Only Murders in the Building (2021-)
Only Murders in the Building (Season 1)
- 4.5/5 Cameras🎥🎥🎥🎥.5
- Created by: Steve Martin and John Hoffman
- Starring: Steve Martin, Martin Short, and Selena Gomez
- Where to find it: Disney +
 |
| No Copyright Infringement Intended |
Turner and Hooch, Snoop Dogg and Martha Stewart, Meryl
Streep and 50 Cent. No, I’m not writing invites to a ‘last supper’ scenario, I’m
giving examples of friendships that, on paper, seem absurd, but have somehow
defied all the odds and worked. If someone had told me months ago that Steve
Martin and Martin Short would team up with ex-Disney Channel star Selena Gomez
to make one of the best shows of the year, I would have struggled to believe
them, but sometimes it’s the unexpected combinations that prove to be the most
memorable.
Only Murders in the Building stars Steve Martin, Martin
Short, and Selena Gomez as Charles-Haden Savage, Oliver Putnam, and Mabel Mora
respectively, 3 residents of the upper west side apartment building the Arconia.
Charles (Steve Martin), a former television actor, Oliver (Martin Short), a
failed Broadway director, and Mabel (Selena Gomez), an apartment renovator,
bond over their love for true crime podcasts, but when a murder occurs in their
building (hence the title), they must come together to start one of their own.
After a somewhat quiet period, the murder mystery ‘whodunnit’
genre has seen a resurgence in recent years, with Rian Johnson’s hugely popular
2019 film Knives Out in part paving the way for the revival, but the genre can
often be a hit or miss, particularly when it comes to TV shows. Take HBO’s 2020
offering The Undoing, for example, where despite its popularity and stellar
cast, it failed to nail its’ finale and ensured its’ legacy as a ‘miss’. Only Murders
in the Building, however, is a hit, in every sense of the word.
Every one of the first season’s 10 episodes finds new ways
to keep viewers guessing, with most episodes using different narrative
techniques to convey events and keep audiences on their toes. A particular stand-out
episode, entitled ‘The Boy from 6B’, shifts the narrative to that of a deaf
suspect, in an incredibly well-crafted episode that utilises a lack of sound to
show a different perspective of events, whilst also keeping the plot moving
forward. The use of sound plays a major part in the show as a whole in a variety
of different ways, each as unique and captivating as the last, including the continued
non-diegetic use of the show's theme music.
A successful show, however, is nothing without its’ cast,
and what a cast Only Murders in the Building has. Acting legends Steve Martin
(Charles-Haden Savage) and Martin Short (Oliver Putnam) play their roles as a
reclusive semi-retired actor and a financially struggling Broadway director
perfectly, each bouncing off each other to create some truly laugh-out-loud moments.
Selena Gomez (Mabel Mora) is the real surprise though. Gomez’s Mabel is a mysterious
millennial (with a fabulous wardrobe) who really ties together the trio and
fits in perfectly despite the age gap with her fellow podcast members.
Another tell of a successful ‘whodunnit’ is whether or not
the grand reveal of the killer is a surprise. Having been previously disappointed
by shows of this genre in the past, I was relieved when each episode of Only
Murders in the Building left me genuinely flummoxed as to the identity of the
killer, right up until the final episode. The show is packed with twists and
turns, so much so that my only slight gripe is that they can sometimes be hard
to keep track of. Despite this, it’s worth noting that Only Murders in the
Building benefitted greatly from Disney’s weekly release schedule for its’ episodes,
rather than the ‘all at once’ format used by other streaming services.
Only Murders in the Building is a gem in a world where we’re
constantly being bombarded with new content, and I’ll be disappointed if it
doesn’t receive any recognition at next year’s Emmy awards. With season 2 set
to begin production soon, I’ll be impatiently waiting for the unlikely trio to
return.
Comments
Post a Comment