Hello, Darkness

"Hello Darkness"
"Hello, Darkness" title-card
Season	2
Episode	8
Director	Chris Teague
Writer	Madeleine George
Editor	Shelly Westerman Payton Koch
Original air date	August 9, 2022
Episode chronology
← Previous	"Flipping the Pieces"
Next →	"Sparring Partners"

Hello Darkness is the eighth episode of the second season of Only Murders in the Building. It was released on August 9th, 2022.

Short summary

A blackout throws the city into chaos. As the trio races to save a loved one from the killer, other Arconia residents begin to explore unexpected connections in the midst of darkness — all enhanced by Gut Milk and a yodel or two.

Full summary

Paulette, Marv, Sam, and Grant are disappointed at five episodes of vamping and worry the cops will solve the case before they do. Marv puts his sixth avenue slasher theory back in the mix, but Sam reminds him they gave him an entire episode for that already. Marv maintains that he's real. Sam's considering moving to another podcast. Paulette has also been listening to it. Marv is upset that they're jumping ship. They watch the trio embrace as Mabel walks in. Marv declares his loyalty to Only Murders in the Building. Marv is approaching the trio when the blackout hits. Ivan says the whole tristate area is out. Charles asks if anyone has phone service. Oliver has some, because he just got the email with his DNA results. He clicks on them, but they won't load. Marv says cell traffic is probably jammed. Mabel says they need to get to Lucy before anyone else does. Marv wants to share his theory with them, but they don't have time. Before they can leave, Ivan offers Oliver a bunch of dips that will go bad without refrigeration.

Several people have gathered in the Arconia lobby.

Lucy checks Charles's fridge and cabinets and gets a snack.

Lester tells someone on the phone that they're aware of the blackout. Frank wants to know how he's supposed to get his groceries upstairs without the elevator. Ursula directs him to the stairs, but he's on the eighth floor. Mrs. Biddle says when she lived in Braxton, they had a generator. Ursula tells everyone to shut it and reminds them it'll be over in five months or five days. She offers them all gut milk. Everyone gets one free, then she accepts cash only. Lester takes another call. It's Nina, asking if a package came for her. When he says it has, she asks him to bring it up. He tries to decline because she's on the fourteenth floor, but she says they've asked her to cut back on building expenses and he holds open an automatic door. He says he'll be up in a few more than five minutes.

Charles, Oliver, and Mabel walk into the Arconia to see chaos. They head for the stairs, upsetting Oliver.

Howard talks to Grover Stanley about Jonathan Bridgecroft, who is standing nearby. Howard is charmed by him and Grover encourages Howard to ask him out, as he's subletting a place on Howard's floor, but Howard thinks Jonathan is out of his league. Grover says if he never takes a risk, his life will stay exactly as it is forever. Howard says he likes his life and lists off the things he has.

Oliver says he can't keep going. They're only on the fourth floor. Oliver's not sure it's worth going on, as he's worried about the test results. Charles says they're not walking toward his existential crisis. They're walking toward Lucy, who needs them. Oliver says he just got his knees done. Charles also had his knees done, by the same surgeon, and they're fine. Charles says it would be easier for Oliver if he dropped the dips. Oliver gives an impassioned speech to the dips to stay alive before leaving them behind.

Lucy sends Charles a text, but it doesn't go through.

Howard tries to get Sevelyn to eat her food, but it's cold, so she won't. Howard practices what he's going to say to Jonathan. When he opens the door, he's shocked to find Jonathan there. He's come to ask Howard for some batteries. Howard says he was just about to come ask the same thing. Jonathan goes to ask someone else, but Howard tells him he has tons of batteries. When Jonathan questions that, he says he has a lot of candles. Jonathan comes inside.

An out of breath Lester gives Nina her package. It's a baby swing. He asks if he can sit for a few minutes and she reluctantly agrees.

Lucy hears a noise in the apartment and hears a doorknob rattling. Someone is trying to force their way into the apartment. Lucy runs to hide as they get in.

Oliver tries to stop again on the eleventh floor. Mabel and Charles start to pull him up the steps.

As the figure searches Charles's apartment, Lucy enters the secret passageway. The person goes into the bathroom and follows her into the passageway, as she'd left it open.

Mabel, Charles, and Oliver arrive. They find the passageway open and deduce that Lucy is running from Glitter Guy. They have to go after her.

Jonathan asks if Howard is the one he hears singing. Howard says it's him practicing with his Yodelshop quartet. Jonathan thinks he has a beautiful voice. Howard says he has a don't give up your day job voice. Jonathan tells him he's a chorus boy, so his day job is singing. He's a hyena in The Lion King. He loves it, but sometimes he wants to quit. He sometimes wants to be a children's librarian. Howard says he's a librarian.

Lucy hides from Glitter Guy, who passes her.

Lester puts together the baby swing. He likes to be useful. He's proud of his job and enjoys helping people. Nina is looking through paperwork for the construction they're going to do. Lester asks what the plan is. Nina is annoyed by him talking, but that talkative nature got him his wife. Lorraine, Nina knows. Bunny used to quiz her on all the people in the building. His children are May and Frank. One is at SUNY Stony Brook and the other is doing improv, but is bad at it. Nina asks if he's heard anything about who they think killed Bunny. Lester says no, but they must have walked right past him. Nina's a bit worried she's next.

