ONLY MURDERS IN THE BUILDING season 2: A Strong Second Season That Stabs Audiences Into Their Seats
Disney Platform Production
Created by Steve Martin & Martin Short
Directors of Photography: Chris Teague & Dagmar Weaver-Madsen
Music by Siddhartha Kosla
Stars: Steve Martin, Martin Short, Selena Gomez, Tina Fey, Adina Verson, and Cara Delevingne
After the surprisingly phenomenal first season of Only Murders In The Building, audiences including myself were fired up to be back in this New York City apartment building with this cast of characters, ready to solve the next murder. The first few episodes in really dives right back into the world head first- going right from where the first seasons cliffhanger left us and straight into a pile of action. This time though, the difference being- that our leads are being set up and therefore the stakes are higher for them to solve the murder, because it may cost them their freedom.
Following the shocking death of Arconia board president Bunny Folger, Charles, Oliver and Mabel race to unmask her killer. However, three (unfortunate) complications ensue: the trio is publicly implicated in Bunny’s homicide, they are now the subjects of a competing podcast and they have to deal with a bunch of New York neighbors who all think they committed murder.
The characters are mostly strong once again, it’s sad that they decided to write Aaron Dominguez’s Oscar out of the series so rashly- as everything that was being built with him and Mabel felt natural and like we were going somewhere, only for him to be inexplicably written out with just a meh kind of explanation. Fey and Verson get bigger roles this season as podcaster Cinda Canning and assistant Poppy White- which is for the better, there’s good chemistry there and the way that both characters get more backstory really strengthens the story. I was vocally dismayed with Cara Delevingne as an uninteresting love interest, but that’s changed for me in the final episode of the season- where not only does the character serve a purpose but also feel vital and the actress finally shows upto bring some life. Not all the bigger cameos work, Amy Schumer was unsurprisingly a less funny version of Sting, and Michael Rapaport’s role likely could’ve been done by anyone- his cop character feeling so out of place from the rest and becoming annoying more than anything. Our trio is still stronger than ever, and we get to see exponential growth especially for Short’s Oliver who really to me is the star of the season.
The pacing takes a bit of a hit, after we get hit with a strong start. The middle act of the season feels like it floats with no real build up towards our finale- and there we’re a few times where I was more so watching the series to see if we were finally getting to the conclusion, and less so watching because I was pumped to see what was gonna happen next. Luckily for the show runners and the viewers, the final two episodes really pick that back up again- and we get back into the saddle from where the early season build up was heading.
So we once again hit a strong murder mystery- that leaves us with clues and questions from episode to episode. While still building the backstories and crafting the world of the Arconia and New York to a deeper degree. We get set up for another season, and judging by the cliffhanger we get left with this time- my excitement is at an all time high. So even though this wasn’t near as excellent as the first season was, I do believe Only Murders in The Building season 2 is a strong addition to the franchise- and is well worth the stream.
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