last week on Only Murders in the Building in more than one way. Charles and Jan had a hot date and the couple had one of the most flirtatious games of Scrabble that eventually ended up in the bedroom. Meanwhile, Oliver and Mabel were snooping around Teddy Dimas’ side business and uncovered some of the illegal activity. Unfortunately for them, Teddy’s son Theo subdues them while he and his dad determine what to do next.
Teddy isn’t an unreasonable man but he does realize the crew is too close now. The deli king gives Oliver and Mabel an ultimatum. Either finish the podcast with one last episode saying they were wrong and Tim Kono really committed suicide, or as he puts it, they can finish the podcast posthumously.
Nathan Lane is a revelation on Only Murders in the Building. He’s been such a hardcore villain and he’s even more intimidating in the long car ride back to the Arconia. From his position in the SUV to his anecdotes to get his point across, Teddy is someone you don’t want to make angry. But there is a depth to him as he explains his complicated relationship with Theo and how he used the experience to help shape him.
The team decide to make their next podcast episode but to expose and take down the Dimas Family. To make such a tight deadline they enlist more help. They approach Detective Williams for protection in case Teddy strikes back at them. Now that they’ve cozied up, Jan and Charles have been working through Tim Kono’s phone for evidence. It’s good to see Brazos so happy but the couple is in the early borderline annoying stage of the relationship where there’s too much PDA and they’re too sweet for their own good.
The podcast has also garnered a passionate following and some super fans gather outside the Arconia. Seeing that they need a fresh perspective, Oliver invites them in to aid them. Only Murders in the Building goes off the rails a bit incorporating the enthusiasts but it also serves as a parallel to the main characters’ own journey. They too were once wide-eyed true crime buffs and now look at them. They have their own admirers.
The entire scenario allows Martin Short to shine as Oliver. I’m here for his pettiness. Whether it’s bad mouthing the personal hygiene of the fans or his passive aggressive insults towards Jan, they are all so funny. However, it’s also entertaining to see his thought process with regards to the case. Again, he utilizes his theater background to reenact what he thinks happened utilizing the superfans as the actors. It shows a sillier side of the series and that he’s more than just the business and production person for the podcast. He can contribute to the actual investigation too.
Eventually, the argument in the podcast episode is enough to arrest Teddy and Theo. There’s some interesting commentary when Detective Williams states in disbelief about how these are how crimes are solved now. The deli king and his son are definitely shady but are they the real culprits? Teddy even confessed to Mabel and Oliver earlier in the episode how they were not involved in Kono’s death.
Sometimes, you can get caught up with the hype and lose sight of the original goals. It can cause you to overlook aspects and maybe there is no concrete evidence of what you set out to prove. Any story can be convincing but without proof, it isn’t necessarily true. Once you step back for a minute, the case they make isn’t that compelling.
The episode of Murders in the Building creates the aura of a hit podcast, at least within the Arconia, with every resident and employee of the building listening in on the edge of their seat along with the superfans. But are Charles, Oliver, and Mabel starting to smell themselves with the success or are they really still in the minor leagues as sleuths? Either way, their carelessness and inability to make a tight case could prove costly. In another gripping cliffhanger, someone close to them pays a steep price.
In “Fan Fiction,” the lampooning of true crime podcasts brings up some interesting commentary on the genre while the events regarding the case demonstrate how much more progress the team needs to prove they’re not amateur detectives.
New episodes of Only Murders in the Building are released Tuesdays on Hulu.
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