Only Murders in the Building Season 2 Episode 7 review: Mabel and Theo bond as they go chasing glitter man

3/5

Story: After stabbing ‘glitter man’ on the train, Mabel (Selena Gomez) ends up at a strange apartment, with no memory of what she’d just done. Turns out, the apartment belongs to Theo Dimas (James Caverly), who is awaiting trial in the grave robbery case. He wants to help Mabel, but not before making her understand that much like she doesn’t know if she actually did stab Bunny Folgers (Jane Houdyshell) with her knitting needle, he too is not sure if he pushed Zoe or if she’d slipped off the Arconia. But how did Mabel end up at Theo’s place? He was on the same train and not only saw what happened, but also that glitter man dropped an access card from Coney Island while getting away. While they go in search of glitter man, Charles and Oliver get a surprise visit from Detective Williams (Da’Vine Joy Randolph), who is trying to sniff out what they’ve been hiding from her – like, the murder weapon, for instance.

Review: It is really frustrating when you are so close to the finish line but just don’t get there. This week’s episode of Only Murders in The Building was exactly like that. We are supposed to feel for Theo Dimas, because he’s just a misunderstood soul, who is struggling with his own guilt, whether he actually did push Zoe off the building many years ago, or if she’d slipped.

Theo can’t lip read much, even if he did, deciphering what Mabel says could be tough given that she barely moves a facial muscle, or her mouth, for that matter, when she speaks. Also, Mabel doesn’t know sign language. Some things are written, others are left said but not heard, as they then go in search of ‘glitter man’, who is an employee at Coney Island.

Mabel finds him and her bag that he’d taken off her on the train, but not the matchbook with the bloody fingerprint. Instead, there’s a picture of Charles and Lucy in the bag, and before he can warn her of any impending danger, New York is plunged into darkness (one building at a time, for better visual appeal). What’s Lucy got to do with Bunny’s murder? Did she see more than she’s let on so far?

By the way, Oliver (Martin Short) still hasn’t got the results of the DNA test, which is also indication of the near stand-still we’re at in terms of plot progression. Even Detective Williams’ visit to Charles (Steve Martin) and Oliver was more about the latter giving her a lesson on how to relieve a baby of gas. Sigh!

Well, she now knows they’ve got the murder weapon, but they still haven’t told her that they’d probably been texting the killer. Second seasons can be tough, but it’s surprising that the Only Murders in The Building writers thought it best to dumb down its audience. Not a very wise move!

Verdict: If the showrunners didn’t have much to work with, they should have just had a six-episode season and be done with it, instead of peddling so many filler episodes. There’s still no clue about who the murderer could be, the mystery behind Rose Cooper’s painting, Alice’s true intentions (besides using Mabel as a muse for her art), the lengths Cinda will go to to prove her 'Bloody Mabel theory, and so much more, yet only three more episodes to answer all of that.