Persons of Interest

"Persons of Interest"
"Persons of Interest" title-card
Season	2
Episode	1
Director	John Hoffman
Writer	John Hoffman Noah Levine
Editor	David L. Bertman
Original air date	June 28, 2022
Running time	34 minutes
Episode chronology
← Previous	"Open and Shut"
Next →	"Framed"

"Persons of Interest" is the first of two premiere episodes of the second season of Only Murders in the Building, starring Steve Martin, Martin Short and Selena Gomez. Airing on June 28, 2022, the episode was written by John Hoffman and Noah Chazen Levine.

Short Summary

Following the shocking death of Arconia Board President Bunny Folger, Charles, Oliver & Mabel race to unmask her killer. However, three (unfortunate) complications ensue - the trio is publicly implicated in Bunny's homicide, they are now the subjects of a competing podcast, and they have to deal with a bunch of New York neighbors who all think they committed murder.

Full Summary

Charles walks around town while his voiceover talks about making a name for yourself in New York City. Many people recognize him. A bus with his, Mabel's, and Oliver's faces on it passes. Charles's fantasy ends when he turns around and walks into an open manhole.

Detectives Williams and Kreps question Charles. They say he has no idea how much trouble he's in. Oliver hears the same message. The only thing worse for them would be if they were Mabel. Kreps tells Mabel he doesn't do podcasts. He likes old school Howard Stern. But he did listen to theirs. It sucks, but there's a part from the first episode that stuck out. He plays a clip of Mabel talking about her recurring dream of waking up and stabbing an intruder with her knitting needle. Mabel says lawyer. He asks if she's asking for a lawyer. She jokes that she's asking if he's a lawyer because he's so smart. The joke makes Williams laugh.

Oliver and Charles are insistent that Mabel couldn't have done it.

Williams says she wants to believe Mabel, but her story sounds far-fetched. Mabel says she went to get champagne and Bunny was just there. That's all she remembers. They think her story is fake. Kreps says it has a lot of holes, more holes than the victim, who has eight. Mabel repeats her request for a lawyer.

Oliver says Mabel was gone for two minutes. Kreps asks if he hated Bunny, the board president who wanted him out of the building because he couldn't pay his rent. Oliver says he's had doubts about Mabel.

Charles says he's played this scene a hundred times on his show, especially in season nine when the budget got cut, and they could only afford to shoot in interrogation rooms. He knows their tricks. He starts talking to a mirror, but Williams says it's decorative. The other mirror is the one he's looking for. Williams tells him to sit down so they can cut to the chase and he obeys.

Williams asks Mabel what she did with the knife. Mabel is surprised there is a knife. Mabel says they have three people who solved two crimes that they couldn't figure out who are now being framed, and they don't even have the real murder weapon.

As Williams leads Oliver, Charles, and Mabel out of the building, Charles asks if she was the one who warned them to get out of the building. She denies any involvement, but Charles is sure it was her. Oliver sees a photo of their arrest on the cover of the "Daily Dispatch" and is upset to see they cropped him out of the photo. Williams tells them to focus on her and tells them they're all persons of interest now. They can't charge them yet, but that can change at any time with new evidence, which they're already looking for. She warns them not to investigate, or make a podcast. She tells Mabel to have Oliver to stop recording her. Mabel tells Oliver to put the phone down. Williams says this is their tickets to live their lives. She tells them to go home and get a new hobby, one that doesn't land them in jail. Mabel suggests knitting, which Williams doesn't find funny. She tells them all to leave.

As they step out of the building, they're overwhelmed by reporters. Charles and Mabel are horrified, but Oliver delights in the attention.

Back at the Arconia, Lester wheels a cart of items labelled Sting out of the building as Charles, Oliver, and Mabel enter. Oliver makes a reference to their first meeting, asking if Mabel likes her Beats, but Mabel doesn't get the callback. Charles asks Mabel about Bunny and Mabel says she was just there. Mabel didn't see anyone else. Oliver says Poor Bunny, before revealing that he's been recording and asks them if a jury would buy that. He's ready to go for another podcast. Charles says it's rare for a true-crime podcast to go for a sequel. They usually go for a new crime, but it's never the same. They all know what he means. They have a real opportunity here. Mabel says she needs a life away from death, and they should all let themselves be a little boring again. Oliver gets off at his floor, but then gets back on, saying he'd rather be dead than boring. He asks them if they heard that Bunny was stabbed with a knife the cops don't have yet. Mabel is still insistent. They can hang out, but not investigate. She gets off at her floor and finds her door crossed with crime scene tape. She pulls it off and steps inside. As she looks at the blood-stained floor where Bunny's body was, she flashes back to finding Bunny in her apartment. Mabel starts scrubbing the blood off the floor.

