Only Murders in the Building Official Podcast

Season 2, Episode 6: “Performance Review”

Release Date: July 27, 2022
Hosted by: Elizabeth Keener & Kevin Wan
Guests: Ben Smith & Joshua Alan Griffith (Writers), Idina Verson (Poppy White), John Hoffman (Showrunner)

Episode Overview

This episode takes listeners behind the scenes of “Only Murders in the Building” Season 2, Episode 6: “Performance Review.” Hosts Elizabeth Keener and Kevin Wan explore the making of the episode with writers Ben Smith and Joshua Alan Griffith, as well as actor Idina Verson (Poppy White). Key themes include the dynamics between Cinda and Poppy, Mabel’s emotional breaking point, the now-infamous glitter bomb, behind-the-scenes easter eggs, and meta-commentary on storytelling and ambition. The discussion also breaks down how the collaborative writing process shapes the series’ comedic and emotional beats.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Episode 6 Recap and Narrative Threads

(Timestamps: 01:17–03:26)

• Recap: The episode opens with Cinda Canning interviewing Jimmy Russo about Mabel’s supposed violent past, intensifying suspicion around Mabel.
• Alice’s Actions: Growing suspicion about Alice’s motives—she’s caught recreating Mabel’s trauma for her own art.
• Charles & Jan: Charles visits Jan in prison and is forced to confront his feelings with help from Saz Pataky.
• Detective Williams’ Absence: Kreps dismisses the trio’s sleuthing; confusion about who sent the mysterious texts.
• Poppy’s Arc: Poppy reaches a breaking point with her boss, Cinda.
• Glitter Bomb Incident: The amateur sleuth trio attempts a sting operation with a glitter bomb to reveal the murderer.
• “Bloody Mabel” Returns: A viral video surfaces of Mabel apparently stabbing “Glitter Guy” on the subway.

2. The Writing Process: Collaboration & Pandemic Challenges

(Timestamps: 03:49–07:57)

• Ben & Joshua’s Team Dynamics:

  “It was a very easy and fun pairing. Like, Joshua and I had never written together before...But it was a very fun process, especially considering we'd written all this during the pandemic.” – Ben Smith (05:50)

• Four or five-day solo drafting followed by collaborative rewrites ensured synergy and consistency in their writing.
• The “mind melds” between writers resulted in stronger, subtler jokes and reveals.

3. Cinda and Poppy: Toxic Bosses and Nuanced Relationships

(Timestamps: 07:57–10:44)

• Poppy’s Plight:

  “There's a line about Catherine Graham. That was something my mentor told me...and you take those sorts of quotes and give them to evil characters, I guess.” – Joshua Alan Griffith (08:09)

• Cinda and Poppy’s relationship captures the dynamic of admiration mixed with exploitation, mirroring real workplace power imbalances.

4. Idina Verson on Playing Poppy

(Timestamps: 10:53–14:09)

• Audition Story:

  “I originally auditioned for Cinda Canning. I mean, it was clearly written for Tina Fey...and I guess they liked me so much that they wrote Poppy for me.” – Idina Verson (12:07)

• Pandemic Nerves & Acting:

  “I mean...I hadn’t seen anybody and then suddenly they’re like, okay, you’re gonna go on set around 100 people and be in a room with Steve Martin and Martin Short and Selena Gomez and Tina Fey. And I was like, I don’t know what my life is.” – Idina Verson (13:11)

5. Poppy as Episode Narrator: Storytelling and Self-Delusion

(Timestamps: 14:09–17:43; 18:46–20:24)

• Narrative Choice: Poppy narrates this episode, opening with “the stories you tell yourself”—a lens also applied to Oliver, Charles, and Mabel’s attempts at self-justification.

  “It just kind of felt like a moment to take stock of all of our characters...to tell it through a different side character. Poppy was kind of a fun opportunity." – Ben Smith (15:48)

• Voice Inspiration:

  “I feel like I was channeling more NPR...thinking of Fresh Air.” – Idina Verson (20:41)

6. Inside Jokes & Easter Eggs

(Timestamps: 17:51–19:36; 23:31–24:29)

• Cinda’s Calendar:

  “Primal scream every day at 5am, underwater pilates, clitoral stimulation with Jake, neck thing, and dinner meeting with limbless Letitia.”

• The art department sought more “Etc.” items for the props, spawning hilarious brainstorming from the writers’ room.
• Episode 6 Opening Credits Easter Egg: A “COVID glitter bomb” appears, alluding to both the literal plot device and pandemic allegory.

7. Bunny’s Apartment – Set Stories

(Timestamps: 21:18–22:53)

• Idina’s Favorite Set:

  “That was my favorite set...the set decoration of this show is incredible...all the little knickknacks on the shelf and the books and all the traces are just so detailed.” – Idina Verson (22:32)

• Cute detail: Photos of the actress who plays Bunny as a child, Photoshopped into NYC scenes.

