Now they’re both willing to think of others - in this case, Mabel - before their own motivations. Charles and Oliver show significant growth in this episode - their bond, which has solidified throughout the season, has already made them less selfish people.
Meanwhile, Oscar has put his past so far behind him and wants to keep it so far away, and like Mabel, he is grieving over the time they lost.Ĭharles says the investigation of Tim Kono’s murder is “personal now.” It always was, but it took a look inside Mabel’s life and seeing her outside of her hard exterior and quips for him to realize that real people are affected by the murders he considers entertainment. So she inevitably goes back to the Arconia to finish what she started where it started. But until Tim’s murder is solved and Oscar is absolved of any involvement in Zoe’s death - which now seems to be directly connected - the Arconia and the Hardy Boys will haunt Mabel and prevent her from moving on. And Mabel asks the two randos not to do TikTok, which is safe advice for everyone over the age of 16. Mabel’s mother asks Charles and Oliver to move on from the investigation so Mabel can move forward instead of regressing to the Arconia and her past, which is intertwined with the building.
She moved into the Arconia, where she experienced trauma and loss, expecting that things could somehow return to the way they were. (But did she watch Terrence Malick’s 2011 masterpiece?) Instead of confronting the loss of Zoe, Oscar, and Tim, Mabel dreamed of getting back the good feeling she had when she was with them. “My mom told me to read about the Tree of Life. Always trying to find a way to recreate the Hardy Boys’ magic, she only let herself grieve through her art, like the tree in her bedroom. Mabel never fully grieved the loss of her friend Zoe and the life she could have had with Oscar all these years because she never let go of the past. “When they don’t submit something, that means they want all hands off,” Dee says.Īmid Dee’s discovery that a case she assumed was simple might be more sinister and that she can and should rely on others for help, the three friends-plus - Mabel, Oliver, and Charles and Oscar - go on an emotional journey that pushes them to realize they’re not alone, either. The (slightly illegal) investigation and findings she hears about on the podcast convince her to anonymously send Tim Kono’s phone, which never made it to IT, to Mabel. This leads to the discovery that Tim Kono’s toxicology report was not submitted, convincing Dee to listen to Only Murders in the Building. Dee (Da’Vine Joy Randolph), the detective who is (fairly) skeptical of true-crime podcasts and last seen in the first episode, finds out about the Only Murders in the Building podcast through her wife, who found out about it through the Yard Dogs. “To Protect and Serve” opens with an unfamiliar voice telling us that we’re born alone and we die alone. It’s fitting - and likely very intentional - that the news that Only Murders in the Building was picked up for a second season (!!!) was announced the week leading up to its best, most emotional, most eventful, and most meta episode yet.