New York City has a specific kind of silence. It isn’t actually quiet; it’s just a layer of white noise that masks the fact that your neighbors are probably up to something weird. When Hulu dropped the first episodes of Only Murders in the Building: Season 1 back in 2021, nobody really knew if a comedy about true-crime obsessives would actually land. It did. It landed hard. It wasn't just the star power of Steve Martin and Martin Short, though seeing them together is like a warm hug from your childhood. It was the chemistry with Selena Gomez and that gorgeous, sprawling apartment building, the Arconia, which basically became a character in its own right.
People forget how risky this was. You have two comedy legends and a pop star. On paper, it looks like a marketing gimmick. In reality? It's a masterclass in tone.
Why Only Murders in the Building: Season 1 Worked When Others Failed
Most mystery shows take themselves way too seriously. They want to be True Detective. They want grit. Only Murders in the Building: Season 1 took a different route by leaning into the absurdity of the "true crime fan" phenomenon. We’ve all been there—listening to a podcast at 2:00 AM, convinced we could solve a cold case better than the FBI. Charles-Haden Savage, Oliver Putnam, and Mabel Mora are us, just with better coats and a much higher ceiling height.
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The premise is simple but tight. A guy named Tim Kono dies in the Arconia. The police say it’s a suicide. Our trio, bonded by their love for a podcast called "All is Not OK in Oklahoma," decides it’s definitely murder. They start their own podcast to document the investigation. It’s meta. It’s funny. But honestly, the reason it stays relevant is the loneliness underneath the jokes.
Charles is a washed-up actor living in the past. Oliver is a theater director whose career is a series of flaming wrecks. Mabel is a young woman literally haunted by the ghosts of her teenage years. They aren't just solving a murder; they're trying to find a reason to talk to people again.
The Anatomy of the Arconia Mystery
The setting is everything. The Arconia is based on real-life Upper West Side behemoths like the Ansonia or the Belnord. These buildings are labyrinths. They have secrets. In Only Murders in the Building: Season 1, the architecture dictates the plot. Think about the scene where they’re crawling through the vents. It’s classic slapstick, but it works because the building feels heavy with history.
Every neighbor is a suspect. That’s the golden rule of a "whodunnit." You have Howard, the guy who loves his cat (Evelyn) a bit too much. There’s Bunny Folger, the board president who everyone hates because she’s the personification of a restrictive HOA. Then there’s Sting. Yes, the actual Sting, playing a fictionalized version of himself who may or may not have poisoned a dog. It’s that kind of show.
What people often get wrong about the first season is thinking it’s just a parody. It’s not. The mystery of who killed Tim Kono is actually quite well-constructed. The clues are there if you look. The ring. The trash bags. The fact that Tim was a "loner" who actually knew everyone.
Breaking the Silence with "The Boy from 6B"
We have to talk about episode seven. If you’ve seen Only Murders in the Building: Season 1, you know exactly which one I mean. "The Boy from 6B" is told almost entirely from the perspective of Theo Dimas, who is deaf. There are maybe three minutes of spoken dialogue in the entire half-hour.
It was a massive swing. It could have been gimmicky. Instead, it was one of the most poignant episodes of television that year. By stripping away the banter—which is the show’s bread and butter—it forced the audience to pay attention to the visual storytelling. We learned about the Dimas family’s secret grave-robbing business (yeah, that took a turn) and how Theo was connected to Mabel’s past.
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Nathan Lane as Teddy Dimas was a casting stroke of genius. He’s funny, sure, but he brings this Menacing-Father-of-the-Year energy that keeps the stakes high. When he threatens the trio in the car, you actually believe him. The show balances that tension with Oliver’s obsession with dips. Who loves dips that much? Oliver Putnam does. It’s his entire personality.
The Mabel Mora Mystery
Mabel is the anchor. Without her, it's just two old guys yelling about theater. Selena Gomez plays Mabel with this very specific, dry detachment. In Only Murders in the Building: Season 1, we slowly realize she isn't just a random tenant. She was part of the "Hardy Boys," a group of friends who used to break into apartments in the building years ago.
