"Only Murders in the Building" has a structural skew that might be considered a red flag in other shows: its insistent lovability. Here, for the time being, the mystery-driven comedy's trust in the audience's affection for Oliver Putnam, Charles Haden-Savage, and Mabel Mora, along with the actors who play them (Martin Short, Steve Martin, and Selena Gomez, respectively) remain its greatest asset.
The Arconia itself becomes much more beloved of a character in these new episodes too, for obvious reasons; the murder of the building's cranky Board President Bunny Folger (Jayne Houdyshell) drives the new season's main investigation, exposing the ways that the building was an extension of Bunny's spirit and a few other secrets.
