#omitb meta

[anxiouspotatorants]

"I can't figure her out either."

He can't figure out why she does what she does. Why she would spend years renovating an apartment in the building where two of her childhood friends brutally died.

He can't figure out why she's simultaneously so respectful of the dead while passionate about murder and making a podcast with two elderly b-listers.

He can't figure out why she would ever be friends with him. The guy who did his father's literal dirty work for years. The guy who had her tied and pushed into his van with one of the b-listers. The guy who is responsible for her friend's death and for putting an innocent man in prison for ten years.

He can't figure out how she could ever forgive him. How she could show him respect. How she could show him kindness. How she could decide to spend time with him. How she could decide to learn an entire language just to communicate with him. After everything he's done. How she could like and maybe even want his company.

He can't figure out how they got to this point. To her asking him to help her pack up and move out, with every intention of staying close with him.

[mfjenks]

Charles and Oliver in this episode were just genuine Steve and Marty saying how much they love each other and it's perfect

[potterandpromises]

I want to talk about the evolution of Theo's appearance.

I mean, look at that glow up! That doesn't even look like the same actor, let alone character.

In season 1 he looks a lot like his teenage self: kind of greasy.

Mabel, Tim, and Oscar looked younger in their flashbacks. And to me at least, Theo really didn't. Out of all of them, he's been given the least opportunity to change, to grow up.

Then in season 2 (really just 2x07; in 2x04 when he's talking to his father he looks like his season 1 self) he looks more mature and put together. He's less awkward, more free.

In season 3, the trend continues and it's no longer subtle. He looks quite different, older for sure. He's more relaxed. We see him engage with his friend and his interests, have more fun.

He looks a lot like his dad, while Teddy is just a painting in the back of Uma's closet nowhere to be seen.

I'm obsessed with how the farther removed Theo is from Teddy the more grown up and well he looks, and I'm obsessed with how he looks so much more like his dad in a season where we don't even hear about them interacting.

(I'm also curious if, upon interacting more with his dad, Theo will look more disheveled, to show backsliding.)

I'm obsessed with how he suddenly looks a lot more like Will.

To be clear I don't think whatever symbolism is there in the glasses + beard addition (on some level we can't help but become our parents no matter how hard we try?) is necessarily intentional— I'd have to see season 4 before forming an opinion for sure, but I do think it's more likely that it's just a normal look for James Caverly and the time skip between seasons meant that it wouldn't be weird for Theo to look pretty different. Plus, they've now set him up as a potential love interest for Mabel, so he should probably look as attractive as possible.

But still, in a show that has an ongoing theme of family, it's all very interesting. I think season 4 will have a siblings theme of sorts (posts about why). I'm hopeful that Teddy will return and we'll finally see Theo and Will interact. (Note: as far as I know, Nathen Lane's absence and Ryan Broussard's low screen time were more so due to scheduling conflicts then creative decisions.) I'm also hopeful that we'll see a little more of Will's feelings about Oliver's heart attack and the circumstances leading up to it— because once again, Oliver prioritized the theater over his family, which is, ya'know, the root of all their issues.

And speaking of conflict, we've seen a plotline about how DNA doesn't matter (Oliver and Will,) and one about connecting with biological family after a long and painful separation (Loretta and Dickie.) I wonder if season 4 will have something of a push-pull between the two. Considering the actors' chemistry, it's hard not to imagine Theo and Will connecting if given the chance. (And I do think they'll get a chance at some point, or they wouldn't let the actors talk about it in the aftershows.) Given Teddy Dimas, it's hard not to imagine them having complicated feelings about that. Rounding back to the potential symbolism of Theo's new look re: (fear of; you can't help) becoming like one's father, Will experienced that in season 2 with his son's play. It's also been a theme/fear in Charles' life, so very much in these writers' wheelhouse.

There's no ending to this post, it's just a part of Theo's character arc I really enjoy, and I'm excited to see it continue.

[livelovecaliforniadreams]

Ferris Bueller's Day Off | OMITB 3x7

[annasspot]

I absolutely loathe when authors are like "omg i do ship (pairing in their own works)" oh yeah? then MAKE THEM FUCKING HAPPEN OMG

[notmoreflippingelves]

Personally I feel Kristoph just regrets having killed Zak so suddenly on an impulse. Reminder that the locks appeared when asked why he killed Zak specifically. He hated him for turning him down and probably never saw himself capable of murder. Once he killed him he probably felt glad he got revenge and didn't get exposed, but then had that sudden clarity of "oh shit, I actually killed someone", which combined with his paranoia, stressed him out immensely. He tragically traumatized himself.

Zak's murder has always screamed unplanned, desperate "crime of passion" to me, given how dramatically different to the other murder we know Kristoph committed (and set in motion 7 years earlier). Criminology-wise, it's already very unusual for a criminal to change their modus operandi so dramatically without a good reason. And it becomes immediately more striking when we look at the weapons: blunt object in Zak's case vs. poison for the Mishams'.

