Whether we’re talking about the fictional podcast or the Emmy-nominated comedy series, one truth still stands: In Only Murders In The Building, the plot always thickens. With murder as a hobby, the Manhattan trio — played by Selena Gomez, Steve Martin and Martin Short — are promised to come back to a Season 3 on Tuesday, Aug. 8, filled with unsolved deaths, twists, and the answer to the loose ends (or, well, murders) that Season 2 left open.
But if you forgot all that happened in the previous season, here’s a refresher — because, as we all know, true crime can get juicy. Spoiler warning: Spoilers for Seasons 1 and 2 of Only Murders in the Building follow.
- The comeback of All Is Not OK in Oklahoma
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Does the name All Is Not OK in Oklahoma sound familiar? In the first season of the show, Mabel, Oliver, and Charles are brought together by their love for this podcast, hosted by Cinda Canning (Tina Fey). About a woman who went missing in Chickasha, Oklahoma, the story was originally pitched by Poppy White (Adina Verson), Cinda’s assistant.
What people didn’t know was that Poppy was only an alias for Becky Butler, AKA the missing person the series talked about. She, therefore, suggested her own life story as a theme in order to run from her past and secure a job in the podcast.
It doesn’t end there, though — it was uncovered throughout Season 2 that she was the one who stabbed apartment manager Bunny (Jayne Houdyshell) at the end of the first season. Back then, she pinned the murder on Mabel, Oliver, and Charles. Obviously.
- Bunny’s murder
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Patrick Harbron/Hulu Mabel, Charles, and Oliver, however, know that Poppy is Becky. And, more than that, they believe that Bunny’s death was her deed.
After All Is Not OK in Oklahoma’s success, both Cinda and Poppy get anxious about what their next podcast will be about. Cinda doesn’t want to be a one-hit wonder and, with the arrival of fresh meat in the scene — the Only Murders In Building trio — the host finds herself looking for new content to cover.
Poppy suggests the missing artist Rose Cooper, but Cinda insists she needs murder. Looks like Poppy had, then, a reason to orchestrate Bunny’s murder.
But after meeting Poppy in a diner, all the trio learns is that she, like Cinda, is afraid of the inside of tomatoes and slow motion. It’s only when Mabel gets a call from Detective Williams and discovers the meaning of Bunny’s last words — “14” and “Savage,” his order at a local diner — that she figures out the killer’s identity.
- The big confession
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Along with other Arconia residents, the three create a plan to make Cinda confess. They invite the podcast host to Bunny’s apartment for a meeting to reveal who the real killer is. Planning on a confession, everyone inside starts to terrorize Cinda by talking in slow motion and using sliced tomatoes as props.
But even then she doesn’t give in — because, according to Mabel, Alice (Cara Delevingne) is the real killer. Allegedly, she planned Bunny’s death and framed it on Mabel to increase the value of her artwork. Beyond that, Mabel’s art collector fling is also accused of wanting to steal Bunny’s Rose Cooper painting.
Enraged, Alice attempts to stab Mabel. Charles saves her from the attack, but gets up getting killed instead. Or did he?
- The killer’s reveal
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Craig Blankenhorn/Hulu To compliment Mabel on her crime-solving skills, Cinda offers Selena Gomez’s character her own podcast. This rubs Poppy the wrong way: Unhinged, she complains about how unfair it is that Mabel gets her own show after all the bad treatment she endured as an assistant.
As she rants, however, the last pieces of the puzzle are brought together. Poppy starts sneezing, just like the killer did in the Arconia the night Bunny was killed, and Cinda admits that she knows Poppy is Becky Butler.
The presumed-dead Charles then shows up, explaining that the stabbing was faked, and Mabel reveals that Detective Williams confirmed that the DNA on the murder weapon matched the one from a missing person from Oklahoma: Becky Butler/Poppy.
The assistant is arrested alongside her boyfriend, Detective Kreps, who helped her with her crimes.
- More murder outside the building
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Just like that, the trio closes another season of their podcast. It seems like life can go back to normal again: Mabel renovates her apartment with Alice’s help, Charles returns to the set of Brazzos, and Oliver gets an offer to direct a Broadway play.
Fast forward a year, though, and Charles and Mabel attend the premiere of Oliver’s show — only to be met again with the mysterious murder of one of the actors (played by the Paul Rudd), soon after the opening monologue. “You got to be kidding me,” Mabel complains as Season 2’s finale comes to an end.
Seems like we already have the podcast theme for Season 3!