Sparring Partners

"Sparring Partners"
"Sparring Partners" title-card
Season	2
Episode	9
Director	Jamie Babbit
Writer	Kirker Butler
Editor	Peggy Tachdjian
Original air date	August 16, 2022
Episode chronology
← Previous	"Hello, Darkness"
Next →	"I Know Who Did It"

"Sparring Partners" is the ninth episode of the second season of Only Murders in the Building, starring Steve Martin, Selena Gomez and Martin Short. It originally aired on August 16, 2022.

Short Summary

Closing in on the killer, Mabel takes her investigative talents into the ring; Oliver and Charles duke it out over a birdcage only to end up confronting their deepest paternal struggles.

Full Summary

Kreps boxes with a sparring partner as he talks about the difficulty of trying to live on a cop's salary in New York, which forced him to take on other jobs.

Kreps enters an evidence room and removes a hair from an evidence box.

Kreps talks about meeting someone and having things change as he sits at a bar and turns to see someone.

Charles puts a picture of Kreps on the board as Mabel tells him Kreps is Glitter Guy. They wonder why he did it. He doesn't seem like the type of guy who would want the painting. Charles and Mabel agree that something's off, and they suspect someone's behind all of it and controlling him. Charles thinks he knows who it was. He puts a card on the board that says Criminal Mastermind, which he says is a good name for a television show. She asks about his backpack, which has a chicken logo that Mabel finds familiar but can't place. Mabel's not sure she can go up against a cop. Oliver comes in and tells them he's Will's biological father. Charles asks if that means he's Greek. He says he's Greek-ish. To celebrate, he's brought Mrs. Gambolini to give to Charles. She kept him up all night. Charles and Oliver fight over who has to take the bird until their fighting causes a secret compartment under her cage to open. Inside, they find the painting. They put it next to the fake. They believe the woman in the painting is Rose Cooper. They question why Bunny might've made a fake. Mrs. Gambolini says again that she knows who did it, but they tell her to shut up.

Mabel finds Alice waiting at her door. She has a gift for Mabel and says she needs to use the bathroom. Mabel lets her inside.

Mabel pulls puzzle pieces out of the bag Alice gave her. As Alice leaves the bathroom, Mabel asks if she wants to talk more of Mabel's story. Alice says she just wanted to give Mabel the puzzle. It's a peace offering, as she knows how much Mabel likes puzzles. She made it with an x-acto knife in the middle of a blackout. She's not looking for sympathy. She just wants context for any imperfections or blood stains Mabel finds. Mabel says Alice made her realize she doesn't want her life to be all about the worst parts of it. She's worth more than that. She likes Alice, but she doesn't trust her, and she can't be with someone she doesn't trust. Alice understands. She says if she needs anything, she has her number. Alice leaves.

Charles talks to Leonora's assisted living and learns she's not verbal and hasn't left the facility in a long time. They direct him to a page where he sees a picture of the real Leonora celebrating her 92nd birthday. He apologizes for bothering them as he realizes he's been conned.

Oliver gives Will final notes. They open in three days and the show is back in chaos. He thinks it'll be a disaster, but Oliver tells him he can do it because theater is in his blood. He's a Putnam for real. Will asks if he got the results. Oliver talks about how Greek he is. Will didn't realize how much it was weighing him until just then. He feels like he can do it now.

Charles looks at the painting and then his watch. He takes it off and opens it. On the inside is an address: 26 Willow Drive, Lake Placid, New Work.

Mabel looks at Kreps's employee file from Coney Island and gets his home address.

Charles looks up the address he found and calls the woman who pretended to be Leonora.

Mabel finds that the address is a boxing gym. She says it looks like they're in for a fight.

Mabel enters the gym and Kreps asks her where Oliver and Charles are. She taunts him and then asks how his arm is, the one she stabbed after he attacked her. Kreps says she can ask questions only if she gets in the ring with him.

Charles opens the door for the woman who posed as Leonora. She says he found it, and he says he found her: Rose Cooper.

Kreps asks if she boxes, and she says she takes a cardio boxing class twice a week. He has her hold the bag for him, and she taunts him some more. She tells him she saw glitter on his neck and asks how he knew about the evidence drop off. He feigns ignorance, but tells her the matchbook is gone, and the fingerprint wasn't his anyway. She tells him to get in the ring.

Oliver talks to Winnie about her peeing on something of his. The elevator doors open to reveal Teddy. He gets on and Oliver attacks him.

Mabel asks Kreps why he killed Bunny. He says he didn't. She can't figure out how he pulled off such an intricate plan because he's too stupid. He tells her she won't get him to trip up because he's too smart for that.

When the doors open again, Oliver backs off Teddy. Howard asks if he should wait for the next car, but Oliver tells him to come in. As soon as the doors close again, Oliver jumps back on Teddy. Howard hurries to get off. Teddy asks why he's doing it. Oliver is surprised that Teddy genuinely doesn't know he's Will's biological father.

Charles offers Rose a drink. She says she knew enough about Leonora to pull off a little day trip, but it was a lot of exhausting work. Charles says people have been wondering about her for years, but she dismisses it as only a few people in the art world who wanted nothing to do with her before she went missing. Charles asks if she went into hiding because of his father. He doesn't know a lot about his father, but he doesn't think he was a good man, a thought that has always haunted him. Then Rose came along. Rose asks if he has the painting.