Charles takes pictures off the board, but puts one back when he sees Bunny in it. Charles talks to Brock on the phone. He says he was only questioned, but thinks it'll hurt his chances of getting work. He's shocked to learn they're rebooting Brazzos.

Mabel scrolls through Instagram, looking at several pictures of her arrest. She sees that her latest post, the mural of the Arconia residents, has over 20,000 likes and many glowing comments. She also has a video message from Alice Banks from a nearby art gallery, who loves her mural. She invites Mabel to her gallery's opening. Mabel studies the picture of herself on the mural.

Oliver and Winnie get on the elevator, followed by Amy Schumer. He recognizes her and asks if she's moving into Sting's apartment. She says yes. She asks if he's Oliver Putnam. He asks if she's suing him. She says no, she only sues Judd Apatow. She also knows Winnie's name. She was a huge fan of the podcast. She was never into crime podcasts before theirs. She asks if there will be a second season. Oliver says there's always a chance. As Oliver gets off the elevator, Amy asks if he'd consider selling her the rights to the podcast to turn it into a streaming series. He admits to having a pitch deck in his apartment. She tells him to come by her place, and they'll figure it out. She jokes with him to bring a turkey.

Charles tells old stories to the producer and director of the Brazzos reboot. They tell him they've already been picked up for series, 18 episodes on CBS. With Naomi Jackson. She'll be playing Brazzos. Instead of reprising his role, he'll be "Uncle Brazzos" in the new series. Naomi would be his niece by marriage or a friend who affectionately calls him uncle. They're still deciding. They had him in mind early on, but they thought he was dead until they saw him getting arrested. The job is his as long as he stays out of jail.

Mabel, sporting a new haircut, enters the gallery. Taylor approaches her, surprised to see Bloody Mabel there. He moves to take a selfie with her before she can say no, but is stopped by Alice, who tells him to leave. Alice is glad that Mabel came. She warns Mabel to watch out for the piranhas.

Alice shows Mabel a three-dimensional portrait of Frida Kahlo. Mabel's dad got her a 1000-piece jigsaw puzzle of Friday when she was four. She finished it the day before she turned five. Alice finds Mabel compelling, but Mabel says she doesn't know anything about her. Alice knows they call her Blood Mabel, she likes Mabel's art, she wants Mabel's dress, and now she knows that she had a Frida puzzle as a child. All Mabel knows about Alice is that she likes to slide into people's DMs, and she'd like Mabel's aunt's closet because that's where the dress came from. Alice says she doesn't just DM anyone. She just wants new energy for their collective. She's recruiting Mabel. Alice says Frida didn't have everything, but she had talent and everyone's attention, like Mabel. Mabel and Alice notice several people taking pictures of her. Alice says it's not a bad place to start. She wants Mabel to come back. Mabel asks if it's a cult. Alice doesn't answer, but tells Mabel to come back with her paints.

Charles wakes to a notification on her phone. Cinda Canning is starting a new podcast, "Only Murderers in the Building" about the three of them and Bunny's murder.

Mabel also hears the announcement. She says Cinda doesn't know anything about her, but looks at the stain on her floor, which she's covering with a rug. Cinda, Poppy, and Cindy are all knitting.

Oliver listens to Cinda, who talks about Splash nearly killing twelve people. The new podcast will be investigating all three of them and following along.

