Only Murders in the Building “Open and Shut” Spoilers Ahead
And Tim Kono’s killer is…Jan. But wait—there’s more, there’s someone else, and we don’t know who, but the unfortunate new suspects are Mabel, Charles, and Oliver. Oof. Should’ve expected that this show would have someone going through something to a Sting song, and my personal favorite, “Fields of Gold.”
At the end of the day, Only Murders in the Building “Open and Shut” is an episode that establishes an ongoing partnership—this podcast started as a means to figure out a murder, and it turned into something bigger. It became all about people finding themselves while navigating through their messes.
Only Murders in the Building “Open and Shut”: Embracing the Messs
That’s it, that’s the whole essence of this show, and the detail that I imagine will carry on during season two. Young and old, each of the characters on this show have something they need to figure out, something they’re working through, and something that says—this isn’t the end. This is only the beginning. There’s still a murderer in the building, but their messes are on the way towards recovery, or at the very least, understanding.
We are all connected. We started with a question. Who is Tim Kono? The answer, as it turned out, we are all Tim Kono.
It’s so achingly cheesy for the show to go down this route, but did we expect anything less? It’s part of the reason why the structure works so well with the darker storytelling that’s masked through humor and touching on known cliches. And in short, Only Murders in the Building “Open and Shut” is meta storytelling with the breaking of the fourth wall to show audiences glimpses of Tim Kono. The man we know somewhat better than the podcast hosts do.
This type of storytelling allowed the structure of the finale to frame itself in a way that established tone through concrete evidence while still leaving us in the dark about the final few moments. On par with the analogy of embracing their messes—the series ends in a physical manifestation of the kind of mess they can only get through together, one they’ll carry with them, and one that binds them in a way that they perhaps never imagined would.
This is far beyond what they’d believed when taking on this podcast.
Only Murders in the Building “Open and Shut” allows its character to carve out the plot while meticulously putting their loyalty to one another front and center. This show is about unlikely, messy friendships, and it’s part of the reason why it’s so gloriously addicting.
What are your thoughts on Only Murders in the Building “Open and Shut?” Did you expect Jan to be the killer? Who do you think the other killer is? Let’s discuss in the comments below.