Charles, Mabel, and Oliver search for Lucy. Charles runs into a wall, but they don't remember a wall being there. They're confused about where they are. Oliver wants to back track and sits down. They think maybe Marv is right and they're stuck.

Jonathan asks Howard about his singing. He offers to duet with Howard and they start singing/yodeling The Sound of Silence. Their voices carry down to the lobby, where Ursula starts to sing along, followed by the others, including Mrs. Biddle and Frank.

Oliver starts to sing in the passageway until Mabel and Charles shush him.

Jonathan and Howard continue their duet.

Lester notes that Nina's baby stopped crying.

Oliver sings softly. Mabel joins him.

As the song finishes, Jonathan starts sneezing. He asks if Howard has a pet and says he's allergic to cats.

Lucy runs up to Mabel, Charles, and Oliver.

Jonathan gets up to leave and thanks Howard for a great blackout. Howard agrees that he had fun.

Lucy says they were right before her and she thinks it's the same person she saw in there the night Bunny died. She admits to Charles that she was at the Arconia the night of her mother's wedding. She saw the killer, but didn't see their face. They were wearing a mask and a jumpsuit. Whoever it was looked at her, sneezed, then ran off. They decide that in order to be safe, they need to go where there's other people. A flashlight coming their way forces them to hurry.

Lucy leads them through the passageways and down the stairs. The figure follows them. Mabel grabs the bag of dips on their way down. She stands at the bottom of the steps and whacks the figure with the bag. Just then, the power comes back on. Mabel pulls the mask off to reveal Marv.

Lester gets up and sees Nina's plan for the Arconia. Nina says in the light, they might need to reconsider some things. Maybe jobs could shift instead of disappearing. She asks him how Director of Resident Support sounds. He nods his head as he leaves.

Howard uses a lint roller on his sleeves as he goes to Jonathan's place. He lays out some things he could do to remove the allergens so he and Jonathan could go on a date in the daylight. Jonathan wants to go right away and tells Howard not to get rid of his cat.

Marv maintains that he didn't kill Bunny. Oliver, Charles, and Mabel ask him to explain himself. He says he was trying to protect Lucy. His outfit is from work. He's a mold inspector. He came over when Charles said he was worried about Lucy. Lucy says Marv isn't the person who was chasing her. Marv says he just wanted to be a part of things. Then maybe his daughter would talk to him again. He misses his daughter. Charles tells Marv he's not well, which Marv knows. Lucy says he scared the killer off. They ran away when they saw his flashlight. Oliver agrees to record Marv for an episode, saying they're low on quality content.

Mabel says they've seen the killer four times. Lucy saw them the night of the murder. They all saw them on the surveillance footage from the diner. And she saw the Glitter Guy. They wonder if they're all the same person. They realize Lucy isn't next to them anymore and see her talking to Detective Kreps. She told Kreps about what happened with them. He was just in the neighborhood, trying to make sure they weren't up to any shenanigans. Charles and Oliver lead Lucy out while Mabel questions Kreps about his statement that he was in the neighborhood. Kreps says he's interested in Mabel. He saw the video of her. She asks why he's there. Howard and Jonathan walk by and Howard accidentally knocks into Kreps, who grabs his shoulder. He says he has a new tattoo. As he turns his head to look at Marv, Mabel sees glitter on his neck behind his ear. He tells Mabel to have a good night and leaves.

Cast

Starring

• Steve Martin as Charles-Haden Savage
• Martin Short as Oliver Putnam
• Selena Gomez as Mabel Mora
• Cara Delevingne as Alice Banks (credit only)

Guest Starring

• Vanessa Aspillaga as Ursula
• Zoe Colletti as Lucy
• Teddy Coluca as Lester
• Michael Cyril Creighton as Howard Morris
• Russell G. Jones as Dr. Grover Stanley
• Christine Ko as Nina Lin
• Daniel Oreskes as Marv
• Michael Rapaport as Detective Daniel Kreps
• Ariel Shafir as Ivan
• Ali Stroker as Paulette
• Jason Veasey as Jonathan Bridgecroft
• Jaboukie Young-White as Sam

Co-Starring

• June Ballinger as Mrs. Biddle
• Ned Noyes as Frank
• Orson Hong as Superfan Grant

Notes and Trivia

General

• The Easter egg in the title sequence is that we see the lights going out all over the city, and the Arconia going dark as well.

• Oliver's dramatic goodbye speech to the dips appears to be directly quoted from The Last of the Mohicans. In that film, the words are spoken by Daniel Day-Lewis to Madeleine Stowe.

Cultural References

• In the episode, there is a city-wide blackout across New York. There have been many blackouts in New York over the years, and a "blackout" plotline has been seen in many stories set in the city, such as In The Heights (musical), Friends and Mad About You.

Soundtrack

• Sound of Silence - Simon and Garfunkel

Media

Episode Stills

Photography by Craig Blankenhorn for Hulu.

See Also

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