Her connection to Tim Kono is the emotional core. When we find out she saw her friend Zoe fall from the roof—and that another friend, Oscar, went to jail for it—the stakes shift. It’s no longer just a hobby for her. It’s justice.
This is where the writing gets clever. It uses the "unreliable narrator" trope without being annoying about it. Mabel keeps secrets from Charles and Oliver, which creates a rift. In any other show, that rift would feel forced. Here, it feels like three people who don't know how to trust anyone suddenly realizing they’ve shared too much.
The Clues That Actually Mattered
Looking back at the season, the breadcrumbs were everywhere.
- The Bassoon Cleaner: This is the big one. If you know, you know.
- The Notes: Jan’s handwriting. It was right there.
- The Toxicology Report: Tim was poisoned before he was shot.
- The Trash: Tim’s apartment was full of "clutter" that was actually evidence against a black-market jewelry ring.
Jan, played by Amy Ryan, was the perfect villain because she was the perfect love interest for Charles. It’s cruel. Charles finally lets his guard down, plays a duet with her through the windows, and she turns out to be a serial-killing bassoonist with a penchant for toxins. It’s peak dark comedy.
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The final confrontation in the basement with the gas and the stagecraft? Absolutely ridiculous. And yet, it fits. Oliver’s life is a stage, so of course the climax happens with him directing their "escape."
Why the Ending Still Stings
The season doesn't end with a neat bow. They solve Tim Kono’s murder, Jan goes to jail, and they celebrate on the roof with champagne. Then, the siren sounds.
Seeing Mabel covered in blood over Bunny Folger’s body was the ultimate cliffhanger. It turned the hunters into the hunted. It’s a classic trope—the investigators becoming the suspects—but because we’d spent ten episodes falling in love with these losers, the impact was huge. It wasn't just a "tune in next year" moment; it felt like a betrayal of the safety they had just earned.
How to Watch Season 1 Like an Expert
If you're going back for a rewatch or seeing it for the first time, don't just focus on the dialogue. Watch the backgrounds. The Arconia is packed with Easter eggs. The intro sequence changes every single episode to give a hint about the plot. If you see a hawk, or a different shadow, or a certain light in a window, it means something.
Also, pay attention to the costumes. Dana Covarrubias, the costume designer, did something incredible with Mabel’s outfits. That marigold yellow faux-fur coat became iconic for a reason. It makes her stand out in the gray, concrete landscape of New York. It’s her armor.
Only Murders in the Building: Season 1 succeeded because it respected the mystery genre while making fun of the people who consume it. It acknowledged that we all want to feel special, we all want to be the ones who notice the detail everyone else missed.
Actionable Insights for Mystery Fans
If you're looking to dive deeper into the world of the Arconia or just want to sharpen your own sleuthing skills, here is what you should do next:
- Re-watch the credits. Seriously. Each episode's animated intro contains a specific clue about that specific episode's plot. It's a game within a game.
- Check out the real "Arconia." While you can't go inside easily, the exterior of The Belnord on 86th Street is the real-world inspiration. It’s a landmark for a reason—the courtyard is one of the few left in the city.
- Listen to the "Only Murders in the Pod." It’s the official companion podcast. It breaks down the behind-the-scenes stuff, like how they filmed the silent episode and the inspiration for the characters.
- Look for the "Easter Egg" clues in the set design. In Charles’s apartment, the paintings aren't just decor; they reflect his mental state and his past roles as Brazzos.
- Analyze the "Sange" (the fictional podcast). Notice how the show uses Cinda Canning (Tina Fey) to satirize real-world podcast giants like Sarah Koenig. It adds a layer of realism to the satire.
The beauty of the first season is that it’s a closed loop that somehow manages to kick the door wide open at the last second. It reminds us that even in a city of millions, we're all just looking for someone to share a podcast—or a murder—with.