MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD for Only Murders In The Building’s Season 2 finale, “I Know Who Did It." All ten episodes of the latest season are streaming now with a Hulu subscription.
The finale is in. The fictional Only Murders In The Building podcast has completed its second mystery and so has the TV show starring Steve Martin, Martin Short, and Selena Gomez. The hit Hulu series just wrapped another twisty and fun rollout and there’s a lot to unpack here. Who killed Bunny Folger? And what Season 3 teasers did the ending leave us with, following news of the show’s renewal? It’s time to break down everything that happened during the Only Murders in The Building Season 2 ending and what it means going forward.
What Happens At The End Of Only Murders In The Building Season 2
The Only Murders In The Building Season 1 ending left the trio of podcasters with another murder to solve when one of the Arconia’s other residents, Bunny Folger, ended up dead in the arms of Selena Gomez’s Mabel, who looked pretty guilty of murder. Throughout Season 2, Mabel, Steve Martin’s Charles, and Martin Short’s Oliver have been rolling out a new edition of their mystery podcast, along with trying to figure out how to clear their names of being framed for Bunny’s death.
In the Season 2 finale of Only Murders, we learn that the true killer behind Bunny’s death is Adina Verson’s Poppy White, the assistant to fellow true crime podcaster, Cinda Canning (Tina Fey). It’s revealed that Poppy’s real name is Becky Butler, who was the subject of All Is Not OK In Oklahoma, a podcast where Cinda famously solved her murder case. After living a miserable live in rural Oklahoma and being a big fan of Cinda’s podcast, she reached out to Cinda to help her with the podcast by faking the incident, however she has since became stuck in an intern role instead of rising to glory.
After meeting Mabel, Charles, and Oliver however, genius strikes (in her book) and she comes up with a plan to frame the Only Murders protagonists for murder by killing Bunny and hiding in the Arconia’s secret passageways. Poppy plants the murder weapon in Charles’ apartment, but her allergies to birds (Charles’ niece, Lucy, noticed sneezing in the tunnels the night of the murder) ends up damning her and leading the podcasters to her. Plus, Becky Butler’s DNA is found on the murder weapon.
It’s also revealed that Poppy secretly had a romance with Officer Kreps, who helped her keep them off her tracks as “Glitter Guy.” Once the Only Murders trio reveal all the evidence, Poppy said she “just wanted to make a good podcast” and with Officer Kreps, they were hoping she’d become famous and he’d get a promotion once he “solved” the case after they pinned the murder on the famous podcasters.
What Did Bunny’s Last Words Mean?
When Bunny died, her last words were to Mabel, who thought she heard “14, Savage” as the woman took her final breaths. Because Charles’ last name is “Savage,” there was a lot of talk throughout the season that there might be a connection to his father’s past, especially since a painting of his dad was found in his home, stolen from Bunny. With the reveal of Bunny’s real killer, we learn that Poppy had ideas to do a podcast on Rose Cooper (Shirley McLaine), but Cinda declined, and Bunny also refused to sell the painting to Poppy in a meeting at the Pickle Diner. Additionally, in Charles and Rose Cooper’s final meeting, Rose gives him the original painting and says it’s better he have it than a “pushy” woman with “brown hair and glasses.”
With those dots all connected, Mabel realizes that Bunny’s last words were not “14, Savage,” it was “14 sandwich.” The #14 is a sandwich order at the Pickle Diner consisting of Liverwurst & Marmalade, that they all see Poppy order. It’s an odd choice of a sandwich and ended up being the right clue that lead the trio to her being the murderer.
What Was Going On With Cara Delevingne’s Alice?
If you were thrown off by the Poppy reveal, it likely had to do with this season’s big red herring, Cara Delevingne’s Alice, who joined the cast this season. They even used this against the real killer; staging a fake reveal that Alice was the killer at the finale stream, along with a fake stabbing of Charles. There are a lot of elements of Alice that made her feel connected to Bunny’s death. For one, she works in the art world, making the painting part of it all palpable. Additionally, she forms a romantic bond with Mabel so quickly, making people raise eyebrows about whether her intentions were true or to throw Mabel off track so she could get away with murder. As the finale reveals, Alice has fallen into a series of coincidences and she had true intentions with Mabel.
Who Is Season 3’s Victim?
After Mabel, Charles, and Oliver solve Bunny Folger’s murder, the trio take a break from solving murder to focus on their respective lives. Mabel decides to renovate her apartment at the Arconia with Alice by her side, Charles’ TV show gives him a promotion, and Oliver gets an opportunity to direct a Broadway show opening a year later. The show then cuts to one year later, when Oliver is getting ready for opening night of his production.
During the sequence, it’s revealed that Paul Rudd is playing an actor named Ben Glenroy, who leads the show and Charles is co-starring with him. There seem to be high tensions between Ben, Charles, and Oliver, and as Ben takes the stage, he trips on a monologue and dies suddenly. Mabel cries out an apt “You’ve got to be fucking kidding me!” as Season 2 closes out.
That’s right. Paul Rudd’s mysterious Broadway star will be the Season 3 victim. It was announced shortly after that Rudd would be part of Season 3, no doubt as we come to know what’s gone on for the Only Murders characters within the past year and who exactly Ben Glenroy is. We imagine that the podcast will be back, and there'll be more mystery solving on the way!
