‘Only Murders in the Building’ Season 2 Retrospective
Poisonous Poppy and her Murderous Motive
Poppy explains her motive clearly in the season 2 finale of Only Murders in the Building:
“I just wanted to make a good podcast. I just wanted Cinda to notice me.”
And what was her idea? Well, to make a podcast on an artist who disappeared herself back when Charles was a child – Rose Cooper. There was only one person Poppy knew who could give her the information she wanted, along with Rose Cooper’s painting. That person was Bunny. After all, Bunny owns the naked painting of Rose Cooper and Charles’ father. We see someone was pestering Bunny with phone calls and meetings and that person was Poppy. She wanted the painting and she wanted the information.
But Bunny was stubborn. You’d sooner get blood out of a stone than information out of the Arconia’s board president. Poppy wouldn’t take no for an answer though. She would do whatever it takes to get what she wanted. If she couldn’t get the painting through legal means, she’d need to get it another way… or maybe she didn’t need Rose Cooper after all. She was done playing nice as another idea came to her.
After all, what is more delicious than the disappearance of an artist?
A trio of podcasters (who recently solved a murder the police couldn’t) murdering the board president who originally threatened to make them homeless. With Poppy giving Cinda the name of their new podcast (Only Murderers in the Building) it was easy for her to create a narrative where the trio were the killers. However, while they were persons of interest, Mabel was the one who was being set up the most. What made Bloody Mabel so special that she was easier pickings than Charles and Oliver?
The first reason is Mabel’s dream where she wakes up with a figure looming over her bed and stabs them with her knitting needle. That same needle was thrust into Bunny to make it look as if Mabel’s dream was coming true. We first hear about her dream in the opener of season 1 and she discusses it on the podcast. This piece of information can be used by anyone to make Mabel look like a killer. Meanwhile, the knife (the real murder weapon) was hidden in Charles’ apartment.
I know what you’re thinking. How did Poppy take a bloodied knife from one floor to another without anyone seeing her?
The answer is simple. The creepy creator of the Arconia installed secret tunnels and elevators around the building so he could peep on the tenants. Poppy snuck to Charles’ apartment through the tunnels but she didn’t count on there being someone living in them that night. Lucy (Zoe Colletti) is Charles’s ex-girlfriend’s daughter who sees him as her father, or at least a father figure. She was hiding in the walls of the Arconia and heard the killer sneeze. This was a point that helped to further prove Poppy’s guilt in the finale.
But how did Poppy know about the secret tunnels when nobody else other than Bunny did? Poppy is meticulous. She would have searched for blueprints or discovered them through an interview. If this crime was planned by someone else, I’d be asking more questions but Poppy showed during her time with Cinda that she wasn’t someone to underestimate. She had her ways and she wouldn’t rest until she got what she wanted.
The second reason Mabel was easier to build a narrative around came from a former colleague of hers (Jimmy Russo) who swore she attacked him. In his retelling, he omitted the fact he continuously made unwanted advances at Mabel and when she finally had enough, he accidentally fell into a slicer that took his fingers. Still, any good storyteller could spin it to make Mabel look bad.
Only Murders in the Building excels in sowing doubt in all characters, even our main trio.
Then came the hitch. The trio were discovering clues and she needed them out of the way. That’s where her boyfriend, Detective Kreps, came in. Poppy texts them from an unknown number, pretending to be someone who wants to help them. Any evidence they gathered would go to this mysterious person they thought was Detective Williams (Da’Vine Joy Randolph). Thankfully, they realise they’re texting with the killer and set a trap with a glitter bomb. When the glitter bomb explodes, it marks the masked figure and provides aid to Mabel at least twice. It also helps unmask ‘Glitter Guy’ as Kreps after she notices the same glitter still stuck to his neck.
That’s glitter for you. Easy to get on you but tough to clean.
With the trio closing in on Kreps, it was only a matter of time before everything came back to Poppy. That’s when she sowed the seeds of doubt further. She made Mabel believe Cinda was behind everything. Even with the slight chance revealing her true identity could backfire, Poppy still did it. She needed Mabel to trust her and to believe Cinda knew she was Becky Butler and had a hand in her disappearance. This circles back to a previous episode where Poppy tells Mabel that Cinda isn’t who she appears to be.
For every action the trio took, Poppy had a red herring reaction to push them further down a rabbit hole. Yet, her downfall came in the same way it often does for those who meticulously plan everything and think they’re smarter then everybody else.
Poppy got too cocky. The DNA on the knife that killed Bunny belonged to a girl thought dead – Becky Butler. If she hadn’t oversold her hand, Poppy might have gotten away with it. When Mabel finds out the DNA belongs to Becky, it could have pushed her to think Cinda was guilty if Poppy hadn’t given her identity away. Furthermore, Bunny’s last words also help to point the finger at her.
Originally, Mabel thought she’d said “14 Savage”. This led her (and the audience) to believe it was something to do with the painting and Charles’ past. However, Mabel misheard and what Bunny said was something completely different. It was a phrase only someone who knew the Pickle Diner’s menu would understand.
14 Sandwich.
Yes, that’s right. Poppy’s downfall came from buying the same sandwich twice. That’s what you get for ordering a sandwich consisting of liverwurst and marmalade. I mean, who are you, Poppy? Paddington Bear? Some people weren’t overjoyed with the revelation. After all, why didn’t Bunny just say “Poppy did it”? The answer to that question is the same as any when it comes to our dear Bun Bun.
She didn’t care enough about Poppy to remember her name. She probably thought she was Cinda’s clone, or even worse, too ordinary. Maybe she didn’t even listen when Poppy introduced herself. The only thing Bunny remembered was Poppy’s choice of a “freak food”.
Ahhh, Bunny Folger. You don’t pay attention to their names but you’ll judge them on their sandwich choice. We’ll miss you.
To cut a long story short, Poppy wanted to do a podcast on Rose Cooper but Bunny stood in her way so she killed her and set the Only Murders in the Building trio up for her death instead. On the bright side, Poppy’s devious scheme gave Charles the closure on his father he never thought he’d get. Poppy and Kreps are thankfully behind bars where they’ll hopefully never hurt anyone again. However, I hope it’s not the last time we see them. Before her reveal, Poppy was becoming one of my favourites.
I guess I should have seen it coming. This is a show that hides the truth in what seems like the mundane. It was no coincidence a school production of the Wizard of Oz was being directed by Oliver’s son. After all, it’s the deadly poppy field that forces Dorothy to sleep, and if it wasn’t for her friends, she and the lion would have remained there forever. That’s also not to mention Becky’s surname being Butler. After all (and this is thanks to a user on Reddit) it’s always the Butler who does it.
With Poppy behind bars, everything is back to normal. The trio’s lives are better than ever and for the next year, they live in harmony. It’s just a shame that their happiness doesn’t last longer than a year.
