‘Only Murders In The Building’ Season 2 Review: A Strong Cast, Sharp Writing Continue To Hold This Murder Mystery Together

There was a sense after the first season of Hulu’s hit “Only Murders in the Building” that this would be a tough act to follow. How many murders can there be in the Arconia? And much of the charm of that season relied on the renewed chemistry between two comedy veterans and their unexpected straight woman from another generation. How do they pull that trick again? Co-creators Steve Martin and John Hoffman were smart to get a second season up and going quickly, doing so in a way that almost makes it feel like a seamless continuation of Season 1 instead of another story altogether. After all, Season 1 ended with another murder, which segues right into Season 2 as if no time has passed. And the show’s strengths (and weaknesses) remain largely the same. Even if the show can almost feel too airy and weightless at times, the comedy timing is almost sharper than in the first year as the cast has become more comfortable in their characters. The biggest problem with a review of “Only Murders in the Building?” Hulu only sent 8 of 10 episodes and there are so many plates spinning at that point in the season that it’s impossible to say if they crash to the ground or leave viewers counting the days until Season 3.

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After the chaos of Season 1’s mystery settled with Jan (Amy Ryan) being taken away to spend her life behind bars, Oliver (Martin Short) and Charles (Martin) celebrated on the roof before receiving a text message to leave the building immediately. They ran to get Mabel (Selena Gomez) and found her over the bloody body of Bunny (Jayne Houdyshell), the grumpy board president of the building. Did Mabel actually kill Bunny? Did Oliver and Charles help? The new season opens with the trio in the crosshairs of the cops, including a new detective named Kreps (Michael Rapaport), and the podcast that gives the show its name is forced to work the case of Bunny’s death to clear the names of its now-famous hosts.

Second acts are hard in anything, and the writers playfully poke fun at their predicament by having their characters comment on flaws of the podcast’s sophomore outing throughout the eight episodes. The writers’ main trick to get around this is to put the central trio in the hot seat themselves, increasing the momentum. It’s not that they’re solving another murder at the Arconia—it’s that they’re solving a murder to keep themselves from being the main suspects in it. It ups the stakes a little bit while also allowing the writers to play with the show’s success.

Charles, Oliver, and Mabel have kind of become celebrities through the success of their podcast, and how the true crime industry turns everyday investigators (and suspected criminals) into household names gives Season 2 a bit of distinct flavor. Without spoiling, murder can be good for a career, which the leads discover when an art expert named Alice (Cara Delevingne) becomes interested in Mabel, Amy Schumer herself (taking Sting’s apartment) approaches Oliver to turn the podcast into a limited series, and Charles is stunned by a proposal to reboot “Brazzos.” Celebrity culture takes a thematic backseat to family this season, however, as Oliver helps his son Will (Ryan Broussard) with a school play, Charles finds a potential family connection to this year’s mystery, and we even meet Bunny’s mother, played by the timelessly icy Shirley MacLaine.

“Only Murders in the Building” has revealed the commonality between comedy and true crime entertainment: timing. Just as great comedies work on rhythm, the plotting of a murder mystery series demands a certain number of twists and turns over the course of a season, and the plotting this season is one of its greatest strengths. Every episode ends with a revelation or discovery that will have viewers counting the days until the next chapter drops, reflecting the podcast culture that inspires the show. Listen to any long-form podcast series and the structure is the same—each episode picks up the pieces of the shocker dropped at the end of the last episode before dropping a new bomb at the end.

However, people don’t really come to “Only Murders in the Building” for the plotting, they come for the charming ensemble, who were the foundational joy of Season 1 and are even more charming in Season 2. Short is the MVP this season, finding inspired line readings in every episode and even anchoring them to the emotional arc of a man grabbing at what could be his last chance at fame, but it’s really his chemistry with old friend Martin that elevates everything about ‘OMITB.’ There are moments in every episode wherein viewers are reminded that these are two of the funniest men alive, and they make each other better. Gomez breaks out a bit this season too, but she’s still at her best when she’s offering the dry generational counterpoint to Martin and Short.

Despite a few thematic shifts, the second season of “Only Murders in the Building” doesn’t do much to break the mold, and how fans respond to that will be interesting to watch. There are new guest stars and familiar faces, and the strength of the show remains in its core trio. There’s another mystery that could be called overwritten even as it entertains, and there is a sense, as there was in year one, that the show lacks a certain bite. And yet, its fans would say that it’s not really a satire of true crime culture or the kind of dark mystery that peels back the curtain on actual violence. It’s meant to be an escape, a wacky adventure with funny friends, old and new. To that end, Season 2 checks almost all of the same boxes as Season 1, and that makes it feel almost comfortable in an increasingly uncomfortable world. Let’s just run back the clever comedy machine one more time for a bit of summer escapism. First acts can be tough to follow, but the creators of this show know that they don’t really need to change the blueprint of the Arconia to keep people happy. Just keep the murders coming. [B]

Season 2 of “Only Murders in the Building” debuts on Hulu on June 28.