TV Recap: “Only Murders in the Building” Season 2, Episode 6 – “Performance Review”

We’re past the halfway point of Season 2 of Only Murders in the Building with the sixth episode launching today, titled “Performance Review.” In this detailed recap of the hit Hulu series, we’ll pay close attention to all of the clues to see if we can find out who killed Bunny Folger before the murderer is revealed. Are you ready to help crack the case?

This episode’s narration comes from Poppy White (Adina Verson), the meek assistant of podcast queen Cinda Canning (Tina Fey). She found her boss a podcast guest named Jimmy Russo (Johnny Hopkins) who has a story about how he lost his right hand middle finger to “Bloody Mabel.” As Cinda sits down to interview Jimmy, we see Poppy in the sound booth recording her own show, titled “White Noise,” delivering a narration about the stories we sometimes tell ourselves to feel okay with the things that don’t feel right in our lives. Interspersed throughout her narration, we quickly catch up on the three hosts of Only Murders in the Building.

In Mabel’s apartment, Alice (Cara Delevingne) takes photos of the blood stain on Mabel’s wood floors while Mabel Mora (Selena Gomez) makes breakfast. Mabel asks her girlfriend what the photos are for and Alice says she feels inspired, but won’t elaborate further. Likewise, when Mabel mentions how her father taught her to cook eggs, Alice asks about him. “Everyone is just so obsessed with my past,” Mabel says, saying she just wants to focus on her present. “Maybe that’s why I love being with you. You’re just new and you make me feel new.”

Charles-Haden Savage (Steve Martin) visits Jan (Amy Ryan) in prison again, playing with the chord of his phone, which Jan points out is a sign that he’s uneasy. He questions why he’s visiting her since they broke up, but she insists they never did. He says her attempt to murder him felt like a breakup. “How many times are you going to make me apologize for that?”, Jan asks, telling Charles that he’s all she has. “I still love you. Is that crazy?” Charles admits that it is, but doesn’t say he doesn’t share those feelings.

Oliver Putnam (Martin Short) nervously waits for a DNA test, talking to a stranger in the waiting room about how it would make sense if he were Greek because his ancestors would’ve founded public theater and orgies. He gets called in to take his test.

Cut to a body bag being zipped up. A woman picks up a rewards card for Captain Sprinkles from the body, which was one punch away from a free item. “He was so god damn close,” she laments, turning to her “Uncle B” to ask if this was the work of the “Strangler of Slydell.” The camera pans around and we see Charles sitting in a wheelchair playing Brazzos with “A touch of dementia” opposite Naomi (Wakeema Hollis). Brazzos’ thoughts keep leading back to demands for soup.

When the Director (Ade Otukoya) calls cut and releases Charles, he is touched up by Joy (Andrea Martin), his longtime makeup artist who seems to be flirting with him. He doesn’t need a stunt double for his wheelchair scenes, but Sazz Pataki (Jane Lynch) is on hand just in case. Lucy (Zoe Margaret Colletti) was watching Charles perform on the monitors and tells him that Oliver and Mabel are getting snacks.

Grouped together in a corner of the set, Oliver plays the video of Bunny and her mystery guest at the diner, with the shadowy figure grabbing a matchbook on their way out. Mabel has the matchbook with her and Charles suggests they talk to Detective Williams about it, bragging that he has her number because she texted him the night they were celebrating on the roof (the same night Bunny died). Mabel offers to text for them and while she does, Joy comes by to take Charles’ wig. The gang notices how flirty she was and egg Charles to ask her out, but he says he’s not emotionally available. The group seems to question his answer, so he elaborates, saying “I’m single, but I’m just not ready to jump into something.” Detective Williams texts back and offers to meet them later, adding “Don’t tell anybody else about this. I’m the only person on the NYPD who thinks you’re too stupid to have pulled off this murder.” They are told that Detective Kreps wants to meet them right away in Bunny’s apartment.

In Bunny’s apartment, Detective Kreps (Michael Rapaport) waits with Cinda and Poppy. Mabel is upset to see Cinda, the woman who has coined the name “Bloody Mabel,” but Kreps says he just called them all together to ask that they stop podcasting about Bunny’s murder while he’s actively investigating it. He’s been hounded with crazy calls, including about “The Parrot Theory” (aka Mrs. Gambomini), but Cinda says he should let her help him. She says she just interviewed Jimmy Russo, who used to work with Mabel at Long John Silvers. Mabel says he’s a liar, but Cinda says he paints a picture of a girl who is quick to snap. Mabel accuses Cinda of not caring about the truth and just trying to tell sensational stories. As the meeting wraps up, Oliver asks Detective Kreps why Detective Williams isn’t there. “She’s in Denver; she’s on maternity leave,” he shares. Charles is confused, and Oliver suggests that perhaps they’ve been texting with someone else.

Mabel follows Poppy in the hallway and asks if she’s okay, having witnessed Cinda being rude to her in Bunny’s apartment. Poppy begins to vent about her cruel boss and says she’s waiting for her big break. Mabel tells her she won’t get it unless she speaks up. She also adds that she would be helping Cinda out by keeping Jimmy’s interview off the air, reiterating that he is a liar.

