Hulu’s Only Murders in the Building is a Playful True-Crime Romp | TV/Streaming

“Only Murders in the Building” has a great deal of fun with its unique true-crime angle and its expanding list of potential suspects, and it doesn’t worry about plotting so much as goofy character development. A very charming Amy Ryan enters the mix initially, for example, to make some bassoon puns. The mystery itself about who killed Tim Kono is more of an illusion of momentum, but there are just enough small twists, and personal mysteries related to secrets our three leads have withheld, that the story maintains its easy going air without being too loose. It’s a pretty smart series too, smart enough to address in episode eight about the lack of stakes in earlier episodes that at least boasted a great, bizarre cameo. 

Every episode begins with a new voice, whether or not the character play a big role in the story. It’s a striking narrative approach that expands the character roster, including cop who initially investigated the case (Da’Vine Joy Randolph), the podcaster who inspires them, or a certain outsider played by Jaboukie Young-White. The expanding of the character roster can sometimes work against it—as if it loses some edge by throwing out so many possibilities—but it does inspire a meaningful and unexpected seventh episode that takes place entirely from one character’s perspective, and has the writing building clever parts of the plot around it. 

There’s a free-spirited mindset to the show that keeps it amusing, especially in how it fills in the backstories of its main characters. Oliver has very telling flights of fancy where he imagines his investigation of the apartment building killer as Broadway audition process, in which he’s the power-tripping director. For good measure, there’s a charming music-driven scene that features a concertina and bassoon player flirting, played for sweet, easygoing romantic effect that one could only get away with the carte blanche of a TV series. It’s not a coincidence that the series doesn’t play too literally about whenever Charles, Oliver, and Mabel release a new podcast episode, so much as just let it all unfold whenever it does. “Only Murders in the Building” can be filled with a whole lot of atmosphere, and that proves to be a mighty welcoming part about it. 

Eight episodes screened for review. “Only Murders in the Building” premieres on Hulu on August 31, with a new episode premiering each week.