Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10
Cast: Steve Martin, Martin Short, Selena Gomez, Amy Ryan, Jayne Houdyshell, Teddy Coluca, Michael Cyril Creighton, Jackie Hoffman, Cara Delevingne, Vanessa Aspillaga, Ryan Broussard, Tina Fey, Adina Version, Nathan Lane, Russell G. Jones, Da’Vine Joy Randolph, James Caverly, Daniel Oreskes, Zoe Margaret Colletti, Michael Rapaport, Jaboukie Young-White, Christine Ko, Ariel Shafir, Ali Stoker, Ade Oyukoya, Orson Hong, Kirk Kelly, Jane Lynch, Shirley MacLaine, Andrea Martin, Amy Schumer, Paul Rudd, Mark Consuelos, Wakeema Hollis.
To be unique is to be both loved and despised in equal measure; those that cannot stand the light will do everything they can to do dim the presence of your existence, and the ones who see your work as an extension of humanity will do all that they can to promote your life, extolling virtue, praising the kill of each line delivered.
If the first series of Only Murders In The Building caught television viewers by surprise, then the ten part second series only built the expectation higher, taking the genre by the scruff of the neck and delivering the finished article with style, panache, and furious creativity to an audience that just cannot get enough of the three podcast detectives as they find themselves embroiled once more into a murder in their high class residence in New York City.
To be unique means being accused of repeating your absolute hit, even if you are the only one producing anything of such high entertainment and value, it is almost an unthinkable act by the detractors who will suggest with glee that you have run out of ideas, that you are desperate for the same success as before. Uniqueness though also holds firm against these spurious accusations, and just raises the bar; a similar pattern, but one crafted on a more industrial machine.
The second series of Only Murders In The Building arguably finds a way to evolve its storyline by encompassing more of the detail of the city’s own perspective on life, the drama encompassed in the society reflected in a microcosm; one not of an entire social outlook, for the closest many in this situation will ever get to rubbing shoulders with the poor and the great unwashed, the tired and overworked so resolutely called for by the beacon of the New World, is when they see it as project, when their lives are thrust into the reminder of who they share a city with.
It is to that end that Only Murders In The Building captures the ironyof the city that never sleeps, for in the beautiful façade that the Arconia inhabits, lays the unseen, the crevices, the cracks, the places that are hidden, the resentments that are built up by years of inequality, and the petty jealousies blown up out of all proportion.
Murder is a criminal act of desperation when seen through the eyes of the poor, the neglected, and the crowded misery, but in the hands of the rich and affluent, it can, as is seen in the finale’s most inspired ending, become a game, a rich person’s event in which it is a privilege to be amongst the guests at the chilling reveal.
A superb series with captivating performances from the three main leads of Steve Martin, Martin Short, and Selena Gomez, but one which showcases the brilliance of its supporting cast, and especially in the returning Nathan Lane, Jayne Houdyshell, Tine Fey, Jane Lynch and the indomitable Shirley MacLaine, with care and freedom of spirit, Only Murders In The Building is a piece of New York art framed with exquisite belief and insight.
Murder most captivating, a story well worth investigating…. again.
Ian D. Hall