Charles and Oliver show up at Mabel's door. They're all upset about the podcast and Cinda stealing their format. Mabel says Cinda doesn't know what happened that night. It's all a blur for Mabel except she thinks Bunny said something. She remembers Bunny saying fourteen. They wonder what it means. Oliver says they need to slip back in and break into Bunny's apartment to find evidence that it wasn't them. Oliver says if they don't, their whole lives go down the drain and they can kiss Amy Schumer goodbye. When they're confused, he explains how they're working out a TV deal. Charles says he can't lose Brazzos either. The others celebrate with him. Oliver asks if Mabel doesn't want to clear her name. Mabel says Cinda wasn't wrong. Her whole life has been defined by this. She'd like to try to be an artist. And last night, it felt maybe possible. If it takes clearing her name to feel that more ... she's interrupted by someone saying, "Fuck off" repeatedly. They follow the sound to a vent leading to Bunny's apartment.

Oliver, Mabel, and Charles climb into Bunny's apartment through the vent. Oliver starts a story about being on stage with Penn and Teller, but Mabel tells him she's good on the story. Mabel calls out to Bunny. A voice tells her to get out. They follow it to Mrs. Gambolini, a bird. Oliver is surprised she still had the bird. She got it when birds were all the rage. Oliver assumed the bird was dead. Mrs. Gambolini insults them again. Oliver wants them to look around the place. He wrote Bunny some notes he'd rather have back. They all start searching. When they hear someone unlocking the door, they hide. Uma Heller and Howard Morris enter the apartment. Uma says a lot of people didn't know that Bunny had an eye for erotic art. They're there to get a Rose Cooper painting from her collection to get it appraised. When they head for the bedroom, Oliver, Charles, and Mabel hide in the closet. Uma and Howard enter the bedroom and find the painting is missing. The painting was there the day before Bunny died. Uma checks the closet, but doesn't see them hiding amongst the clothing. Uma and Howard leave to see if it's in the living room. Once they're gone, Mabel shows Oliver and Charles a secret door she found in the closet. It's an elevator. It's freezing, so they grab some of Bunny's clothes to keep warm. They talk about the stolen painting as the elevator takes them down. They exit to find themselves outside the building. As they step out, the door shuts behind them. Charles believes if they find the painting, they'll find the killer. Oliver tries to record them talking about it, but Mabel didn't agree to the podcast. Oliver doesn't just want to let Cinda tell her side, which will make them all look like killers. Mabel reluctantly agrees.

Charles starts recording the podcast, talking about becoming famous in New York City. He talks about them being warned not to share their side. Mabel says they won't be going quietly.

Charles comes home and is shocked by something he sees.

Oliver finds a note he wrote to Bunny saying she was dead to him. Another note says someone wants the painting. Oliver gets a text from Charles telling him to come to Charles's apartment.

Mabel looks at the stain again and has more flashbacks to Bunny's death. She remembers Bunny saying, "Savage" before she died. She also gets a summoning text from Charles.

Mabel and Oliver arrive to find Charles's groceries spilled on the floor. They run in to find the painting on Charles's wall. He says he came home, and it was just there. Oliver realizes someone's messing with them. Mabel asks if it's Charles in the painting. He says no, it's his father.

Cast

Starring

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

Guest Starring

• Michael Cyril Creighton as Howard Morris
• Tina Fey as Cinda Canning
• Jackie Hoffman as Uma Heller
• Jayne Houdyshell as Bunny Folger
• Da'Vine Joy Randolph as Detective Donna Williams
• Michael Rapaport as Detective Daniel Kreps
• Amy Schumer as Herself
• Adina Verson as Poppy White

Co-Starring

• Teddy Coluca as Lester
• Ava Eisenson as Brazzos producer
• Ade Otukoya as Brazzos director
• Anne Stringfield as Cindy
• Samuel-Taylor as Taylor

Notes and Trivia

General

• The Easter egg in the title sequence is the stolen painting that can be seen through Charles' window.

Cultural References

• Password (1961; TV Series) – mentioned by Charles
• The Golden Girls (1985; TV Series) – mentioned by Charles

Soundtrack

• "I Love New York", performed by Steve Karmen
  Written by Steve Karmen
• "Papa Loves Mambo", performed by Nat 'King' Cole
  Written by Al Hoffman, Dick Manning and Bickley Reichner

Media

Episode Stills

Photography by Craig Blankenhorn and Barbara Nitke for Hulu.

Videos

Only Murders in the Building - Season 2 - Sneak Peek

Sneak Peek

See Also

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