The seventh episode of Only Murders in the Building, titled "The Boy from 6B," not only threw off the pacing of the whole season for me, but it was the writers' most blatant attempt at crying out for an Emmy nomination.
A lot of shows have that one episode that, for better or worse, is known for a gimmick. Modern Family won an Emmy for that episode when Claire used her iPad to do everything; the whole show was seen threw the camera on her device. This Is Us has its perennial trilogy of episodes that focuses exclusively on the three siblings one at a time. Heck, for those of you who might dabble into Seinfeld for the first time since its recent release on Netflix, "The Betrayal" episode was famous for going backward, which was an homage to Harold Pinter's play by the same name. (Totally random note, but I may end up cranking up the Seinfeld references just to see if anyone is paying more attention to that show)
"The Boy from 6B" will be remembered as the episode with no sound. Well, no true sound, anyway. There was no dialogue, save for one meta moment at the end (which was still great, by the way). The writers reintroduce us to Theo, who is revealed to be Teddy's son (I thought he was his nephew at first; it wasn't all that clear right away). We've apparently seen Theo in a few clips prior to this, but we had no idea he was an important character until now, though this reveal doesn't really have the impact or twist that normally makes audiences want to rewatch shows or movies with that new knowledge.
What's special about Theo is he cannot hear. He's deaf, and the sound mixers and editors make sure we, the audience, know it. At all times. Even when he isn't in the scene. Theo can read lips, and the audience gets to read subtitles along with him, which was nice, but obviously necessary. So for most scenes, it makes sense to not hear any words spoken. We do hear that constant distorted, deep, deafening hum (though not chaotic like those crazy shock moments in Call of Duty games), as if we're wearing soundproof headphones the entire time. It's not that new of a technique, but it was done well enough to maintain an alluring, captivating sense.
The side effect to committing to this idea is the gaps in believability that completely takes the audience out of the experience. Several scenes without Theo in them at all are still muted. But how do you tell a story in those scenes? It can be hard, and the execution here was horrible. The characters were talking to each other, but in far more of an exaggerated nature, which had a cartoony, goofy feel to it. The audience goes from this intense, engaging tone to one of awkwardness. The actors didn't help their cause, either; they came across too "winky at the camera," if that makes any sense. The style of humor that has carried this show to great heights thus far was nonexistent; style choices for the sake of art far too often these days compromise the integrity and cohesion of the story at hand, and most of the time the payoff isn't worth it.
The story does give us some answers, at least. Theo apparently is the one who knocked Zoe off the ledge of the building accidentally. We've seen the scene with the rooftop party in previous episodes, but not the exact moment of her death (until now). Zoe was upset from her fresh breakup with Oscar, and Theo tried to step in as the consolation guy. While I'm sick of writing mechanics that involve going into the past and providing context exactly when we need it (which mostly feels completely contrived), I appreciated the build-up with Theo and Zoe that led to this moment. She had a special connection with him because she knew sign language. The two of them had their own inside jokes because they could make fun of people around them without anyone else knowing it. She saw the vulnerable side of him and didn't dismiss him as a weirdo or "the deaf kid." Naturally, any guy in his position would be drawn to her like a moth to a flame. But he came across as too desperate, and eventually they had a spat on the rooftop (involving the ring) that led to her demise. What a tragedy. Geez, maybe let the girl cool off for a night after she breaks up with her boyfriend!
Oscar witnesses this, so Theo goes to his dad to take care of the issue. That's why Oscar never said anything to Mabel all this time. That's why he took the fall and went to jail.
Although we still don't know who killed Tim Kono, I feel like the true mystery we care about far more has been revealed. That's a problem to me. I have no investment in Kono the way I do in Mabel, her friends, and that party all those years ago. That has been the story's focus lately, and I honestly don't really care who killed Kono at this point. Maybe there is still some crazy twist involving Mabel or someone close to her that has something to do with all of this. But now I'm fearful I'll look back on this episode when the season is done and think about how it ruined the pacing of the show. Hopefully I'm wrong.