Regrouped in Charles’ apartment, Mabel gets a text from “Detective Williams” saying she can no longer meet because it’s too risky. She asks them to hide the evidence in Morningside Park and she will collect it later. Oliver believes they’re texting with the killer and Charles recalls an episode of Brazzos called “The Fake Evidence” where a fake evidence drop contained a paint bomb that revealed the killer. They plan to make a citizen’s arrest in a similar fashion, but Oliver says it should be a glitter bomb instead.

We see Oliver carefully place a bag in a trash can on the perimeter of the park and get in the backseat of a yellow car, with Charles and Mabel waiting in the front seat. While they wait, Mabel gets an alert that Cinda’s interview with Jimmy was just released. In it, Jimmy claims that Mabel snapped at work, chopped off his middle finger, and threw it in the deep frier, calling her a “Bloody monster.” Mabel is so frustrated she stops the episode and tells Charles and Oliver that he really lost his finger by trying to get handsy with her. She pushed him away and his finger was accidentally cut off by a meat slicer. Charles tries to lighten the scene with music, but when he opens his phone, Oliver sees that his call log has a lot of calls to the women’s penitentiary. Mabel asks Charles if he’s been in contact with Jan and he comes clean that they’re sort of still dating. Mabel asks why he didn’t end it, and Charles says he has a hard time with confrontation. In the background, a hooded figure in all black goes to the trash can, reaches inside, and there’s an explosion of red glitter that knocks them to the ground.

The mystery figure scrambles up and starts running away as Charles, Oliver, and Mabel fumble to get out of the car. The hooded figure is too far ahead for them to catch up and Charles is in disbelief at the still smoking trash can, asking Oliver what’s in it. “I call it the Mariah,” he shares. “It’s a pound of glitter, a jar of rubber cement, and just a nugget of C4.” Mabel walks away upset that their one chance at catching the culprit was foiled, believing she will no longer be able to clear her name. Oliver tells Charles that he needs to break up with Jan, but he suggests that perhaps he doesn’t have to. Later, we see that Charles has sent Sazz to break up with Jan on his behalf.

Cinda Canning is in the studio recording another episode of her podcast, with Poppy in the engineering booth next to Luis (Francisco Javier Gonzalez). Cinda is distracted by a ding on her phone, a calendar invite for a performance review from Poppy (hence the episode’s title). She stops the show to ask Poppy about it and, in front of Luis, she says she was hoping to discuss the possibility of a promotion. Cinda tells her she doesn’t usually consider promotions until an employee’s fifth year, but that she’ll consider it since she did such a great job finding Jimmy. Later, when Luis isn’t around, Cinda scolds Poppy for making her uncomfortable in front of Luis and tells Poppy she’s too good of an assistant to be promoted. Cinda shares some advice she once received as an intern: “Don’t be too good at a job you don’t want.”

Mabel arrives at Alice’s studio to find the unthinkable. Actors are standing around dressed as Tim Kono and Zoe in a recreation of her apartment. Walking around the corner, another actor is dressed as Bunny on the floor in the tie-dye hoodie with a knitting needle protruding from their chest. And someone is on their knees dressed as Mabel taking photos of them. The fake Mabel turns to look at the real one. It’s Alice, who takes off her Mabel wig and starts to defend herself, saying she was trying to help portray Mabel’s trauma through an artistic lens. From Mabel’s perspective, the room begins to spin, sounds become muffled. She dashes out of Alice’s studio.

Oliver goes to Charles’ apartment for comfort. It’s been 36 hours since he took his DNA test and he still doesn’t have the results. He’s too stressed to enjoy his favorite Greek dips from Dimas Deli, so Charles offers to introduce him to salsa.

Mabel’s feet have led her to the subway station. She seems on the verge of a panic attack when Poppy calls her. “Cinda is a liar,” she says. “You were right, she will do anything to tell a good story and she has her sights set on you now.” The train arrives and Mabel gets on board, taking a seat. In the background, we see a blurred figure in all black. “If you and those old men need my help, please let me know,” Poppy continues. “I know where all the bodies are buried, and there are lots of bodies, so to speak.” The figure in black comes into focus, there’s red glitter on their shoulders. Mabel is in a state of silent shock, putting her phone down as the figure begins to move toward her on the train, which is now moving. They’re wearing a black ski mask and aviator glasses, so we can’t see any of their face.

As Oliver finds his new favorite food, salsa, his phone chimes. He got excited, thinking it could be his DNA results, but it’s just a video from his son Will. He opens it and presses play. It’s a recording from a subway train of Mabel stabbing a figure in black. As the train comes to a stop, she rushes out of the open doors. Whoever was recording the video proclaims that “Bloody Mabel” has struck again.

Next week, Only Murders in the Building continues with Season 2, Episode 7 – “Flipping The Pieces.” Was the masked figure Bunny’s murderer? Will they be unmasked by the crowd on the subway? Hopefully, we’ll find out on August 2nd. For now, here’s the official episode description of what comes next.

Mabel's incident on the subway leads her to gain help from an unlikely ally. Their journey takes them to a legendary amusement park which turns out to be full of terror — while amusements and evidence reside back in the Arconia with Charles and Oliver.