Only Murders in the Building: The Sting

September 7, 2021 4:22 PM - Season 1, Episode 4

Sting and his dog-hating ways make him a potential suspect. We find out that Charles is haunted by cartoon characters, who "Lucy" was and how that whole dating the bassoonist thing is going. Oliver's son has a key piece of info about Mabel. The podcast gang meets their idol Cinda.

I really liked this. I was very touched by the whole Charles plot (the duet across the building, awww!). Surprised that Lucy wasn't his ex after all, which of course is what I was expecting.

Of course somehow Sting isn't guilty but a wee bit involved? So who tried to do in poor Winnie?

Damn you, Cinda, for stealing their podcast idea!

posted by jenfullmoon (7 comments total)

I am still loving this and its weird twisty ways. It also just feels oddly kind in a lot of ways -- it's not making fun of our core three. There's a sweetness here I didn't expect.

I also like that it seems to be going places I didn't expect. I'm glad the Mabel reveal to Charles-Haden and Oliver wasn't dragged out but the final scene makes me worried things will go badly. But this show keeps me guessing. I'm still going to trust it.
posted by edencosmic at 5:16 PM on September 7, 2021 [1 favorite]

Hoping it doesn't turn out that Will is the killer, either of the blonde girl or Tim Kono.
posted by sgrass at 6:45 PM on September 7, 2021 [1 favorite]

Hang on - they got STING for this? Like, the actual STING Sting?
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 4:14 AM on September 8, 2021 [7 favorites]

They got the actual STING Sting to sing a stupid STUPID song.
posted by Quonab at 12:58 PM on September 8, 2021 [15 favorites]

Man, as soon as Tina Fey mentioned the turkey I knew they were going to end up bringing a turkey. It was very funny, though.

The Steve Martin relationship backstory was amusing and unexpectedly heart-wrenching! I loved the revelation that he hadn't been pining over his ex so much as he had been missing his kid. (Though -- he shouldn't miss his ex, anybody who disappears on a cruise really sucks.)
posted by grandiloquiet at 8:53 PM on September 8, 2021 [6 favorites]

It also makes Charles' neighbor more reasonable since he's been talking about Lucy, the child, rather than telling Charles about his ex each time they talk. And I love Maulik Pancholy as the neighbor. I'm glad he's sympathetic.

I'm just really enjoying the cozy-mystery feel of this show. And in terms of character economy, Oliver's son Willie is both a vet who can treat Winnie and someone near enough to Mabel's age so he could reveal past with Oliver.

My guess for tie-dye guy is Oscar.
posted by gladly at 10:11 AM on September 9, 2021 [10 favorites]

Things I appreciated about this episode:
The very Serialesque musical scoring
The utterly charming accordion/bassoon duet
The phrase "So, we're gonna bring Sting a morning turkey?"
Mabel's earrings
Squarespace
posted by eponym at 7:15 PM on September 20, 2021 [8 favorites]