- Season 1 — Only Murders In The Building
Suspicion shifts from the brooding rocker Sting (who lived in the building) to the shady resident Teddy Dimas (Nathan Lane), who financed the podcast.
Oliver is an eccentric, theatrical, and completely broke Broadway director. He faces imminent eviction from the Arconia unless he can find a new financial hit. Short infuses Oliver with boundless, desperate energy, serving as the theatrical driving force behind both the investigation and the podcast.
Beyond the compelling mystery, Only Murders in the Building functions as a brilliantly observant satire of the true-crime genre and its fandom. It playfully mocks the portentous narration, the obsessive note-taking, the wild theorizing, and the performative seriousness of podcast hosts. The show also cleverly reflects the generational divide between Charles and Oliver (older, nostalgic men) and Mabel (a young, digital-native woman) in how they approach and engage with true crime and the internet. Ultimately, the show asks us to reflect: When does curiosity and a search for justice cross the line into voyeurism and exploitation of real human tragedy?
Production designer Curt Beech intentionally made each main character's apartment a reflection of their personality:
As they dig deeper, they realize the killer might be one of their own neighbors. Only Murders in the Building - Season 1
As they record each episode, the trio uncovers decades of secrets hidden by the building’s eccentric tenants. The stakes escalate rapidly as they realize the killer lives among them, turning their hobby into a dangerous game of survival. Meet the Trio: Cast and Characters
The first season of Only Murders in the Building is a charming, meticulously crafted "cozy mystery" that successfully revitalized the TV comedy-mystery genre upon its 2021 release . It centers on three residents of the Arconia—an upscale New York apartment building—who bond over their shared obsession with true-crime podcasts and decide to start their own when a neighbor is found dead. Only Murders in the Building: Season 1 | Rotten Tomatoes
The show’s brilliance lies in its casting and the archetypes it deconstructs. We are introduced to three disparate individuals living in the Arconia, a storied Upper West Side apartment building that serves as a character in its own right. Charles (Steve Martin) is a washed-up television detective, isolated by his own rigidity and fear of vulnerability. Oliver (Martin Short) is a financially ruined, flamboyant theater director whose desperation for a "hit" masks a deep fear of irrelevance. Mabel (Selena Gomez) is the cynical, mysterious millennial, intentionally adrift and defined by a past tragedy she cannot reconcile.
Season 1 received widespread acclaim for its willingness to experiment with the television format. The crowning achievement of this experimentation is Episode 7, titled "Boy Leaves Girl." Suspicion shifts from the brooding rocker Sting (who
The legendary musician plays a fictionalized, highly intense version of himself, who hated Tim for mismanaging his finances.
In a television landscape often saturated with gritty, high-stakes dramas, Hulu’s Only Murders in the Building arrived in 2021 as a breath of fresh, albeit murderous, air. Combining the nostalgic charm of classic comedy, the suspense of a murder mystery, and the modern obsession with true-crime podcasts, the first season created a cozy, captivating, and comedic world that instantly hooked viewers.
Here is a quick look at the 10 episodes that make up the fantastic first season:
Only Murders in the Building Season 1 is available to stream exclusively on in the United States. In many other countries, the series is available on Disney+ under the Star brand. The show also cleverly reflects the generational divide
Their solitary obsessions collide in the building's elevator, moments before a fire alarm evacuates the complex. Upon sneaking back inside, they discover that another resident, Tim Kono, has died from an apparent suicide. Unconvinced by the police findings and armed with knowledge gleaned from hundreds of hours of podcast episodes, the trio decides to launch their own investigation—and document it via their own podcast, titled Only Murders in the Building . The Trio: A Masterclass in Multi-Generational Chemistry
The season finale, which delivers a fast-paced, suspenseful showdown with Jan, while setting up the cliffhanger for the next season. 5. Style and Production Design
Where the season truly excels is in its emotional payoff. The reveal of the killer—not a mastermind, but a grief-stricken, lonely teenager (Jan, played brilliantly by Amy Ryan) acting on jealousy—is deliberately anti-climactic. The real resolution lies elsewhere: in the final episode’s silent sequence, where Charles, Oliver, and Mabel wordlessly move through the Arconia, clearing the name of their wrongly accused friend. The dramatic crescendo is not a chase or a confession, but a shared meal—the three protagonists finally eating together in Mabel’s renovated apartment, no longer strangers. The murder solved, the podcast complete, they have found something rarer: a family.
: Teddy Dimas (Nathan Lane), Oliver's former sponsor, and his son Theo are revealed to be involved in a black-market jewelry ring. While they were involved in past crimes, they did not kill Tim.
The Arconia, an upscale Upper West Side apartment building, usually thrives on whispered gossip and stern building board rules. But in Season 1 of Only Murders in the Building