The metaphorical puzzle gets flipped, and Mabel starts to see things clearly.
Only Murders In the Building Season 2 Episode 7 focuses on so-called “Bloody Mabel” and has her spending time with a most unlikely ally — Theo Dimas.
The puzzle theme has been a big part of the show’s marketing, but now it comes into play in a real way.
Mabel’s current puzzle is symbolic — the mystery of Bunny’s death — but she loved solving puzzles with her father. Now, she solves mysteries, a type of puzzle, with her two new father figures.
Again, fatherhood plays a considerable role in these characters’ lives. It was true in Only Murders in the Building Season 1 and is even truer in Only Murders in the Building Season 2.
It was a nice parallel to bring Theo back in “Flipping the Pieces,” the seventh episode in the premier season, since he featured centrally in Only Murders In The Building Season 1 Episode 7.
The fact that Mabel trusts him so quickly is alarming, but something about his desperation must have struck a chord with her. He was good enough to bring her home and take care of her but was still a little creepy, as he admitted.
James Caverly is such a tender performer that you almost forget his character is a graverobber/quasi-murderer.
Theo and Mabel both loved Zoe, and they finally listened to each other about how her death affected them (even if Theo missed most of what Mabel actually said).
Their history is long and complicated, given what they and the people in their lives have been through, so it was an interesting choice to put them together and see what transpired.
Theo and Mabel may not have made friends, but they made peace.
Either the killer is in these files, or I’m some unhinged psychopath who goes into fugue states and stabs people. Either way, a girl likes to know these things about herself.
Mabel Mora
The scenes between young Mabel (Caroline Valencia) and her father (Mark Consuelos) weigh heavily but give a sense of how far back Mabel’s grief goes.
She wasn’t allowed to process her father’s illness until it was too late. In trying to protect her, the adults in her life didn’t give her the space to grasp what was happening.
It’s an impossible situation to help a child through, though, so who’s to say if it would have been any better or worse if she had known her father was dying?
Consuelos and Valencia share some heartfelt moments, especially the scene in the hospital. Without words, they conveyed so much love, understanding, and pain.
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again, Mabel has been through a lot of trauma for a young person.
As Gomez remains stoic and doesn’t overplay, Mabel’s most tragic moments hit hard. When Mabel breaks as Bunny dies in her arms, there’s genuine grief, and we break with her.
I have to flip the pieces now. All of them. Otherwise, I’ll never see the full picture.
Mabel Mora
The only thing that seemed dubious was the theory that Mabel might have stabbed Bunny and didn’t remember. The characters on the show may have believed it, but the viewers (speaking for myself) never bought that for a second. Thus, the fact that it was disproved felt like a fait accompli.
Is it me, or did Charles and Oliver get sloppy this episode?
They’ve both proven inept occasionally, and their hijinks are part of the comedy, but it seemed like this was pushing it for the laughs.
Charles doesn’t have much high ground to get on Oliver’s case about forgetting the knife when he’s yelling about the murder weapon with a detective IN THE APARTMENT. Get it together, guys.
However, in another case of “unexpected allies,” Detective Williams expressed sympathy for Mabel and their situation.
Eventually, they realized they could help potentially exonerate their friend if they helped Williams solve the case or at least gave her what they had.
It was a fun back-and-forth overall, and the baby kicking to A Chorus Line was adorable.
Like I don’t fuckin’ know Chorus Line.
Detective Williams
I’m also a sucker for Broadway Easter eggs, so when Da’Vine Joy Randolph started belting out “One,” hardcore theatre fans like myself were guaranteed to be as gleeful as Oliver at that moment.
There was also Oliver’s off-the-cuff line:
Joy is your new middle name.
Oliver Putnam
(Joy is not Keith’s middle name, but his mama’s!)
The writers appear to be dragging out the DNA plotline for all it’s worth.
Will that mystery be resolved by the end of the season or carry over to Season 3, or will the results be inconclusive?
It’s not something that feels worth the emotional investment. Oliver and Will love each other very much, and it doesn’t feel like DNA results would change that.
The blackout seems like another “convenient plot twist.”
It’s a shocking cliffhanger end to the episode, sure, but it hasn’t been foreshadowed, and it’s not a twist brought on by character development or a secret being revealed. It’s just a new conflict the characters must work through.
We’ve learned more about the Glitter Man, a.k.a the Texter.
He works security at Coney Island, and he’s injured from Mabel’s stabbing, but he can still walk and run. He still has the matchbook, and it’s clear he has ill intent.
What will Mabel and Theo find in the employee files? Will the person’s identity lead them to the killer or be the killer himself?
This, of course, assumes it is a man; I’m still not counting out Amy Schumer or any other woman at this point!
The creative elements were also particularly inspired on this episode.
Mabel’s trippy puzzle sequences took us into the way her mind works.
The portrayal of Theo’s deafness is once again empathetic and clever. The musical underscoring (by Siddhartha Khosla) is beautiful. The written narration is a clever visual device.
Mabel Mora: It always seems like people can lip-read more in movies.
Theo Dimas: Yeah, well, deaf people don’t get to write a lot of movies.
Mabel’s constant frustration when Theo used ASL showed her (and the viewers) what it must be like to be spoken to in a language you don’t easily understand.
This was an intimate episode, with each scene never having more than three people (unless you include baby Keith, then you’d have four).
As usual, this show is at its strongest when it gives its characters breathing room and shows us who they are in all their messy complexity.
What do you think, Arconiacs? How did you feel about Mabel and Theo’s bonding session in Coney Island? Are you excited to see where this blackout will take the characters?
Share your thoughts in the comments!
Mary Littlejohn is a staff writer for TV Fanatic. Follow her on Twitter.