Only Murders in the Building creator breaks down season 2 finale time jump twist and new murder
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Warning: This article contains spoilers about the Only Murders in the Building season 2 finale.
Just when Charles (Steve Martin), Mabel (Selena Gomez), and Oliver (Martin Short) think they're finally out of the murder game, something pulls them right back in on Only Murders in the Building. At least they got a year break with no gruesome deaths and being named as suspects in murder cases, right?
After revealing that Bunny's (Jayne Houdyshell) killer was actually podcast assistant Poppy (Adina Verson), Hulu's hilarious whodunnit ended season 2 with a shocking time jump twist. The final scene skipped ahead a full year to the opening night of Oliver's Broadway directorial comeback starring none other than Charles and new character Ben Glenroy (Paul Rudd) — who clearly hate each other for a mysterious reason. Their triumphant night takes a turn, however, when Ben drops dead onstage in the opening scene, causing Mabel, who was watching from the audience, to end the season with the perfect line: "You've got to be f---ing kidding me."
Below, Only Murders in the Building creator John Hoffman breaks down that killer Poppy twist, time jump, and what fans can expect from the upcoming season 3.
Craig Blankenhorn/ 'Only Murders in the Building' creator breaks down season 2 finale time jump twist and new murder
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: Where did you get the idea to have Poppy revealed not only as Becky Butler in disguise but also this season's killer?
JOHN HOFFMAN: It wasn't too long after we wrapped season 1 that I started thinking about a plan for season 2, landing on couple of options for who the killer might be for Bunny. Ultimately, someone we thought we might be able to hide is Poppy, who also has the ability to construct something grandiose, and we were looking for a really mapped-out plan that went off its rails, and that felt like a more limited group of people who might have that in mind. There were certainly other characters — we had a scenario where Teddy was a puppet master, we had a few other options with Jan [the season 1 killer] pulling strings from jail. But keeping it within the podcast world and what focused our trio the most and what could advance Poppy's career, in her mind, would be to pull off some virtuosic case that she could help crack.
That started to feel very exciting for this overall theme of, this trio really stepped in it. Because I was also interested to see the other side of the victories they had by the end of last season, and looking to say that they did poke a beast, and it was very dangerous what they were doing. Now they're navigating trying to get themselves out from under this cloud, while also finding evidence that pointed directly at them, which is a very challenging place to solve a case from.That all felt really good for comedy and letting their own personal stories get involved.
The Becky Butler of it all, which is way more exciting, I think it was my idea. We were looking for a way to make the history there deeper and more dimensional. When we started really delving into Poppy, like we do with all of our characters, all of that exploration in the room for the season made it feel like, "Oh, my God. What if … ?" It started to feel like the model for what worked in the past for her, to create a situation that became a podcast — that's how she got a job with Cinda, that's how she found her way in. You get hints of it in the finale, where she's saying, "What about that story about Rose Cooper?" and the idea of her relating to this story of an artist who disappeared herself and then became wildly successful. That story resonated with Poppy so much because she was a girl who disappeared herself and had a little bit of an inkling of success. That relationship to that story we imagined her discovering and getting fascinated by, and that led to the fact that Bunny had a painting of Rose Cooper's, and it all started to spiral from there.
It was so brilliant how you were able to tie the key to the mystery of season 2 to something that was discussed in the very first moments of season 1.
Earlier on in season 2, when I was asked for a tease, one of the things that I would say was, "I think of season 1 and season 2 as sort of sister seasons." That all ties back into the original inspiration that got our trio together, the podcast All Is Not OK in Oklahoma. That story of what brought them together is what almost undid them and then, of course, became their next big triumph by the end of season 2, sourcing and sussing out that the thing we know the best is where we can find the answers. That's how the two seasons partnered up. But of course, our tease of season 3 takes us away from that. It is not a sister season to seasons 1 and 2.
Adina told EW that most of the cast had no idea all season long that she was the killer. How difficult was it to keep the secret from everyone, even people working on set?
We had to watch every step along the way. It was very tricky. She was such an amazing partner throughout all of that because there were many times I was like, "This is such a lovely part for you, and for your life, and I want you to have all of the success you deserve. But we can't have your name as a series regular in the show because people will know that something's up." It's certain things like that that added to the challenges to hide her that run the gamut on this show.
Aside from Adina, who else knew the secret in advance?
There were a lot of people who didn't know. For instance, Michael Cyril Creighton, who plays Howard, I went out to dinner with him when we were shooting, and he was asking me all these questions about where we were going and I didn't realize he didn't know. I had to really remind myself that everyone didn't know it. I shared it with Tina Fey, shared it with the central cast. All the production teams in props and everyone else, they're unaware, but they're still on a high alert where if something feels like a giveaway, they come to me and say, "I know we were planning on this, but when I look at this, I think, uh-oh," and I'm like, "Oh, you're so right. We can't do that." Everyone's in protection mode.
Patrick Harbron/Hulu Adina Verson as Poppy in 'Only Murders In The Building'
Were the people that didn't know the twist constantly coming up to you like, "Here's my theory on what's going on?"