Mabel tells Kreps he's a crooked cop who stabbed a defenseless woman and tried to frame Mabel, and she's going to nail him for it. Kreps says her whole generation's problem is that their parents told them they could be anything they wanted and teachers reinforced that so they act like everyone wants to hear what they have to say when really no one cares. He says Mabel doesn't know anything about him. And if he's so stupid, how did he land the smartest woman on the planet? And how come he's able to do a better podcast than them in less time? He only hates bad podcasts. The original ones take talent and intelligence. He should know. Mabel says she's not scared of him. He says she should be because he's lead detective in a case where she's the prime suspect. People go away for things they didn't do all the time. He tells her to get out of the gym. Mabel goes to take off her gloves and sees a towel with the same chicken logo as Kreps' bag.

Charles shows Rose the painting. She has him bring it closer. On the back, it says, "Savage '56." To confirm it's the original, she has him remove the back.

Mabel puts the towel by the bag and things about Kreps' words. She dumps out the puzzle Alice left and puts together two pieces that show All Is Not Okay in Oklahoma. She gets on her computer and plays the podcast.

Oliver brings Teddy into his place and asks if he can get Teddy anything. Teddy wants to explain, but Oliver was already on the phone all night with Roberta, who explained everything. Teddy asks if she told him it was only once. Oliver says she said twice. Teddy says it was one night, two times. Oliver asks how many other women in the building he impregnated. Teddy goes to leave. Oliver says Will is all he has and if he loses Will, he has nothing. He feels like the worst father in the world. Teddy tells him he didn't drag his son into a criminal enterprise and cover up his involvement in someone's death. Oliver says he did recently encourage him to get involved in theater.

Mabel listens to the podcast as she works on the puzzle. As she finishes the puzzle, she hears Cinda's voice saying that she went to the local bar and grill, the Chicken Chug, every night. There, she worked locals and cops for clues. Mabel realizes she didn't see the logo. She heard it.

Charles finishes removing the nails. Rose says the painting on top was for her. Charles pulls off the top, revealing the painting that was for Charles's father. It's Charles and his father, looking up at the Arconia. Rose says it was the man he most wanted to be. He was Rose's love. He tried to keep her safe from her husband. She had to leave to keep them both safe, and they never saw each other again. Charles says he died heartbroken.

Oliver asks Teddy why father-son relationships are so hard. Teddy throws out some possible reasons and asks if Oliver was close to his father. Oliver tried, but he was a door-to-door salesman and was gone a lot. When he was home, Oliver would do whatever he could to get his father's attention. Teddy hated his own father. He was killed by a Korean bookie in the back room of a Chinese restaurant. Because of that, all Teddy ever wanted was to have a good relationship with Theo like the one Oliver has with Will. But he screwed that up. Oliver asks Teddy to do him a favor. He asks Teddy to promise never to tell Will. He made Roberta make the same promise. He wants them to keep up the ruse they've kept up for years.

Mabel goes to see Poppy, who says Cinda could be back any minute and Mabel shouldn't be there. Mabel wonders where Cinda is and Poppy says vocal massage. She pays a Thai guy to rub her throat. Poppy says telling Mabel she could help her was a mistake. She can't do anything for Mabel and asks to be left in peace. Mabel says Bunny's murder and Kreps have something to do with All is Not Okay in Oklahoma, but she can't figure out how. She's missing a puzzle piece. Poppy tells her to let it go and leave.

Rose says Charles deserves to have the painting. Better him than the woman who came sniffing around a few months ago. Charles asks what woman.

Mabel asks what Poppy is so scared of and what she knows. Poppy says Mabel doesn't know what Cinda is capable of and what she'll do to get what she wants.

Rose says the woman had brown hair and glasses. Charles asks if it was Cinda, but Rose didn't get her name. She knows she was pushy.

Mabel asks why Poppy is so scared of Cinda.

Kreps takes the hair out of the file for the Becky Butler case and leaves the Chickasha Police Department.

Kreps buries something in a shallow hole.

Kreps goes into The Chicken Chug. He sits at the bar and orders a beer.

Mabel asks Poppy why again. Poppy says she's Becky Butler.

Kreps hears a woman laughing.

Mabel runs down the hall.

Kreps turns to see Cinda in the Chicken Chug.

Mabel puts a picture of Cinda under the label Criminal Mastermind.

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

• Ryan Broussard as Will Putnam
• Michael Cyril Creighton as Howard Morris
• Tina Fey as Cinda Canning
• Jayne Houdyshell as Bunny Folger
• Nathan Lane as Teddy Dimas
• Shirley MacLaine as Rose Cooper
• Michael Rapaport as Detective Daniel Kreps
• Adina Verson as Poppy White

Notes and Trivia

General

• The Easter egg in the title sequence is we see the woman walking her dog (and sometimes Mrs. Gambolini) walking a chicken instead.

Soundtrack

• "Song", performed by Artist
  Written by Composer

Media

Episode Stills

Photography by Craig Blankenhorn for Hulu.

Videos

Mabel Vs. Detective Kreps - Only Murders in the Building - Hulu

Mabel Vs. Detective Kreps

See Also

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