Only Murders In The Building Review – Only Intrigue In This New Series

We all love podcasts over here at Comic Years. In fact, we love them so much that we made one of our own. But not all of the ones people find themselves listening to talk about fun entertainment or hot topics in the news. One of the most popular genres of the medium is the true crime podcast. These grizzly accounts encourage a morbid curiosity in the macabre. But the listeners remain able to learn from the comfort of their own safe spaces. It’s easy to wonder if fans might ever get carried away by such a topic, and one new series answers the potential fallout. In this review of Hulu’s Only Murders in the Building premiere episodes, we’ll dive into the intrigue.

This review will be focusing on the first three episodes that have dropped for the series and will contain mild spoilers for them. But don’t worry, there are still plenty of episodes left to discover this fall.

Only Murders in the Building Review: It’s Not That Far-Fetched

Created by Steve Martin and John Hoffman, Only Murders in the Building is an enthralling combination of comedy and mystery. Martin’s own Charles-Haden Savage, Selena Gomez’s Mabel Mora, and Martin Short’s Oliver Putnam live in the Arconia, a swanky building in Manhattan. Though they all try to ignore the others when on the street or while sharing an elevator, they eventually find a shared interest in a popular true crime podcast, Everything is Not OK in Oklahoma.

The Arconia finds itself being evacuated one night, forcing the residents into a nearby restaurant to pass the time. This allows the trio to rave over their favorite podcast together, uniting them in their devotion to dark tales. Once they return to the building, they’re shocked to find out that one of the building’s own residents, Tim Kono, has died in an apparent suicide. High on the fumes of true crime mysteries, they decide then and there that it couldn’t have been a suicide. Instead, they’re desperate to find someone with a motive for wanting the young Kono (Julian Cihi) dead. And if they can, then why not turn it into their own podcast?

Image via Hulu.

Yeah, True Crime Is Pretty Weird

It’s been an incredible experience watching the rise of the true crime genre. People create podcasts and YouTube channels dedicated to discussing the facts of murders. Sometimes they focus on those that are popular in the news and remain unsolved, while others retell the Wikipedia pages of dated serial killers as a method of storytelling. But there’s a reason people watch or listen to them rather than just read the details for themselves: The storytellers find a way to make things fun.

This popularity has lead to some weird accounts. I’ve seen friends fall down virtual rabbit holes and ending up on videos where people film mukbangs (an “eating show” where people consume massive amounts of food) and talk about brutal, unsolved murders. Online personas become celebrities for their twists in retelling these events. And fans flock to them. But why?

Researchers have dug into why we love these dark methods of media consumption. Most believe that it is some form of escapism, allowing us to put a “psychological protective barrier” between us and criminals who may want to hurt us in twisted ways. However, it can also negatively impact our mental health. For some, it can make us afraid to leave our homes. What if we end up being the next murder to unravel? For others, it can desensitize us to violence or cause a lack of empathy for those involved. After all, we’re listening to the brutal and real-life events that somebody experienced as a form of entertainment.

Considering how popular the genre is, it’s no wonder that Hulu decided to make their own spin on things.

Image via Hulu.

Only Murders in the Building Has A Review Of Wanting To Learn More

The series manages to poke fun at lovers of the genre while also respecting why we get so invested in it. Each of our main characters has a reason for wanting to experience that escapism for themselves. Savage once played a famous detective on television and is now a D-list celebrity at best. Putnam was an experienced director on Broadway and is now desperate to make money on entertainment. And Mora grew up pretending to solve crimes with her friends before she finding herself connected to one.

The first three episodes bring about various twists and turns, from revealing the true intentions of our characters to making us wonder if their hunch of it really being murder is correct. But what pulls us in the most is the reveal that Mora is in it for a larger reason than making money and feeding her curiosity. As it turns out, she was childhood friends with Kono before their mutual friend was pushed from a building in some unsolved manner. She seems desperate to prove that Kono would never end his life while balancing her fear that she could be linked to his death.

Image via Hulu

The Hulu Series Is Ridiculous and Ridiculously Fun

So, it’s clear that the premise of the series is based on something serious. They’re solving a tragic death regardless of the cause. Despite the weight of it all, the three leads ensure that we’re never not having fun. Martin and Short have proved their comedic chops as a dynamic duo over the years, and their youthful energy combines perfectly with Gomez. The younger star has had her fair share of fame from acting over the years, but Only Murders in the Building sees her return to the episodic format for the first time since her Wizards of Waverly Place days. She hasn’t lost her charismatic spells and proves that she’s more than capable of the serious undertones.

You can catch new episodes of Only Murders in the Building on Hulu every Tuesday on Hulu leading up to the premiere on October 5th, 2021. Keep watching to see if our leads make an awards-winning podcast or end up being at the receiving end of a violent ending of their own.

https://youtu.be/-V1rQdXXXyI

Let us know if you agree with our review of the premiere episodes of Only Murders in the Building. Please leave your thoughts in the comments or by tagging us on social media!

Featured image via Hulu.

Meghan Hale is the kind of movie lover that has a "must watch" that is a mile long... and growing. When she isn't talking about the latest film and television news she is writing one of her many in-process novels, screaming film trivia at anybody who will listen, and working as a mental health care professional. Follow her on Twitter @meghanrhale for some fun theories and live reactions to all things entertainment.