Totally. Constantly. I was always amazed by it because once you know a thing, sometimes it feels very obvious. I'm thinking everything is a slip. But yeah, that would happen a lot. There were people on set too that didn't know until the very end, even when we were shooting it. The huge scene at Bunny's apartment, the killer reveal party in the finale, we shot that over four days. It was exciting to watch people on set, the camera crew and other people who hadn't known where all of this was going, watching it get filmed and read through the stuff until it became clear when Poppy steps forward. There were still people on the day when we were shooting that went, "Oh, my God. I had no idea. I thought the script had changed because of certain things happening and now I think Alice did it. I totally felt like, 'Oh, my God. They've revealed Alice. They made a switch. It's not Poppy anymore.' Then it was Poppy." That was so fun. Cara [Delevingne] was very convincing throughout that whole party.
I was definitely convinced it was Alice until the fake stabbing happened.
I think in some way, the audience would've felt disappointed had it been her. So we played into that so that when it becomes her for that moment, it's almost like you feel a slight disappointment, but then it gets shocking again, and you get thrown off of that by the stabbing. I wanted the friendship between Alice and Mabel to come back around and start to begin a little bit of a healing process after the trauma they had gone through earlier. But I thought it was sweet that Alice pulled off this artistic bit of theater for the right reasons, and how she's actually helped in this cause to bring Poppy down.
You're right, I would have been disappointed if Alice really was the killer, if only because that meant I predicted it early in the season. A predictable ending would be anticlimactic.
I remember when we landed on the structure for episode 10, and I kept on thinking, "This is a season where our trio has been framed, and they're framed over and over again by evidence being planted in their apartments, and everything feels very much out of their control." I was very excited about the idea of our trio ending up looking as smart as they are and as good as they are at this, for them to have set this thing up and understood how they can unravel the actual killer.
Looking ahead to season 3, what does this twist mean for Adina's future on the show? Could we potentially see Poppy/Becky next season in the same way we saw Jan behind bars this season?
Adina actually auditioned for Cinda Canning in season 1, and it was one of the greatest auditions ever. No one's ever sounded like a podcaster more than her. But we had always dreamed of having Tina Fey play Cinda Canning, so when that dream came true, we crafted Poppy knowing that we had someone who we thought was really going to be strong. It just was thrilling to watch Adina this season; she was so funny and so real and so heartbreaking in many ways. Anything we can find to do for ongoing seasons with these characters ... God knows Jan came back in season 2. Yet I think it's a sad situation for Poppy at the moment, but you never know.
Now let's talk about that time jump. Where did that idea come from to skip ahead a year before introducing the new murder case?
That was an interesting process. We had a moment where we had another, alternate ending to the season that would've involved a bigger leap, in some ways, for the show itself. And [executive producers] Dan Fogelman, Jess Rosenthal, and I started to have a talk about that. We stepped back, and I said, "Season 1 was really centered around a Mabel story, and then Charles and his father emotionally led season 2 in many ways. It feels right to lean into Oliver a bit more and his dream of a potential comeback." And so that's where it started to feel like we can go into the theater and imagine a break between them so that we have fodder for what happened in that year jump, and where are they when we join them in season 3 around this new problem they have.
The theater made a lot of sense, both because we wanted to lean a bit towards Oliver for season 3, and then the idea of bringing Charles in to be in the play was natural, as an actor. And then the dream of Paul Rudd saying, "Yes, please," and coming in and mixing in absolutely perfectly for that finale, the hope is for more to come from Paul. And then also for Mabel too, just the idea of giving her enough of a break from all the death that's been around her and giving her the final line of the season, I just love her delivery of that line.
Speaking of Paul, is he going to be a series regular in season 3? Will we see him a lot through flashbacks?
Well, hang tight. But yeah, the hope is, as much as we can have him, we'll take him. He's so great. We've got some surprises planned.
How far into planning season 3 are you at this point, now that you've sort of locked in on some aspects of the cast/story with what you reveal in this time jump scene?
We had to do a big, quick pivot to this new ending for season 2, and in doing that, it was a very quick imagining of laying out the track for a season 3 that we thought of in certain terms, and now just adjusting a bit to this new version. I will only tease further to say what's coming is so crazy and delightful. I'm thrilled about where we are in season 3. We're four weeks in now in the writers room, and I think we're swinging better than ever. It's a great, well-oiled machine and a great room that feels constantly inspired by this cast and New York City and the bit of the theatrics ahead. I am a kid raised in the school of the theater, so leaning into the theatrical, leaning into Oliver's sensibilities, dancing in that territory feels really exciting, and we are not going to be shy about it.
It's going to feel differently because there's an innate sense around our title, and our characters, and that trio is magic. How to freshen that up and progress them individually but also to pull them back together, and the ways in which they've been out of touch, and the ways in which they have found more conflict, potentially, in the last year that we traverse, there's a lot of great stuff. We reset them a little bit, reset their world, and yet the Arconia is still very present in season 3. What could have happened in that year? Who could have come into their lives? What do their lives look like now? We have a fresh start because we don't know everyone who could be involved potentially, and we can get to play with that.
True — I was thinking the killer will be a character we've already met, but it also could be someone completely new that you have yet to introduce.
[Laughs] That is one hundred percent true. Stay tuned!
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