Poison has long held the stereotype of being a "woman's weapon" rather than a man's. Which yeah, it is a pretty unnecessarily gendered and heteronormative way to look at it. But like what the stereotype is actually saying by this is that poison--regardless of the gender(s) of the person using it--is almost always the method preferred by people who would prefer not to use psychical forms of violence even once they have determined that they "need" to enact violent ends.

These sorts of killers may lack the physical strength or athletic skill to wield a gun/sword/bat/spear,/blunt instrument, they may not be able to summon the adequate aggression to do so, they may want to avoid a bigger "mess" w/ more pieces of evidence, or they may just lack the "sadistic urge" to directly use their hands to enact another's pain. All of the above seem that they could apply to Kristoph given what we know of him.

Even though he has determined that he's going to go through with the murder plot, Kristoph vastly prefers a more detached, less messy, and (in his mind) quicker and less cruel method. Because his heart may not really be in it in the long run. Like do you really think he'd want to get actual blood on his pretty little nails if he didn't have to? He's not killing for the fun of it like some of the other AA killers; he's killing because he's convinced himself he has to.

(Unlike a lot of other fans, I tend to hc that Zak and Drew were actually the *only* deaths that Kristoph was responsible for. Because I maintain that that there was something much more specific and important about the Gramarye case to Kris than simply "wah, I was fired from my first big case and now I'm gonna be petty af about it." No like, this case in particular--besides just "an important case that could make my career"-- was personal to Kris for reasons we may never know).

Even though he knew that this could very well come back to bite him in the derriere, Kristoph was probably secretly relieved that the poison didn't work right away for the Mishams--or that if it had worked, he wouldn't have to find out about it. Out of sight, out of mind and he wouldn't have to face his conscience. And in the worst case scenario, the murder plan was still in place should Kristoph need to enact it later. (Which he did by writing to Drew *during* (and not before) Kristoph's incarceration following Zak's murder.)

So with all that in mind, Kristoph's murder of Zak just seems more and more of a desperate, impulsive act. It's not his style at all, and yet he did it. He saw Zak, realized he was at risk, and panicked.

And yeah, I would imagine that even if we assume he had no regrets/second thoughts about Drew Misham's murder, Zak's murder would psychologically feel really really different to Kris. And I imagine that it could potentially prove even more psychologically damaging to him.

Because braining "Shadi Smith" with a grape juice bottle is an act that is sudden, violent, impulsive and totally out-of-character for Kristoph Gavin--coolest defense in the West ,whose intellect is his weapon of choice and who prefers to keep his pretty nails (if not his soul) clean.

[deeneedsaname]

Honestly I totally agree, and I think he’s an excellent example of a legitimately complicated and realistic full person and character: he was an *asshole*. Completely, and to everyone, especially to Loretta. But he’s also clearly been raised as a child actor, his parents messed him AND his brother up by putting them into this unhealthy dynamic, he’s implied to have an eating disorder (sort of), and is best friends with a group of old ladies who seemed to be the only emotional support he had. Ben is an excellent example of a fully fledged character. Throughout the season, and then right at the end, we’ve all come to kind of love him. And by the end, we kind of realize that there aren’t ‘good people’ and ‘bad people’. Ben wasn’t either good or bad, and once it’s all said and done, we’re sad he died.

I know Ben was a bit of an ass but…I’m sad he died. I think he was trying to turn it around man. ☹️

[quant-um-fizzx]

Only Murders in the Building theory/meta/whatever

I realize this breaks a cardinal rule in entertainment, but I genuinely wish Scott Bakula - real, live famous person - would be involved season 4’s murder. Murderer or intended victim, either one.

LOOK how much sense it makes:

- Scott has been mentioned regularly since episode 1

- long-running association with Charles

- Sazz was his body double

- dating Charles’ ex, Joy

- omitb Scott dresses like Sazz who dresses like Charles who dresses like Scott who dresses like…

- the misdirection that Sazz might have be killed because she was mistaken for Charles, so Charles must be the intended victim…maybe Scott was the intended victim (yes, I really stretched there since it’s in Charles’ apartment.)

- Scott has ZERO reason to be skulking about the omitb movie party (this is The Fishiest Bit)

- weirdly mentioned “white-haired white-guy” and the only thing we can see in the scratched out photograph of the Westies is white hair

- he might know about the passages into Charles’ apartment from Joy

I’m not sure what the upside down numbers that really spelled “oh hell” are about, but it made me think “Oh, boy!” his Quantum Leap catchphrase. (Again, admittedly, a stretch.)

I have no idea what’s up with all the ham. Unless it’s a ham smuggling operation and the first pig was called Dr. Ham Beckett.

