Only Murders in the Building Isn’t The Outdated, Overdone Crime Show You Think It Is
Photo Courtesy of Hulu
Picture your view of the world as if it was through the cover of The New Yorker: Extravagant clothing in muted, casual tones, leaves perfectly scattered through the Upper West Side, delicately-patterned 1940s wallpaper, bassoonists and accordionists serenading pedestrians with light jazz from their windows. This aesthetic is only one of the many entrancing ingredients that makes Hulu’s Only Murders In the Building so timely and wonderful. The show centers on three true-crime podcast-loving neighbors who find friendship while solving a murder that occurs in their apartment building. Written by veteran funnyman Steve Martin and Grace and Frankie writer John Hoffman, OMITB has struck the beautiful balance between all-encapsulating crime and lighthearted buddy-comedy.
My expectations for this show were minimal. I figured I had already watched the Martin Short-Steve Martin dance a million times; Short is a dim-witted, over the top character while Martin is the lovable straightman that comes out of his shell when the two find themselves in some sort of unusual predicament. And I can’t lie, I wasn’t going to tune in to see it all again. But eventually I did watch, and I realized that the reason that I had seen that comedic dance a million times is because it works. OMITB doesn’t stray away from the Martin-Short recipe, but instead delivers it in a refreshing, inviting way.
Maybe I was first thrown off from the series because I couldn’t wrap my head around a crime show operating in such a comedically-driven atmosphere. Steve Martin must’ve been thinking the same thing because *enter Selena Gomez*. To round out this trio, Gomez’s Mabel plays an even firmer role of the calm, dark-hearted straightman, allowing Martin and Short to assume the roles of confused boomers who knock jokes about younger lingo, Tik-Tok, and technology out of the park. Gomez once again proves that she is a woman of many hats, able to conquer any role from music sensation to beauty mogul to crime junkie. She’s charming while also cunning and mysterious, therefore beautifully intertwining the laughter and suspense that I doubted OMITB could master. She fills another box that this show checks off my list.
Another thing to love about OMITB is how Martin and co-creator Hoffman obviously took strides towards representation. For example, one episode is from the point of view of a deaf character, leading to dialogue-less, completely silent scenes made up of only sign language and subtitles. And what made it more enjoyable is that it didn’t feel forced in the slightest. I felt like I learned something while also staying engaged in the show, and the writers pulled off this integration of deaf representation so flawlessly that I admired the hard work put into it. For a seemingly-outdated comedian like Martin, he once again pleasantly surprises by keeping his material relevant, inclusive, and delightful.
Overall, I would say that I’m proud of how Only Murders in the Building defied my expectations. Going in with my bar low, my initial opinions were harsh, but Martin’s supernova comedy-murder series pulled me in time and time again. It’s fully earned my praise, whether that was through the multiple all-star cameos, witty one-liners, Broadway references, or simply because Martin and Hoffman triumphed in telling a story of liveliness, redemption, and camaraderie.
