Only Murders In The Building - Season 1
Only Murders in the Building
The first season of premiered on August 31, 2021, on Hulu. The series follows three strangers living in the Arconia, an upscale New York City apartment building, who bond over their shared obsession with a true-crime podcast. Core Premise
Bonded by their obsession with a popular true-crime podcast, "Everything is Not OK in Oklahoma," they decide to start their own podcast to uncover the truth, aptly titled Only Murders in the Building The Investigation and the Twist Only Murders in the Building - Season 1
- Charles-Haden Savage (Steve Martin): A former TV detective from a 90s cop show called Brazzos, Charles is introverted, obsessive, and lives a life of sterile isolation—cooking omelets for one and nursing decades-old grudges. Martin, playing against his manic "wild and crazy guy" persona, delivers a masterclass in restrained sadness.
- Oliver Putnam (Martin Short): The walking id of the group. Oliver is a washed-up Broadway director drowning in debt, dipped in tweed, and wearing a scarf that has its own personality. He talks in italics, views every life event through the lens of dramatic staging, and possesses the delusional optimism of a man who believes his next comeback is just one good dip recipe away.
- Mabel Mora (Selena Gomez): The Millennial anchor. Mabel is sardonic, mysterious, and hiding a dark past involving a cold case from her childhood. Gomez holds her own against two comedy titans, grounding the show’s manic energy with a dose of Gen-Z apathy and genuine emotional weight.
"So, the 'Silent Slasher' was actually the 'Meth Lab Grandma'," Oliver mused, dipping a fry in ketchup. "I love this building. The stories are endless." Only Murders in the Building The first season
Furthermore, Season 1 cleverly utilizes the true crime podcast format to comment on our cultural obsession with tragedy. The show critiques the "armchair detective" mentality where consumers of true crime treat real human suffering as entertainment. We see this through the antagonist, Jan, who ultimately reveals that the poisoning of Tim Kono was a result of a twisted romantic entanglement—a dark mirror to the romantic yearning of the protagonists. Jan committed the crime to preserve a connection, however toxic, while the trio solves the crime to forge a healthy one. The finale reveals that the search for the killer was never about justice for Tim Kono in the abstract; it was about the protagonists finding the courage to let people in. Charles-Haden Savage (Steve Martin): A former TV detective