‘Only Murders in the Building’ has prerequisites for enjoyment
As if 2021 couldn’t get any stranger, actors Selena Gomez, Martin Short and Steve Martin headlined Hulu’s new murder mystery comedy, “Only Murders in the Building.” Its first three episodes premiered Tuesday.
Set around an upscale New York apartment building, the Arconia, the building’s residents Oliver (Short), Charles (Martin) and Mabel (Gomez) are strangers. The trio never cross paths until they are forced to evacuate their building when a resident dies by suicide. But, all three believe it was murder. Needing a place to go, the three independently stumble into the same bar, vaguely recognize each other from awkward elevator rides and bond over their unlikely shared interest in a murder mystery podcast.
Here, we also meet each member of the trio, learning about them through long monologues while they walk through the city. Upon first watch, these scenes are too long and seem like lazy writing, but they are in fact a parody of the long monologues used to meet characters in murder mystery podcasts.
Charles is a jaded slightly-over-middle-aged actor, desperately clinging to his lingering fame from when he starred in the 90s show “Brazzos.” His brazen attitude contrasts with Oliver, a flamboyant, bright-purple-coat-wearing, delightful old man. The final member of the trio is Mabel, an imposter to the Arconia, living in her aunt’s apartment, pretending to be wealthy and hiding that she knows the alleged murder victim.
Quickly, we learn the roles each character plays in this satire. Charles is the organized, work-orientated one who’s hesitant to get emotionally invested in the group. Oliver is your vivacious uncle who comes into town every couple of years for a whirlwind weekend and then seems to disappear (but yet, you still know he cares about you). And Mabel is the actress, pretending to be one type of person to fit into the group while simultaneously hiding a dark secret.
The trio is charming but flawed. Short’s performance is incredible; his ability to wrap you around his finger whenever he is on screen is unmatched. Martin gives an exceptionally strong performance as Charles, forcing the viewer to have no choice but to enjoy the grumpy burnt-out older man in a comedy troupe.
Mabel, however, is where the trio falls flat. It is hard to tell from the first few episodes whether that is from weak writing or Gomez’ poor performance. Mabel is hiding pieces of herself and lying so suspiciously that even the remaining clueless duo realize something is wrong. Yet, although Mabel’s discomfort is part of her character, Gomez’s presentation on screen appears shaky and tense. She seems frightened to be on camera, making her performance far less enjoyable than that of her co-stars. Despite being an odd addition to the duo, Mabel allows the show to rely on confused and ageist old man tropes like Oliver and Charles struggling to use the internet and having someone younger do it for them.
The unlikely trio quickly becomes a real-life Scooby gang, deciding to do the super logical thing and investigate the alleged “murder” that occurred in their building after the NYPD rules it a “suicide.” Viewers get to watch the hilarious duo of Charles and Oliver go to war with each other while attempting to record the podcast with Charles as the voice and Oliver as the director. They learn more about Mabel’s mysterious background, slowly uncovering small details about her past at the Acornia, making her far more interesting than her colleagues.
Unfortunately, “Only Murders in the Building” severely falters in its attempts to satirize stereotypes in murder mystery podcasts — frankly because the show does not make its jokes obvious enough. The monologues are boring, weird and only clever if the viewer takes the time to think about why the writers might have included them. Same with how the cops magically seem to leave the crime scene untouched and open for anyone to stumble upon and how the trio knows a secret back entrance into their apartment building, which no one else has heard of, allowing them to check out the crime scene.
Without understanding their purpose, these moments appear as “Riverdale” quality scenes, diminishing the value of the show. However, “Only Murders in the Building” is not for someone looking to throw on a TV show in the background while they do other work. The writing is complicated, meant to mimic the experience of listening to a murder mystery podcast. This might be obvious to the murder mystery podcast aficionado, but it is confusing to the average Hulu viewer. Unfortunately, because the writing presumes its viewers already know about stereotypical murder mystery podcast tropes, casual viewers are left out of the show — lost as a result of the unwritten prerequisite for enjoyment.
“Only Murders in the Building” is good, but not great. Whether the issue is Gomez’s bashful delivery, the barrier to understanding the comedy or something else is hard to say — but something is missing. Despite the show’s confusing components, we shouldn’t give up on it too soon. Each episode gets progressively better, and as long as your brain can handle the meta-commentary on viral media, the show is worth watching.