Only Murders in the Building – Season 2 Episode 3 Recap & Review

‘The Last Day of Bunny Folger’

From the last episode’s cliffhanger, Mrs. Gambolini is mostly just full of it. That is a line she memorized from a tv series she saw with Bunny.

We are back at Arconia during episode 3 of Only Murders In The Building Season 2 to take another step forward (or backward?) in solving the murder of Mrs. Folger. Her last day is replayed as flashes of memories.

Our trio records the third episode of the podcast about Bunny’s day. She wakes up to Gambolini’s treacherous alarm tone and reminiscences in a wistful cadence about the bygone years and how her beloved city has changed. Everything around Arconia – and Bunny to extension – has undergone modernization, leaving the two as “relics stuck in time”.

It is the day when she steps down as Board President after spending nearly her entire life in charge. She has to hand over the reins to Nina Lin, who was her personal choice. After a gander on her daily route, Bunny stumbles upon the trio.

They’re giving interviews to the press and fans in the communal area. She intervenes with rules that are being broken and the crowd disperses. Her conversation with Nina gives way to how emotionally attached Bunny is to the building. The passion, care, and detail-oriented meticulousness with which she narrates the smallest of chores to Nina that would look insignificant to any third person is a testament to it.

Nina is up to the task. Bunny’s judgment of character is steady – she has chosen the right person to make do without her. During lunch, she gets those calls again from a stranger about the painting. Her dismissive tone indicates they have called a number of times. The letters that Oliver found in the last episode support the notion. Bunny plans to move on to a “warmer place”. Boca Rota is her chosen place.

An encounter with Mable and Oliver in the elevator throws her off her plans, as she doesn’t “like the hot”. This means no resignation. She reveals her decision to the Board at her surprise retirement party.

Nina is adamant that Bunny keep her word, in the process admonishing her for being a “relic”. Their fight is recorded by Howard in the minutes of the meeting. Bunny is deeply affected by the episode.

Although Nina did say a lot of harsh words, we can’t say for sure she carried a grudge against Bunny or manipulated her to get the position. From her earlier conversation and parts of the spat with Bunny, Nina actually seems to care about the building. While sitting alone in her apartment, Bunny catches the noise from Mable’s apartment down the line. The trio is celebrating solving Kono’s murder.

She takes champagne to Mable’s apartment. But the trio misconstrues her gesture to get invited to the party. All they do is give her a merchandise hoodie as a return gift. A wailing Bunny stands outside for a few minutes and returns to her apartment.

In the final sequence of this episode, we see the murder happen in real-time. Of course, the killer’s identity is hidden, but what can be confirmed is that Bunny knew him/her. This might be handy in the coming episodes for the trio to narrow down their suspects. Or maybe not, as this episode showed that Binny actually socialized with a lot of different people.  Only time will tell!

The Episode Review

Quite early in the season, Only Murders in the Building has brought a classical episode in its style to the audience. The creators captured the essence of her character perfectly. It was all about making us familiar with such an important figure in the building.

The narration was humbling and caught us on the outside looking in. Real insights about Bunny’s undying love for the building, which meant so much more to her, and clues about the murder, combine well here. This attempt to endear Bunny to us seemed reminiscent of season one, episode six about the Dimas boy. Both instances just go on to prove how wrong we can be about someone and how little of a person we know until we know the whole story.

The magnificent Jayne Houdyshell finally got her moment of glory as part of the series. It was a pity she was only relegated to a guest role in season one. We have all seen how nuanced the actress can be on screen, most recently with ‘The Humans’, but episode three was refreshing in that sense.

The trio is somewhat closer to clearing their names and focusing more on the investigation. Bunny Folger’s chapter closes here. She rests with the building she so dearly loved. Probably even more than herself. Goodbye, Bunny!