Season two of Only Murders in the Building was engaging yet incomplete

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Steve Martin and fellow cast members prepping to film season three of Only Murders in the Building.

Mabel Mora (Selena Gomez) has quite possibly the worst luck in the entire murder-mystery genre. The day after she celebrated the solving of her former friend, Tim Kono’s (Julian Cihi), murder, she found another killing in her apartment; this time, however, the mystery seemed to be solved immediately with Mabel as the prime suspect.

This was the opening to Only Murders in the Building season two. Although I was a little late to the party, season one had me completely hooked, so I moved to season two without skipping a beat. Watching Mora, Oliver Putnam (Martin Short), and Charles-Haden Savage (Steve Martin) humorously collaborate to form their podcast, which has the same title as the series itself.

Although season one was engaging and slowly spelled out a story, season two flew by in a blur. While the popular saying is that time flies when you’re having fun—and truthfully, the season was a lot of fun—it felt as though in part, season two was somewhat rushed. The first few episodes skipped along at an appropriate pace, but by the time the finale rolled around, it seemed that very little progress had been made in solving the mystery. With only a single episode to tie everything up in a neat bow, the discoveries moved by at an alarming pace.

The first few episodes skipped along at an appropriate pace, but by the time the finale rolled around, it seemed that very little progress had been made in solving the mystery.

There is something to be said for strategic pacing such as having a greater speed at more tension-filled moments, but season two of Only Murders in the Building was somewhat unbalanced. The finale was certainly shocking with the reveal of the murderer, but the perpetrator, in this case, connected very little to the rest of the series and seemed underdeveloped until the very end. So much of the evidence seemed extremely circumstantial, and it was difficult to follow Mora’s train of reasoning and Putnam and Savage’s support.

Along with the mystery itself, so many of the side stories could have been further fleshed out. Mora’s love interest, Alice Banks (Cara Delevigne), came off as a cool and mysterious character. Although at some point, Banks was a prime suspect, she ended up aiding in the exposure of the actual criminal. Banks and Mora have a very turbulent relationship and much of it is pictured, but there is a sudden jump from furious conflict to immediate allyship between the two.

Putnam also has a side story that could use further elaboration. His son, William Putnam (Ryan Broussard), has had a loving but strained relationship with his father since season one. However, in season two, it is revealed that William may not be Oliver’s biological son. Despite the fact that the father-son relationship grows stronger throughout the season, it is evident that the stress is looming behind each of them. I do enjoy seeing William and Oliver communicating due to how different they are, but again, there isn’t a lot of information on Oliver’s family, and the whole endeavor goes by in a flash.

Savage also isn’t without a different angle. Because he is somewhat of a celebrity, due to his days on the detective show Brazzos, Savage is unfamiliar with beginning to fit into the “uncool old man” trope. He is thrown into this stereotype when he plays an old version of his character in a reboot of the old show. This is barely shown at all and minimally referenced throughout the rest of the show. 

Even more interesting, Savage’s ex-wife’s daughter, Lucy (Zoe Margaret Colletti), pays Savage an unexpected visit. Her visit is cringey, stressful, and exciting all at once, and I actually was interested in watching Lucy become a valuable asset in the investigation. Even though she proves her usefulness, Lucy ends up getting ushered into a car by Savage and sent back home, never to be seen again for the rest of the season.

Only Murders in the Building takes the spot for being one of my favorite shows to watch with my family for the first time, season two leaves many questions unanswered. Because of my love for the show and dedication to the details, several more episodes should have been released in order for season two to be complete and neat.