Fan Fiction

"Fan Fiction"
"Fan Fiction" title-card
Season	1
Episode	8
Director	Cherien Dabis
Writer	Matteo Borghese Rob Turbovsky
Editor	JoAnne Yarrow
Production code	1DWB08
Original air date	October 5, 2021
Running time	30 minutes
Episode chronology
← Previous	"The Boy from 6B"
Next →	"Double Time"

"Fan Fiction" is the eighth episode of the first season of Only Murders in the Building. It originally aired on Hulu and Disney+ on October 5, 2021. This is the first episode where all main cast members make an appearance, including Amy Ryan and Aaron Dominguez.

Short Summary

Hitting a dead end, the group calls for reinforcements in the form of their podcast's Superfans.

Full Summary

Sam stands at the gates of the Arconia as his voiceover explains that he believes to be a fan means absolute devotion. That's how he feels about the podcast. He steps back to sit with Marv, Paulette, and Grant, who all have posters declaring their love for the podcast. Marv's upset that it's been a whole week since the last episode. Paulette wonders what they're doing. Sam is excited about the possibility that they might see someone they recognize from the podcast. He doesn't want to leave until they reveal who killed Tim Kono. The four of them met on a message board called The Itty-Bitty Omit-Bitty Committee. Grant's been part of six true-crime fan communities and has never had less faith in a creative team. Paulette wasn't a fan of the Sting cameo. Sam tells them to trust the team.

Mabel and Oliver smell something in the van. Oliver says it smells like formaldehyde. He pulls off his blindfold and says he was the first director to use a real cadaver on stage in Tuesdays at Bernie's, a combination of Tuesdays with Morrie and Weekend at Bernie's. They come to an abrupt stop.

Theo pulls Oliver out and punches him. Teddy approaches them as Oliver tries to say it was a misunderstanding. He sees that they're at a dump and Mabel questions if they're going to leave the dead bodies there. Teddy offers to give them a ride home.

Teddy is riding in a rear-facing seat, which he says he likes because Teddy can't see him or read his lips through the mirror. For a long time, he was ashamed to have a deaf son. His marriage ended because of it. That and the cheating. Then he grew to appreciate Theo's perspective. He learned ASL, which many parents of deaf children don't do. He realized the beauty of silence. It makes for beautiful friendships when people who know things about you can act like they never heard those things. Oliver's confused. Teddy tells him to stay quiet about what he knows. Mabel says they know what he did to Tim, but Teddy says he feels confident because he doesn't know anything about Tim. Teddy expects them to end the podcast, with a final episode saying they're wrong and Tim's death was suicide, due to loneliness. If they don't make the right choice, he knows where they live. They pull up outside the Arconia and Oliver and Mabel jump out. As they run to go inside, the fans stop them. Mabel is horrified while Oliver is delighted. Oliver sees that Sam is wearing homemade merchandise and asks what he'd pay for something official. Mabel pulls him away before Sam can answer.

Oliver and Mabel knock on Charles's door. Jan answers and tells them Charles is getting bagels.

Jan serves them coffee and tells them she and Charles had sex. Charles comes in and Oliver tells him what they went through with Theo and Teddy. They have to put out a final episode by morning or Teddy will have them killed. Jan says Teddy doesn't know what they know, and they know a lot more now. Charles and Jan spent the morning going through Tim's phone and made a ton of discoveries. Tim was a meticulous record keeper. They put all of his stuff together and found out that Tim was trying to take Teddy down because he saw Theo push Zoe off the roof. Jan's still not sure Teddy killed Tim, though. Mabel and Oliver pull Charles to the side and say they're happy for Charles, but they only have until 7:00 AM to take Teddy down. They need real help to do that, from the person who gave them Tim's phone.

Williams meets Mabel, Charles, and Oliver in a secluded area. Charles tries to use his Brazzos talk to communicate with her, but she doesn't understand. They think Teddy and Theo are involved in Tim's murder based on what they found on the phone. She refuses to let them confirm that she was the one who sent them the phone, but hints that she still has questions and was hoping for them to release a podcast with all their evidence to help her. She's running a tox screen and a fingerprint scan off the laptop where someone typed Tim Kono's goodbye. The rest is on them. They need to make the case and make it tight.

Mabel, Charles, and Oliver have started a board with what they know. Oliver takes a break to get some dip, but gets interrupted by a knock on the door. It's Jan, who has pizza rolls. As Charles shows Jan inside, Mabel and Oliver quietly agree that they don't support that. Someone else knocks and Oliver opens the door to Oscar. Oscar has big news about the case. They join the rest of the group. Oscar met up with Tim's jewelry connection, who said he sold the green ring to Tim. He got it the day before he was killed. Mabel says they didn't find it in his apartment, and she has all the jewelry he had in there. Oliver thinks the killer must have taken it. Mabel says it has to be Teddy and Theo because no one else would care about the ring. That's their why now, one of the four things they have to find out to satisfy Williams. Jan says it's all circumstantial without the ring. Now they need the how. Jan says that's if they did it. Oliver and Mabel are both annoyed by her interjections.

