Since the beginning of Season 2, “Only Murders In The Building” has been trying to solve the murder of Arconia’s ex-president, Bunny Folger, who was brutally stabbed in Mabel Mora’s apartment. Finally, in Episode 10 of Season 2, the killer’s identity has been revealed to the audience. But what’s more interesting than the identity of the killer is the motive behind it. Additionally, “Only Murders In The Building” Season 2, following the palette of its narrative, ends on a cliffhanger where we witness the poisoning of a Broadway star, Ben Glenroy, played by Paul Rudd, thus leaving us with another mystery to scratch our heads and formulate theories around it, until the creators’ return for Season 3. So, without wasting any moment, let’s find out who the killer is and why she killed Bunny Folger, while also exploring the thriller cliffhanger that we are left with.
Spoilers Ahead
What Did “14 Savage” Mean? How Did It Reveal the Killer’s Identity?
In the previous episode of “Only Murders In The Building,” Cinda Canning’s assistant, Poppy White, told Mabel that her real name was Becky Butler, a resident of Chickasha who used to work as Mayor Tipton’s assistant. Cinda had created her true crime podcast series, “All Is Not OK in Oklahoma,” around the death and disappearance of Becky Butler. At the end of Episode 9, Poppy indirectly suggested to Mabel that it was Cinda who planned her disappearance, which further implied that it was Cinda who was working with corrupt detective Daniel Kreps who planted fake evidence in Mayor Tipton’s garden in order to implicate him for Becky’s murder. At the beginning of Episode 10, Mabel theorized that it was Cinda who sent Mayor Tipton to prison for killing a person who was very much alive. Though her theory was correct, it was not exactly true, as Cinda, too, had no idea that Poppy White was Becky Butler. At this point, we already knew who the criminal mastermind was, yet we needed solid proof to prove our theory, which brings us to the phrase, “14 Savage,” the last words muttered by Bunny Folger before she died in Mabel’s arms.
“The Pickle Diner” played an extremely important role in revealing the identity of the killer. The bloodstained matchbook that the killer had dropped in Mabel’s apartment belonged to “The Pickle Diner,” which clearly suggested that the killer was either a regular customer at the diner or had been there once or twice. The bloodstained matchbook also had a fingerprint, which Mabel, Charles, and Oliver wanted to give to Detective Williams for a fingerprint test before it was stolen by a glitter guy, who was none other than our corrupt detective, Daniel Kreps. Indeed, Kreps was trying to protect the killer, but it was not Cinda. It was his lover who loved Liverwurst & Marmalade, the 14th sandwich on the menu of “The Pickle Diner.” So it wasn’t “14 Savage” that Bunny was trying to speak but “14th Sandwich,” which was the killer’s favorite.
During their visit to the restaurant, Mabel got a call from Detective Williams, who told her about the DNA they had got on the knife through which Bunny was killed, and, surprisingly, the DNA belonged to a dead girl in Chickasha, Oklahoma. And Mabel and all the others watching the series knew only one dead girl who was very much alive, and that was Becky Butler, also known as Poppy White.
Why Did Poppy White Kill Bunny Folger?
For a person living in a small town, life can sometimes be very ordinary. While having an ordinary life is nothing tragic, it can turn into a personal conflict if he or she is extremely ambitious. Ambitions, dreams, and desires infect our systems and play with our psyche, therefore persuading us to commit acts that a sane mind may not have otherwise committed. And that is what happened to Becky Butler.
Becky lived an ordinary life in Chickasha, Oklahoma, with an alcoholic father and a pretty miserable job. Miserable because Becky aspired to become a podcaster like her hero, Cinda Canning. Becky listened to Cinda’s podcasts like “Knife Girl: The Story of a Child Martyr” every day before leaving for Mayor Tipton’s office, where she worked as an assistant. That was probably the best part of her day, and those podcasts acted as a silver lining in her pretty miserable life.
Like many of us, Becky, too, always knew what her calling was, yet she needed a push. It happened when Mayor Tipton indirectly asked for sexual favor and even underlined that she wouldn’t be able to say no to him all the time. It was indeed a warning, and Becky knew that she had to leave or disappear before the inevitable happened to her. However, for a person who survives on a petty job, making a change in life is extremely difficult. Not each of us is brave enough to take that leap of faith, and that’s where the devil lures us. Becky wanted to disappear, but instead of taking the long path to freedom, she decided to take a shortcut. She planned her own disappearance and became Poppy White. But that was not the end of her sinister mind.
One week after her disappearance, Becky showed up at Cinda Canning’s office as Poppy White and delivered her a thrilling story about a missing girl who was harassed by the local mayor. Mayor Tipton’s campaign slogan was “It’s All Gonna Be OK,” where OK stands for Oklahoma. Becky told Cinda that she thinks “All Is Not OK in Oklahoma” would be a really catchy title for covering this podcast. As soon as Cinda heard the title, it caught her attention, but there was a catch. Cinda didn’t just want to make a podcast about a girl who had disappeared; she wanted the girl dead, probably killed by the mayor. At this point, Becky eagerly wanted a job in Cinda’s office, and thus she acted like a genie who granted all of Cinda’s wishes. With the help of her lover, detective Daniel Kreps, Becky planted evidence in Mayor Tipton’s garden (probably), thereby framing him for the murder of Becky Butler. At the end of the day, Cinda had her award-winning true-crime podcast, and Becky was finally able to disappear, but that wasn’t the end of greed and desire. Becky wanted more. She wanted to become the next Cinda Canning.
