Only Murders in The Building (Season 2) Episode 3: Recap, Review, and Ending Explained: Welcome back to the Arconia. We finished the last episode with a line from Mrs. Gambolini (Bunny Folger’s parrot) that caught everyone’s attention. Our three protagonists (Charles Haden-Savage, Oliver Putnam, and Mabel Mora) looked straight at her as the end credits rolled.
As the new episode is titled The Last Day of Bunny Folger, Hulu and Disney+ subscribers may have tuned in with the knowledge that the “it” would be Bunny Folger’s murder. On second thought, it would be a little too farfetched for Mrs. Gambolini to understand precisely what the Only Murders in the Building podcasters were discussing and accurately reply to their query. So, would we get more of Charles, Mabel, and Oliver ferreting out information about Bunny’s last day? Well, kind of.
Only Murders in The Building (Season 2), Episode 3 “The Last Day of Bunny Folger” Recap:
Charles, Mabel, and Oliver were recording their episode and attempting to conduct an exclusive interview with Mrs. Gambolini. In classic memorized phrase style, she told Oliver to shut up. Haden-Savage and Putnam then contested to see who could sound more like Bunny to get Mrs. Gambolini to respond. It is here that Mabel stepped in and served as the voice of reason. She has been the adult in dealing with her ‘old’ colleagues.
Following the glorious start credits, we get to see what the episode promised. Mrs. Gambolini serves as Bunny’s alarm clock and is met with a brutal snooze line. Bunny awakens and reminisces about old New York as she listens to the radio. When perusing through the morning daily, she refers to Jan’s arrest on page one and the Knicks losing with the fact that clowns surround her.
The sports references continue, with Mrs. Gambolini insisting that Dolan be fired and Bunny tossing the trash into the can akin to a basketball throw. The word Lin-sanity is yet another NBA reference to the New York Knicks. A thing to note is that everyone is aware of her resignation, including the breakfast vendor on the street.
From here, we get to see that Bunny remained unapologetically herself. She taunted and threatened Lester and laid down the law to the Only Murders in the Building podcast hosts and their fans. This is balanced with her gentle nature as she constantly cares for the Arconia. Bunny Folger instructs Nina to change the bulbs and ensure that the building remains in good shape.
It shows that all she did was to ensure the building progressed and order was maintained. She did her job, even at her retirement party. We learned that her murder wasn’t a spur-of-the-moment decision when she headed out for a meal. She was being called and troubled. At the restaurant, the audience knew that she could have met with the caller as she dismissed the person’s potential arrival and refused said person to be labeled as her friend.
When she got stuck in the Arconia elevator with Charles and Mabel on her return, Bunny solved the situation and proved that she didn’t just inherit the position. She justified it, and the elevator’s heat threw cold water on her desire to head to Boca Raton. When Bunny retracted her resignation at the party, things turned ugly as Nina lashed out. The verbal battle of old vs. new, with several nasty comments, was all recorded and showed up as evidence of the trio’s investigation.
Later in the episode, audiences saw their interaction with the former Board President, as they mistook her intentions with a champagne bottle. This broke Bunny, who headed back to her apartment, where she ultimately sat as the murderer approached, knocked, and finished her off.
In the episode, it also comes to light that Bunny Folger knows a lot about people, some of whom she has a soft spot for. This comes out when she leaves a wad of cash for a waiter and urges him to pursue his dreams. It may serve a purpose later in the story or may just have been there to earn the later Folger some sympathy. Oh! Remember that line, “I know who did it?” Well, that was a red herring to keep audiences and overthinkers busy. Do Mabel, Oliver, and Charles know that?
Only Murders in The Building (Season 2), Episode 3 “The Last Day of Bunny Folger” Review:
This episode was similar to season one’s Dimas episode. Remember the one that played out like a silent film? It provided audiences with a POV from another character. Rather than serve as investigative flashbacks that would pop up on the screen when the waiter or any character narrated their encounters with Bunny, this let Folger’s story play out on screen. The throwback ensured that the focus remained on the deceased, and the writing only endeared her uptight character to audiences.
The Bunny POV eliminated distractions such as Amy Schumer and Alice. Of course, the duo may have appeared as Hulu wanted to kick off their sophomore season with big names. They can still be regulars and show up across the next seven episodes. It is not a coincidence as Season one of the Only Murders in the Building drew inspiration from Hardy Boys. Detective story references get tossed in with an understanding that Bunny Folger knew a lot about everyone. Alfred Hitchcock’s The Man Who Knew Too Much and Agatha Christie’s character Roger Ackroyd come to mind here.
It also positioned multiple suspects at the forefront and handed numerous people a motive. The writers may have even planted a thought about two different reasons people may have wanted Bunny to snuff it. The 30 minutes helped audiences dismiss one avenue but opened up at least five more paths to investigate, respond to Cinda Canning’s Only Murderers in the Building, and clear their names.
Only Murders in The Building (Season 2), Episode 3 “The Last Day of Bunny Folger” Ending Explained:
The episode ended with a glimpse of the season one finale and glimpses of specific sequences from season two that merged. Even though audiences were aware of Mrs. Gambolini’s line being from a movie, the podcast hosts weren’t aware of it. This could see them scratch their heads about the same a bit more. Or maybe they’ll just have given up, as the parrot proved quite obnoxious.
The parrot could prove crucial as the only witness based on the ending sequence. Mrs. Gambolini certainly won’t provide a name, but one phrase from the series of offensive words will steer the trio on the right path. She saw the murderer’s face, while audiences only witnessed a silhouette with glasses, gray pants, and black shoes.
It could be anyone, from Uma to Lester, a fan to Nina, or a disgruntled neighbor. On a closer look, we can rule out/be compelled to rule out anyone from the building. This is because we consider the painting to be the motivator to kill Folger. But what if the murder was purely for the retraction of resignation? Many people in the building may not have wanted Bunny around. Among them is Nina, whose plans to modernize and monetize took a hit. The lines that revealed she was being groomed as the successor said that Nina’s motive could be power-hungry greed, as she couldn’t wait for Folger to step down. However, one thing with Only Murders in the Building is that a suspect so early in the show doesn’t turn out to be the guilty party.
It could undoubtedly be two separate people with beef with one party’s revenge benefitting the other. Right now, all audiences know is that Bunny alienated many people and was being pestered for a painting through notes (episode 1), calls, and restaurant meetings (episode 3).
Audiences can also draw the following conclusions.
A. The murderer stays below the twelfth floor.
B. Bunny knows her killer as she opens the door and says, “What the fuck do you want?”
This doesn’t rule out many people as she was old, had been Board President for years, and always had that tone of voice when having general conversations. It could be anybody. The silhouette size and the glasses make me think it is Uma. The ending also ruled out Mabel as a suspect – or did it? She headed to the rooftop with Oliver and Charles as the killer arrived on floor 12. But who sent Charles and Oliver that message. And how were the cops already on their way? How much time passed before Mabel went down, and her ‘old’ friends followed her?
What did you make of Episode 2 of Season 3? If you are in the dark and consumed by a whirlpool of theories, the show is doing an excellent job as they need to retain the audience for another seven weeks.
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Only Murders in The Building (Season 2) Episode 3 LINKS – IMDb
Only Murders in The Building (Season 2) Episode 3 CAST – Steve Martin, Martin Short, Selena Gomez
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