Oliver is walking down the street when he passes the fans, who call out to him. He's surprised they're still there, except for Grant, who had a piano lesson and was also tired of waiting for the new episode. Marv says kids today are all about the binge. Sam knows they're on the cusp of something big and wants to share in that. Paulette is sure it's more than one suspect, because of the logistics. Oliver tells them it's all coming together. Then he has them all come with him.

Oliver leads them into Charles's place and says he's brought reinforcements. The others are surprised to see the fans. Paulette tells Mabel she's pretty. Oliver introduces the fans and assumes they already know the people in the room. Sam knows that Oscar is Tie-Dye Guy. Jan introduces herself. Mabel says the three of them need to talk and walks out, followed by Oliver and Charles. Marv, Sam, and Paulette gather around Oscar to take a group selfie.

Mabel asks what the fans are doing there. Oliver says they're there to work out the how. They know more than the trio and certainly more than Jan, who is the opposite of helpful. They've listened to every episode over and over, just like the three of them have been with other true-crime podcasts.

Sam says Tim lives on the ninth floor, but on that night, he got on the elevator with a trash bag from the sixth floor. That's Teddy's floor. They wonder if it was Tim's trash or Teddy's. They have to start thinking outside the box. Jan asks what about the cat? She wants them to focus on Howard. Mabel and Oliver don't like that, but Charles reminds them they did look into him at one point. Oliver tells Jan to shut up. He thinks he has it. He thinks the notes Tim Kono had in his trash bag weren't cries for help but rather death threats. Teddy and Theo were threatening him to make his death look like a suicide. Oliver has Marv stand in as Theo. Paulette will be Lester. Sam is Tim.

Oliver Directs Marv, Sam, and Paulette as they act out the night of Tim's death, including Theo pushing his way in as Tim went to leave for the fire alarm and killing him. Then Theo types the suicide message. Charles says it's kind of confusing. Mabel says it's the how. She wants to start recording. Jan thinks it feels too easy. She still wants them to look at Howard. Oliver says he didn't die because of a cat. It was because of jewelry. Mabel says it's 5:30 and it always takes a few takes. Charles tells Jan they worked on this as a team, the three of them. Jan's upset that she's not one of the team and leaves. They have to start recording right away. Charles wants them to be absolutely certain.

Jan gets home to a note on her door, saying someone is watching her. She looks around, then goes inside.

Charles records the final episode of the podcast. They're finished. Sam, Marv, and Paulette clap for him. They ask their fans to spread the word and find some other interests. Mabel says before they send it, they have to show someone a sneak preview.

Williams listens to the final episode.

Teddy gets a notification about a new podcast episode. He's upset to see the episode is named "The Dimases Take a Dip." He shows Theo, then gets up to answer the door. Williams is there and has them arrested.

Lester listens to the podcast as he delivers someone's dry cleaning.

Uma and Bunny listen and eat popcorn together.

Will listens with Winnie on his lap.

Outside, Grant, Paulette, Marv, and Sam all listen together. As it ends, Grant wonders why the Dimases would sponsor a podcast they knew might out them. Sam says hubris, but Marv says everyone always blames hubris. Paulette says sometimes the truth is weird.

Oliver, Mabel, and Charles toast to the end of the mystery. Charles texts Jan and apologizes for what happened. He wants to celebrate their win with her.

Mabel shows Oscar a video she found of Tim talking about how he was trying to make things right by taking the Dimases down. It's all he can do to make up for what happened. It's a way of him saying sorry to Oscar for all he lost.

Williams says as soon as the Chief say Dimases did it trending, he told her to go pick them up. She can't believe crimes are solved like this now. Oliver thinks it's fantastic. Williams is impressed by them. Suddenly, Williams gets an email from the medical examiner. It says that Tim was poisoned before he was shot. She also has timestamped photos from that night showing Teddy and Theo outside the building before Tim was shot. She slams the phone down in frustration.

Oliver unhappily tells Mabel, Charles, and Oscar that they might still have a murderer in the building. Charles says no one ever listens to him or Jan.

Charles goes to Jan's place with flowers. The door is open, so he goes inside, where he finds her on the floor bleeding.

Cast

Starring

• Steve Martin as Charles-Haden Savage
• Martin Short as Oliver Putnam
• Selena Gomez as Mabel Mora
• Aaron Dominguez as Oscar Torres
• Amy Ryan as Jan Bellows

Guest Starring

• Ryan Broussard as Will Putnam
• James Caverly as Theo Dimas
• Julian Cihi as Tim Kono
• Jackie Hoffman as Uma Heller
• Jayne Houdyshell as Bunny Folger
• Nathan Lane as Teddy Dimas
• Daniel Oreskes as Marv
• Da'Vine Joy Randolph as Detective Donna Williams
• Ali Stroker as Paulette
• Jaboukie Young-White as Sam

Co-starring

• Teddy Coluca as Lester
• Orson Hong as Superfan Grant

Notes and Trivia

General

• The Easter egg in the title sequence is the appearance of three fans on top of the building.

Media

Episode stills

Photography by Craig Blankenhorn for Hulu.

Videos

The Who, The How, The Why & The Why Now - Only Murders in the Building - Hulu

The Who, The How, The Why & The Why Now

Big Fans of the Podcast - Only Murders in the Building - Hulu

Big Fans of the Podcast

See Also

A complete overview of this episode's crew can be found here.