In season 2 episode 4 of the murder-mystery comedy show Only Murders in the Building, Lucy, Charles’ ex-girlfriend Emma’s daughter, reunites with him after many years and helps unravel new clues. The episode is now streaming on Hulu.
Recap
The episode starts with a flashback of Charles singing along with the daughter of his ex-girlfriend, Lucy (played by Zoe Colletti), years before the events of the current season.
Lucy reconnects with him after dropping a message after a long time, informing him that her mother is getting married, which clearly affects Charles.
Brushing it off, he reaches the sets of the new Brazzos series but realised that the studios has written his character in a way that would be easy to kill him off in case he goes to jail. Lucy pays a surprise visit, catching him completely off guard.
Oliver meets Teddy in the elevator, who was one of the culprits in season 1. After revealing that he’s back for a few months as he awaits trial, he acts as if he is a changed person now.
This act shatters quickly as he ends up claiming that he will destroy Oliver by the time their conversation is over.
Charles introduces Lucy to Oliver and Mabel but confides in them that while he wanted his for the longest time, he isn’t prepared and feels like he’ll blow it.
He asks Mabel to communicate with her, as they’re both young, but Lucy turns out to be too young even for her as she looks terrified by the conversation.
It’s revealed that Charles recorded a song in his younger days and it is the same one that he and Lucy were singing at the start of the episode.
They find the murder weapon, a bloody knife, in their kitchen and when they tell Lucy that evidence has been popping up in their house, she claims to know how.
Lucy shows them a secret passageway that can be used to travel across the building. She discovered this when she was younger. It was also clearly created to peep into houses.
While traversing it, Lucy tells Charles that she actually skipped her mother’s wedding. Oliver takes a separate route to spy on Teddy.
Mabel and Charles overhear Nina Lin talking to her husband about how “Bunny had to go” as they plan to renovate the Arconia and add a giant structure on top that Bunny would never allow.
Charles witnesses Teddy fighting with his son, Theo, about how he ruined his life. Theo storms in anger and Teddy is left weeping, making Oliver realise he is lucky to have mended his relationship with his son.
They confront a pregnant Nina directly but her water breaks, forcing Charles to calm her down with a rather great parent speech. During this, Nina screams that she will kill Bunny’s murderer. An emergency unit arrives to take her to the hospital.
Lucy tells Mabel that she is attached to Charles and she responds that she must be honest with him about the reason for her visiting him.
She finally tells Charles that she disapproved of the man her mother was marrying and thus, missed it. Her wedding was the same night that Charles got arrested. Lucy came to see him but panicked and hid in the passageway.
While hidden, a masked individual entered the passageway but didn’t detect her. Lucy warns Charles that she actually came because she was worried about him and he needs to get tougher to face the threats.
As Charles realises she knows more than him, he decides to take the initiative and meets Jan, his former love interest and Tim Kono’s murderer, in jail, seeking answers.
Review
- Quite a riveting episode, it gives important clues in the murder mystery that will prove pivotal over the course of the season.
- Zoe Colletti’s character is likeable and adds a new dynamic to the narrative. Her equation with Charles also gives his character depth.
- Nina Lin’s motive getting revealed makes her too obvious a choice for the murderer and is likely a red herring but the episode furthers her arc greatly.
- With Leonora Folger aware of more than the three protagonists and now Lucy, it puts the impetus on them to make faster strides or be framed for the murder.
Rating: 4/5
Also Read: Only Murders in the Building season 2 episode 3 recap & review: The Last Day of Bunny Folger