In the seventh episode of the second season of Only Murders in the Building, we follow Mabel as she tries to solve her puzzle - a life-long obsession. Clad in a yellow nightgown, she sits in a bedroom with pieces of the puzzle spread out before her. ..
Mabel remembers spending weekends with her father solving puzzles. Her father would make the puzzles harder by flipping the pieces, making it a challenge for both of them. ..
Mabel wakes up in a strange apartment, with blood stains on the bed cover. She notices that her “abductor” is Theo Dimas from the building, and she attacks him from behind. Mabel has no memory of stabbing the glitter guy, but she does have a memory of attacking Theo last night. Oliver and Charles are getting restless, and Detective Williams has cut short her leave to come solve the murder with Mabel. Even she is obsessed with it. ..
Theo tries to explain to Mable what happened, as she has literally no memory of the event. He was taking the same train as hers. The glitter guy attacked her and Mabel stabbed him in self-defense. When he ran away, he dropped a security badge that belongs to the Coney Island amusement park. He says he wants to help Mabel and they drive together to that place. Oliver is wheezy when he realizes he still hasn’t gotten rid of the murder weapon. It is still in his house.
Charles follows Williams to the bathroom where they confer with each other. Williams hears everything and asks them to give her the knife. Oliver still hasn’t heard from the people who tested his DNA.
Mabel rummages through the files in the park’s office but is overwhelmed due to her inability to remember. Theo consoles her. His ankle bracelet’s battery starts to run out and it will take about an hour to charge. So, instead of the dreadful waiting, Mabel decides to introduce Theo to the world of amusement parks. While playing one of the games, Theo wins a gift for Mabel. It is a green ring, similar to the one Zoe had on. Theo and Mabel then recollect the horrible memory from that night. Zoe’s face still haunts them and Theo still wonders if she slipped or if he pushed her. Mabel goes to use the washroom before they leave. Williams believes Mabel is innocent but asks the men to help her. She is definitely not helped by her baby, Keith Jr., as he has a crying episode.
Oliver suggests he might have acidity after being fed. Singing a song from A Chorus Line, Oliver performs magic on Keith as he moves his body on the table to relieve the gas. The kid smiles with relief and stops crying. In the washroom, Mabel has another flashback of her father’s before spotting glitter in the sink. The killer is in the building! ..
She goes to the locker room and sees him tending to his wounds. She hides in one of the lockers but makes a sound. When the killer arrives, she slams it open in his face, takes her purse, and rushes out. Theo and Mabel hide as the killer rushes after them and they’re able to escape. But Mabel notices that the matchbook is missing from her purse. She also finds an even more alarming photo.
When Theo’s father calls him and he hangs up the call, Mabel reveals that her father died when she was seven.
She had stomach cancer and no one had told her to protect her from the pain. She then explains how she blocked off the memory of seeing her father in that condition. The pieces were so flipped that she has no memory of it. She does this with instances that are traumatic to her. This is the reason we saw her struggling with Bunny’s murder and thinking that she did it in a state of fugue. But when she focuses on the night, she realizes she didn’t do it.
Mabel, Charles, and Oliver meet up at the diner. Mabel finds a disturbing photo of Charles and Lucy in her purse. Charles immediately calls Lucy, who is in his apartment. Just then, we see that the city has gone under a blackout. ..
The Episode Review
This episode felt like it had too little story progression. On the face of it, “Flipping the Pieces” seems like a decent companion piece to the previous episode. Mabel Mora’s deconstruction was hinted at from the very first episode of this season. And it has finally happened in an emotional harkening back to the past.
She has always been a character who seems to be going through a lot. She carries a lot of baggage from the past and it reflects in the way we see her. Even when she was able to go past that stage, life wasn’t kind to her.
Detective Williams is back in town and some of her bits with Oliver and Charles were really good. They do have an infectious and charming bromance that has begun to blossom. Theo was humanized in this episode too, and I liked that choice very much.
Despite his criminal record, he is still a good person and is a target of pain and misery. The ghost from his past, Zoe, has troubled him but we didn’t see that suffering before this episode. ..
Only Murders In The Building is not one for glorifying or focusing on the chase/action sequences. Mabel had a run-in with the killer but still didn’t see his face and was able to get away with ease. Although it does not diminish OMITB’s appeal, it doesn’t give it brownie points either. ..
This episode felt weaker than the previous ones in the season. I don’t want to say the word but “filler” pops up as the perfect way to describe it. Mabel’s revisit to the past was effective but the lack of anything else really couldn’t rouse us up. Until next week.
