Performance Review

This is my favorite episode of the show yet! So many unexpected twists and turns and zero slow moments. The cast was wonderful and that ending was shocking!

In typical Only Murders in the Building fashion, episode 6 starts off with a teasing voiceover. The narrator in this instance is another new face: Poppy White. The bespectacled, earnest assistant of Cinda Canning, whose discovery from Mabel Mora's past life takes center stage. She establishes the above theme for this week. This is also the first episode where the trio finds tangible evidence that will absolve them from the murders. But the real question is: can they capitalize? Episode 6 had an even more bizarre ending than the previous episode. Mabel was the focus of attention here. The world around her just crumbled with these events. First, she learns the truth about Alice and loses the one thing she was rowing to care about. It definitely seemed like a turnaround for Mabel's personal life, given how lonely she is. The relationship seemed like a decent change but this betrayal definitely ended Alice's chapter with Mabel. As she is still recuperating from the shock, she is confronted by the killer in broad daylight. Even worse, she seemingly stabs him and runs off, throwing her in the line of real danger. Will she be able to come back to Oliver and Charles without hiding and toe-tipping? Is this the end for the trio in this season? If the events of the ending are true, Mabel will need all the help from Oliver and Charles. They must somehow get the matchbook to Williams and clear their names. On that - are we even sure that they have it? Didn't Mabel take the matchbook when we last saw it? We will get answers in the next episode, hopefully. Episode 6 had decent development for the subplots involving Jan and Charles as well. There were breezy moments and it seems like Jan might be done for too. Amy Ryan's guest appearance might not be over, just yet. But Jan seems to be off from Charles' life. Poppy seems set to be key going forward. Cinda's evil manifestation will get a fitting reply later in the season. Seeing more of Tina Fey was a different but solid sight as well.

I was really hoping they weren't going to bring her back this season. So unnecessary. Doesn't add to the story. More of a distraction with her over-acting. Usually plays every roll the same.

This episode was incredible! So many characters make a return, the acting from everyone was top-notch, and the ending was both shocking and legitimately sad. To me, this episode felt almost next-level for the show, and I can't wait to see where it all leads.

Although the previous episode ('The Tell (2022)') ended on a cliffhanger, the question of Will's lineage does not get resolved in 'Performance Review'. Instead, the plotlines become even more tangled, and a fair amount of suspicion towards Mabel is both engineered and warranted.

In a now-familiar fashion, 'Performance Review' is largely delivered through a minor character: this time, it is Poppy White (Adina Verson), the assistant to the true-crime podcast host Cinda Canning (played by Tina Fey, inspired by Sarah Koenig). Poppy's part is done well enough, given that she is neither at the centre of events - emotionally or narratively - nor does her character's change of allegiance necessarily call for sympathy.

'Performance Review' likely marks the end of Jan's (Amy Ryan) part in the series; if so, it was handled elegantly. The same cannot be said of the investigation as undertaken by the main trio. Here, Mabel, Charles, and Oliver are portrayed as distracted and inept. Luckily for them, the police force are even more so, and our heroes might still be the best-suited party to solve Bunny's murder.

The episode features stunning coats, more Cara Delevingne (that particular plot development has just taken a turn for the unhinged), and enough complexity to double as a law proposal. Let's see if this ball of yarn can be untangled in time for the grand finale.