'Only Murders In The Building': A Blerds Eye View

I find the real mystery surrounding the Hulu Original, star-studded whodunit, Only Murders In The Building (2021), is its 100% Tomatometer critic rating (that’s right, 100%) and the overwhelmingly positive audience reviews on Rotten Tomatoes.

I’ve somehow managed to power through all ten episodes and if I’m being completely honest (and I am), OMITB is not that good. In fact, using the word “good” to describe Only Murders is being generous and respectful to the show’s creators and the extremely talented cast who, incredibly enough, was not able to sustain the unconventional charm established in the early episodes. And also because other words like mediocre and meh would be too on the nose.

But c’mon, 100%? Really?

I thought of the possibility of a new Covid variant of the streaming television variety causing lapses in judgment in the minds of critics and viewers alike — an impromptu fandom uniting zombie-like with knee-pads and donut smiles servicing the hit series with puff pieces and mostly uncritical hot takes.

But 100%?

And I know I’m not the only one who feels this way about Only Murders. I mean, it’s not like the show’s premise isn’t solid enough because it is. A trio of lonely New Yorkers, strangers, and unwitting kindred spirits share a true-crime podcast jones while residing in the same building — posh Upper West Side digs —who, as fate would have it, decide to create a murder mystery podcast of their own after a fellow tenant turns up dead.

Still, even with all the comedic heavy hitters (not to mention the two comedy greats Steve Martin (Charles-Haden Savage) and Martin Short (Oliver Putnam) in the lead roles) on deck, unfortunately, Only Murders chooses NOT to swing for the fence but seems content with being mildly funny (in a family-friendly, 80s sitcom sort of way minus the laugh track) due in large part to Short’s occasionally blistering, unfiltered quips but with needlessly gratuitous profanity and not being all that committed to solving a murder as it is in looking stylish enough to do so.

Although, to the writers’ credit, Selena Gomez’s character, Mabel Mora, is not treated as just another pretty face. Nor is her character (or performance) very impressive. She comes off more as a diversity hire padding the series with millennial inclusiveness and equality vibes. It’s as if no one truly expects Gomez to hold her own among show biz legends.

All in all, Only Murders In The Building is a murder mystery show of lukewarm quality that managed to rise just above the low escapist’s pandemic bar to provide minimal entertainment to a demographic willing to set aside any genuine scrutiny in order to reward white mediocrity. Mystery solved.

One-hundred percent, though?