When Cinda was struggling with the idea of a new podcast, Becky gave her an idea to cover the disappearance of a famous artist named Rose Cooper, the lover of Charles’s father. Even though Cinda wasn’t interested in covering the disappearance of an “artist,” Becky or Poppy had already set her mind on the story. She probably met Rose Cooper, as Rose mentioned a girl to Charles in Episode 9. Becky might have contacted Bunny Folger too at “The Pickle Diner,” which was why Bunny knew that she always ordered the 14th sandwich. Bunny had always been a keen observer with an excellent memory who knew everything about everyone. However, the question that is still left unanswered is, why did Becky kill Bunny?
“All Is Not OK in Oklahoma” came out in 2015, and it had been some six years since Poppy had been working for Cinda, but Cinda neither acknowledged Poppy’s efforts nor her talent. She never gave her a chance to create her own podcast, and, after being neglected for years, Poppy probably realized that her life was as miserable as it was before, and she once again had to take that shortcut to make her life worthwhile. During her confession, she told Mabel and others that she killed Bunny Folger only because she wanted to make a good podcast around her murder. It is one of those things that we do to get fame and notoriety. In Poppy’s case, she wanted Cinda to notice her efforts, which could be the reason why she brought Cinda to Arconia on the night of Bunny’s murder, so that she would at least acknowledge a part of her, but Cinda, being a cynical and narcissistic person, never even bothered to give a single compliment to Poppy. For Poppy, the entire effort to get Cinda’s attention went down the drain, and the rest of her days were occupied with covering her tracks. She was the one who texted Charles, Mabel, and Oliver on the night of Bunny’s murder as her conscience turned on, and she didn’t want them to become suspects in the murder. But inevitably, they did become the suspects.
‘Only Murders In The Building’ Season 2: Ending Explained – What Happened To Becky Butler And Daniel Kreps?
Charles, Mabel, and Oliver had orchestrated a theatrical performance in which they involved Cinda, too, in order to get a confession out of Poppy White, aka, Becky Butler. During this performance, Mabel accused her lover, Alice Banks, of being the criminal mastermind who killed Bunny Folger, and everyone around her cheered Mabel’s talent. Poppy was obviously envious of those compliments because it was she who deserved or yearned for them. She was already burning with jealousy when Cinda Canning, a part of the ploy, put some more fuel into the fire when she complimented Mabel’s investigating skills and even proposed that she should have her own podcast. Yes, that was the line that pushed Poppy off the edge, and she burst with anger.
Accidentally, Poppy told Mabel and Oliver about a girl hiding in the secret passageway, and no one could have known about Lucy except for the killer. But that wasn’t the only mistake that Poppy had committed. While planting Oliver’s knife in Charles’ apartment, Poppy dropped her saliva on the murder weapon, which later showed up in a DNA test. At the end of Season 2, we saw that Becky was allergic to furry animals like Mrs. Gambolini (parrot) and Howard Morris’s cat. Based on this, we could guess that while she was planting the murder weapon in Charles’s apartment, she came in contact with one of the furry animals and sneezed, causing some of her “saliva” to fall on the murder weapon. Later, the knife was handed over to Williams by Charles and Oliver discreetly without Kreps’s knowledge, or he would have been able to protect Becky here too by tampering with the reports or the evidence. So yes, it wasn’t a perfect crime by a fair margin. After her confession, Poppy knew that she could no longer hide her crimes and thus confessed to all of them. Soon, Detective Williams arrived at the scene and arrested Poppy White along with her lover, detective Daniel Kreps.
After the murder investigation was done, and the charges against Mabel, Charles, and Oliver were dropped, everything went back to normal. Charles went back to his “Brazzos” reboot set, where he found out that his character had been granted much more screen presence and some moving scenes to showcase his skills. On the set, Charles used the opportunity to ask his make-up artist, Joy, for a date (as advised by Mabel and Oliver in Episode 6). Joy had been waiting eagerly for the day when Charles would ask her out, and finally, the day had arrived. Mabel, too, reconciled her relationship with Alice Banks, and they will probably pursue it further. Oliver, on the other hand, met his son, Will Putnam, who revealed to him that he knew the truth about his birth father, but the revelations didn’t change a thing in their relationship, and Oliver would forever be his one and only father. Oliver felt a sigh of relief hearing Will’s word, but there was one more piece of good news waiting for him. His producer friend, Donna, called him to offer him an opportunity to direct a Broadway play with star Ben Glenroy (played by Paul Rudd).
What To Expect From Season 3 Of ‘Only Murders In The Building’?
A year later, we see Oliver on the sets of his new play, which is about to open to the audience. The star, Ben Glenroy, is clearly enraged by something that Charles-Haden Savage has said to him. Charles, too, is playing a role in Oliver’s play, and we see Oliver trying to ease the tension between the two. Seconds before the final curtain call, Charles walks toward Ben and threatens him to stay away from “her.” He isn’t being very explicit with who the person concerned is, but Charles underlines that Ben has done something unspeakable with “her.”
Mabel, Lucy, and Joy, sitting in the audience, are joined by Oliver, where Mabel tells Lucy that a year has passed without any murders, and she feels good about it. However, as soon as she speaks of the murder, Ben Glenroy, performing on stage, starts coughing blood and dies on the spot. Certainly, someone has poisoned him, but who? Charles was the last person whom we saw in a heated argument with Ben Glenroy. Hence, the police may consider him a potential suspect. Therefore, the amateur investigators will band together once again in “Only Murders In The Building” Season 3 to solve the murder of Ben Glenroy and, in the process, clear Charles’ name.
