Full of finale twists, “I Know Who Did It” is a satisfying conclusion to the second season of Only Murders in the Building.
The penultimate episode lined up nearly all the remaining pieces of the puzzle: The killer escaped through the Arconia passageways (honestly, one of my favorite plot points this season is learning these passageways exist), Detective Kreps was revealed as ‘Glitter Guy’ and his connection to Cinda Canning was revealed (didn’t see that one coming!) Cinda’s assistant Poppy White revealed herself to be Becky Butler – the supposed murder victim at the center of Cinda’s hit podcast. Everything points to her, and I love to see Tina Fey play a villain. So, is everything that easy? Of course not.
Charles, Oliver and Mabel hatch a plan to trick Cinda into confessing, roping Poppy/Becky into helping them after she reveals her true identity to Mabel. We see what Becky’s life was like back in Oklahoma before she took off to New York and talked herself into a job as Cinda’s assistant. She mentions the story of then-missing-person-Becky, which Cinda uses to embellish the facts and score a hit. Which feels a little convenient, but it works. Cinda is now struggling to come up with a new murder to base her next podcast hit on – so did she commit one herself, or did Poppy do it for her?
With Cinda so determined to pin Bunny’s murder on Mabel, I love that many Arconia residents joined our trio in the killer reveal – okay, Uma was only there for cake. (I get you, Uma.) I loved the rapid twists from suspect to suspect throughout the apartment scenes. Steve Martin nailed the comedy of using Cinda’s fears. I groaned when Mabel turned to Alice – she was far too obvious to be the killer, as a new and somewhat mysterious addition to the show this season who got close to Mabel. Glad they didn’t go down this route. Poppy finally cracked when Cinda offered Mabel her own podcast – the one thing Poppy wanted. Poppy’s allergy to Mrs Gambolini and her DNA on the knife used to kill Bunny are what finally makes Mabel & co realize she was the real killer. Well-written, well-plotted and well-acted by the ensemble cast.
One thing I do question is how Poppy found out about the Arconia passageways. She mentions them to her accomplice, Detective Krebs… who we thought was dating Cinda, but was really with Poppy. Well played, writers.
With the show already renewed for season 3, the last five minutes set up the story for next season. We jump a year into the future, where thankfully no more residents of the Arconia have been murdered. A surprise appearance by Paul Rudd as Ben Glenroy brings us into the world of a play Oliver is directing. Ben and Charles do not get along, and it’s not really hard to see why: Ben is kind of an asshole. Just when we’re getting to know Ben, it’s opening night. Charles wishes Ben good luck and informs him it’s a theater curse. He then tells Ben to “stay away from her,” most likely meaning Mabel. Charles then says, “I know what you did” before Ben takes center stage and promptly… dies. Mabel sums it up best with the final line of the episode: “You’ve gotta be fucking kidding me.” Bring on season 3!
Photo Courtesy: Hulu
