The Detail That Makes No Sense In Only Murders In The Building

Like half of the people you know, Charles (Steve Martin), Oliver (Martin Short), and Mabel (Selena Gomez) are devotees of true crime stories. The trio is so thoroughly immersed in the trappings of the genre that they can't even imagine doing a murder investigation without also turning it into their own podcast. Their amateur sleuthing after their neighbor Tim Kono (Julian Cihi) is killed crisscrosses the Arconia apartment building where the three live, uncovering and eliminating new suspects like deli magnate Teddy Dimas (Nathan Lane), cat lover Howard Morris (Michael Cyril Creighton), and rock legend Sting (himself) over the course of its 10 episodes. 

But for all the peeping and snooping they did over the course of the show's first season, and all their knowledge of other cases picked up thanks to in-universe podcasts like Cinda Canning's "All is Not OK in Oklahoma," some fans have pointed out that the group of would-be detectives wound up making an incredibly basic investigative mistake in the season finale. Their blunder as they're snooping through Jan's (Amy Ryan) apartment in the last episode, looking for clues that will link her to Tim's murder, was more Inspector Clouseau than Sherlock Holmes and could wind up having far-reaching consequences for the trio in the show's next season. 

As u/SleepingWIllow1 summed it up on Reddit, "WHY IS NOONE WEARING GLOVES!!!" Others were quick to chime in with their disbelief that the group would have forgotten something so basic. "I had that same thought," wrote u/KBK226, "especially when Mabel picked up the KNIFE in the vent. I was like GIRL. You listen to enough true crime podcasts you should KNOW this!!!

It was a detail, some fans remembered, that the show had been good about before. "Mabel wore gloves when she and Charles were snooping around in Teddy's apartment!" wrote u/cuddly_guacamole. "She knows better!"

But another commenter had a guess as to why this time might be the one they forgot. "Charles always brought the gloves but wasnt there when they searched Jans apartment," speculated u/loveatheory. But that doesn't mean that commenter was ready to let them off the hook quite so easily. "Still dumb of them though!"

Given how the season ended –– with the central trio exiting the Arconia in handcuffs after finding the body of Bunny (Jayne Houdyshell) in the season's closing moments –– it's possible their carelessness will come back to bite them later. "Only Murders in the Building" has already been picked up for a second season by Hulu, but the release date of the next slate of episodes is currently unknown.