'Only Murders' finale missteps don't undo show's earned success

In a murder mystery show that wasn't truly about the actual murder mystery, the finale of Only Murders in the Building somehow still left me asking more questions and scratching my head than I would've preferred. I still enjoyed the finale and the entire season, but it underwhelmingly left a lot to be desired.

Again, the previous nine episodes were a joyous ride full of comedy and odd, chemically unstable pairings of extraordinary characters that led to many delightfully twisty turns, fun character arcs, and hilarious situations. The problems I had with the show largely surround the actual build-up and resolution of the murder. Clues led from one episode to the next in classic cliffhanger style, but the suspense all but dissipated in the penultimate episode after getting the strong insinuation that Jan was the one who was secretly with Tim Kono.

This is where the story's payoffs didn't earn their keep. First of all, it's only now that we even get a glimpse of Kono's actual state of being (outside of the crazy jewelry operation he was a part of) at the time of the murder. That's been my biggest complaint all season; the writers never made me care about the actual murder victim until this point. Kono is a loner, of course, which makes him a perfect target for Jan. Tim doesn't help his case by cheating on Jan a couple of days before the murder (again, something we should've learned a long time ago). I must admit, it's refreshing they went with a woman killer, but I wish her reasoning was better than relationship revenge. Her motives just didn't seem that convincing, and I wonder if women resent the fact that they are typically portrayed as a crazy murderer only when they get cheated on, as if that sends them off the deep end, though I don't think any man should be willing to find out (I'm joking, of course, ladies). For the record, my wife doesn't think that was a big deal, and I agree, which further proves my point that Jan's motives were not really justified other than she's just crazy in general. Okay.

Apparently Jan has a type, because Charles is the same way - a loner with a big age discrepancy (does following this pattern make her a serial killer?) - and that nearly cost Charles his life, too! Thankfully she didn't execute her simple plan to poison Charles as well as she orchestrated Tim's death, though leaving her bassoon cleaner at Tim's apartment seemed like a pretty egregious error on her part (she tries to play this off by saying the victims are after bassoon players, which nearly works!). I mean, come on, she was smart enough to hide the knife she stabbed herself with (further deflecting any potential suspicions on her) in a vent in her apartment...okay, maybe she's just not smart at all. Again, the execution of the actual murder storyline was pretty flimsy. I know this isn't a show that's focusing on that, but man, at least make it seem a little more convincing, right?

The rest of the characters' stories ended with nicely tied bows. Oliver talked with his son and earned his respect, enough so that the son indulged in a full recap of the story. Mabel and her tie-dye boyfriend are happily together again. And hey, they all get to stay in their building after all.

That is, until the final scene gives us a whopper of a cliffhanger! The only problem I had with the final scene was the fact that we've already seen it. The opening scene of the season showed Mabel over a dead body in a tie-dye shirt and her getting arrested. But we don't actually get any resolutions to that story. Instead, it served little more than a promo for a Season 2. That was infuriating. The whole season I had suspicions about Mabel because of that scene, but that apparently was for no reason whatsoever. And when her tie-dye boyfriend got released from prison halfway through the season, I made the assumption that he was the one who would be dead on the floor at the end. What a completely unnecessary and gimmicky mislead.

Despite the somewhat bummer of an ending, Only Murders in the Building is still easily one of my favorite shows of the year, and I'd definitely be down for a Season 2. I'm already thinking Tina Fey's character set up that final scene because she didn't want our trio's podcast to outshine her own. Can't wait for the mystery to begin again!

#OnlyMurdersInTheBuilding #OnlyMurdersFinale #Hulu