[maineshewrote]

Seeing as they're making meta jokes all the time, OMitB should give Oliver and Loretta a date night where they go and see Death Becomes Her on Broadway in 2025 and reminisce about seeing the film back in the day, also with Loretta channeling her Little-Shop-of-Horrors speech energy and going, "And Megan Hilty got that part. She's good... She's GREAT. It's a hit," or something.

[ozziesdisco]

There's just something oddly meta about the actress for Holly playing a psychopath caller Jan in OMITB

[samantitheos]

Weekly Tag Wednesday

Fandom This or That!

Thank you for all the tags lovely folks.

@mybrainismelted @deedala @burninface @sickness-health-all-that-shit

@francesrose3 @blue-disco-lights

I feel loved today. 🖤

Name:  Sam Location:  On the couch catching up on OMITB

Fanfic Tropes:

Canon Compliant OR Canon Divergent Only One Bed OR Fake Dating [but why not both?] Coffee Shop AU  OR  Historical AU [NTW i am looking directly at you] Omegaverse OR Soulmates [this one almost killed me, but my tastes are very specific when it comes to omegaverse and it has to be written so, so well, so soulmates edges it out just slightly] Fluff OR Angst [but only with a happy ending] Fix-It OR Post-Canon Slow Burn OR Established Relationship High School AU  OR  Fake Relationship College AU OR  Dystopian Future

Shameless Characters:

Date Night with Ian OR Netflix and Chill with Mickey Clubbing with Fiona  OR  Bike Racing with Lip Pub Night with Debbie OR Video Games with Carl and Liam Wandering the streets with Frank  OR  The Alibi w/ Tommy & Kermit Training at KevFit  OR Girl's Night with Veronica

General:

Reading Fics OR Watching Video Edits GIFS  OR  Memes Headcanons OR Meta Incorrect Quotes OR Text Post

Tags under the cut.

Calling anyone who wants to play to join! And saying hi to some folks. ✨

@annarowyn @mickey-milkovichs @vintagelacerosette @wehangout @sam-loves-seb

@gallavichsuperfan @gallawitch1 @iheartmoons @doshiart @palepinkgoat

@loftec @energievie @mmmichyyy @pookiebearmick

[anxiouspotatorants]

I don’t know if I think season 4 is as good as 1 and 2 so far, but it’s such a relief to have a season where Mabel doesn’t have a one-off love interest.

Like, by the time we got to Tobert it felt so obvious that both him and his relationship to Mabel wasn’t going to last more than one season, and since he had so little to do with the events of season 3 otherwise I stopped seeing the point in caring about his character. Just like Alice in season 2, and almost Oscar in season 1 who was set up to last so much longer only to be completely written out in the start of season 2. It’s not like romance is everything (certainly not in a crime comedy show) but since Mabel’s love life has had so much screen time it got to the point where I felt the whole show got weaker because of its half-assed portrayal of it. «Either invest properly in a love interest, make them the killer again or just go at least a season without one» is what I thought when I started the new season. 5 episodes in it seems like they’re doing the third and I’ve got to say I’m relieved.

[mfjenks]

I think it's a common thing for a man to act gayer than ever (if it's even possible in Oliver's case) a couple of days before his straight wedding. The way Oliver talks about dancing topless on the table with Ron Howard and seeing his nipples? "Old married couple" with Charles? This whole touching Olicharles drama??? How much they can't live without each other??? I love my boys. Oliver you will never not be iconic

[potterandpromises]

There are certain echos of Mabel and Theo's friendship in season 3.

The fact that she didn't hold Gregg kidnapping her and Charles against him, even pointing to Gregg's picture and saying: "[let's] get you out," (because kidnapping and attempted murder is, I assume, a misdemeanor in this universe.)

While the parallels between Ben and Zoe's deaths are not directly acknowledged (sobs about it,) she readily offers Cliff possible defenses for his actions: "Cliff, you can justify it, say it was for your mom or that it was an accident or—" This must have come easily to her because she was familiar with Theo's case; it was an accident, and he did it for his dad.

[careless-with-your-heart]

And now Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick have both been in OMITB, and they straight talked to Mel Brooks about The Producers. So fucking meta. I love this show. Cry emoji.

[buzzzchomp]

Only Murders In The Building S4 Ep6 | Confessions

Dudenoff may be dead, but he's full of secrets! Major confessions appear to be red herrings, but the Westies are liars, especially poop eye, so I'm ready for anything. Only Murders in the Building season 4. #OMITB

Dudenoff may be dead, but he’s full of secrets! Major confessions appear to be red herrings, but the Westies are liars, especially poop eye, so I’m ready for anything. Only Murders in the Building season 4.   The movie is meta, but did the Brothers sisters commit murder? All the evidence and confessions now say no, which probably means yes! How do you afford all of those apartments on a film…