8. The Glitter Bomb Stakeout: Humor Meets Tension

(Timestamps: 24:59–28:12)

• Origin of the Glitter Bomb:

  “We started from the place of. We have figured out that we are texting someone ... So what do we do? ... We always look through the prism of how would our characters [do it] ... and Oliver would do a glitter bomb." – Ben Smith (25:31) “If my years in regional theater and wild orgies have taught me anything, it's that there's no getting rid of glitter.” – Kevin Wan (25:17)

• Visual Payoff:

  “John Hoffman would say they are two of his favorite shots of the whole season...our characters are on a stakeout, but they get so engrossed in their own story that they forget about why they're actually here. And the audience gets the treat of it, and they realize. The characters realize 10 seconds later.” – Ben Smith (27:26)

• Showrunner Perspective:

  “One of my favorite scenes...is the stakeout in the car outside Morningside Park and the perfectly absurd moment...when the person they’re waiting for comes along, but they’re too deep in the middle of an emotional conversation...” – John Hoffman (28:16)

9. Alice’s Betrayal and Artistic Ethics

(Timestamps: 29:32–34:49)

• Alice’s Actions & Motives:

  “She is duplicitous...she’s capitalizing or attempting to capitalize on Mabel’s story and her trauma and her fame for Alice’s own art.” – Ben Smith (30:24)

• The show uses Alice to probe the ethics of using others’ life events as artistic inspiration.

  “I think that Alice, obviously has taken it a step too far and become a bit of a parasite. But ... it’s an interesting line to toe because that line is often the, you know, the moneymaker, the edginess...” – Joshua Alan Griffith (31:30) "For Mabel, ... Alice doesn’t care about the Bloody Mabel stuff ... Only to discover, oh, no, you are using my story." – Ben Smith (32:50)

• Emotional Impact:

  “I think part of this journey of the season is kind of like finding her footing again.” – Ben Smith (34:49)

10. Character Breaking Points

(Timestamps: 34:49–41:01)

• Mabel’s Breaking Point:

  “We knew that we wanted her to stab someone in the middle of the season. And, like, how do we get there? ... We had to work backwards in terms of getting her to this emotionally fraught place.” – Ben Smith (39:37)

• Theme: This episode is full of breaking points for several characters—Mabel, Poppy, Charles, and Oliver.

  “In a lot of ways, it's an episode of breaking points, too...there’s definitely something thematically happening that's resonating between those storylines.” – Joshua Alan Griffith (40:16)

11. Saz and Integrating Jane Lynch

(Timestamps: 35:13–36:56)

• Returning Characters:

  “We always knew it’d be fun to have Saz back, have Jane Lynch back. It made total sense going back into the Brazos world...” – Ben Smith (35:22)

• The show found new ways to reinvent the Saz character for this season.

12. Poppy’s Role Going Forward

(Timestamps: 41:01–41:42)

• Is Poppy the Key?:

  "I think I'm part of the puzzle ... it seems to me like they keep it open at the end of this episode to be able to maybe use Poppy. Yeah. For something." – Idina Verson (41:18)

13. The “Whodunit Summit” – Hosts’ Suspect Theories

(Timestamps: 41:52–44:22)

• Elizabeth’s Pick: Poppy (again)
• Kevin’s Pick: Cinda
• Theories focus on ambition, jealousy, podcast rivalry, and the personality quirks of both characters.

14. Fan Mail & Listener Theories

(Timestamps: 45:44–48:29)

• Fan Deep Dives:
  • “Lenora Rose” as a pen name; possible hidden familial connections.
  • Anagrams in character names (“Lucy” = “clue”; “Mrs. Gambalini” = “M. Mora sibling”).
  • Speculation that superfan Marv or Poppy could be the killer, fueled by subtle clues and odd behaviors.
  • Details about the real Arconia building.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On toxic bosses and Poppy’s journey:

  “Don’t be too good at a job that you don’t want.” – Joshua Alan Griffith, sharing a mentor’s advice (08:09)

• On writing with Tina Fey in mind:

  “I originally auditioned for Cinda Canning. I mean, it was clearly written for Tina Fey...and I guess they liked me so much that they wrote Poppy for me.” – Idina Verson (12:07)

• On the glitter bomb:

  “If my years in regional theater and wild orgies have taught me anything, it’s that there’s no getting rid of glitter.” — Kevin Wan (25:17)

• About the emotional core of the episode:

  “This episode, for all of our characters, there’s a big eye opening...and Poppy has been lying to herself as well. And I think this episode, for all of our characters, there’s a big eye opening.” – Ben Smith (15:48)

• On the meta-narrative:

  “I think that Alice obviously has taken it a step too far and become a bit of a parasite.” – Joshua Alan Griffith (31:30)

Spotlighted Timestamps for Key Segments

• Detailed recap of Episode 6: 01:17–03:26
• Writing team process and pandemic collaboration: 03:49–07:57
• Cinda/Poppy boss dynamics: 07:57–10:44
• Idina Verson Poppy origin story: 10:53–14:09
• Poppy narrates/Episode's central theme: 14:09–17:43
• Cinda’s wild calendar & easter eggs: 17:51–19:36
• On-set stories from Bunny’s apartment: 21:18–22:53
• Glitter bomb development and execution: 24:59–28:12
• Showrunner on the stakeout sequence: 28:12–29:32
• Alice’s betrayal and artistic boundaries: 29:32–34:49
• Breaking points across characters: 40:16–41:01
• Poppy’s future relevance: 41:01–41:42
• Whodunit Summit (Suspect predictions): 41:52–44:22
• Fan theories & speculation: 45:44–48:29

Tone and Style Notes

• The hosts keep the mood light, witty, and sometimes tongue-in-cheek.
• Guests are candid, insightful, and often reflective, blending humor with commentary on craft.
• The episode balances serious behind-the-scenes insights with playful speculation and easter eggs for superfans.