Only Murders in the Building: Who Poisoned Winnie? 6th Avenue Slasher?

You’ve just finished Season 2 of Hulu’s Only Murders in the Building but find yourself with more questions than answers. That’s where TVLine comes in!

Though the Aug. 23 finale revealed both the identity of Bunny’s killer and our next murder victim (Paul Rudd!), several mysteries were left unsolved — including, but not limited to: the reason for Charles’ dad’s arrest and the identity of a certain early-aughts serial killer.

What’s more, the series has yet to reveal who poisoned Oliver’s canine companion Winnie, letting viewers reach their own conclusions about whether it was Jan, Sting or someone else entirely.

Below, series co-creator John Hoffman attempts to answer some of those lingering questions…

Who poisoned Winnie?

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In Season 1, Episode 3, Oliver returned to his apartment to find that his beloved bulldog had ingested a toxic substance. Winnie survived, but the attempted dog murderer was never exposed. According to Hoffman, that was by design:

“We like our loose ends,” the EP says with a wink. “I don’t mind carrying loose ends from Season 1 to Season 2, from Season 2 to Season 3.” But rest assured, “there is a long game plan involving some of these clues.”
Why was Charles' dad arrested?

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In Season 2, Episode 2, a handcuffed Savage Sr. was dragged out of Rose Cooper’s building in handcuffs — but why?

When Rose confronted Charles in Season 2, Episode 9, she told him that his father was her one true love. “He tried to keep me safe from a rage-filled husband,” she explained. So, are we to infer it was Savage Sr.’s efforts to protect his mistress that landed him in the back of that cop car? That he got into it with Rose’s husband, hence the bloodied t-shirt?

“Yes,” Hoffman confirms. “That is absolutely right.”
Why did Alice hide the Son of Sam card?

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When it was revealed at the end of Season 2, Episode 5 that Alice did, in fact, possess the Son of Sam card, the Internet was convinced that Mabel’s love interest was Bunny’s killer. But then in Episode 6, we learned that Alice got close to Mabel not because she was the murderer, but because she wanted to learn more about the notorious “Bloody Mabel,” the subject of her latest art installation.

So, why’d she fib about the Son of Sam card? Was it just a red herring, or was there more to it than that?

“[Lying about] the Son of Sam card is perfectly analogous to Alice’s character in that she is hiding something about what she is doing with Mabel,” Hoffman points out — and as we discovered when she was revealed not as an Oxford grad, but as a plumber’s daughter, Alice lying about her character is, well, in character. “It’s not quite a red herring,” the EP argues, “but a moment that’s, like, ‘Hey, she’s lying about something.'”
Why did Jonathan sneeze?

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Unlike Alice and the Son of Sam card, having Howard’s love interest sneeze in Season 2, Episode 8 was meant to throw viewers off the scent of the real killer.

“I knew that people would be thinking, ‘Wait a minute! Is this character we just introduced in Episode 8 potentially the killer?’ And I enjoyed people getting annoyed at that,” Hoffman admits. “I would be annoyed, too, but we were looking for this beat — a moment between Jonathan and Howard to sort of separate them and go, ‘Oh no,’ and I also wanted to remind people of [the killer’s] sneeze [from Episode 4] in that moment, before we got to the finale. That was the goal there.”
Is Marv the 6th Avenue Slasher?

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The mold removal specialist spoke of the 6th Avenue Slasher in Season 2, Episode 8, revealing that the early-aughts serial killer was still at large. Once the Arconiac was ruled out as Bunny’s murderer, fans began speculating: Could Marv in fact be the elusive Slasher?

“I think I would hold on Marv as the 6th Avenue Slasher,” Hoffman says, addressing the popular Internet theory. “He’s obviously a fan of these unsolved mysteries, and I think he sees himself as a potential heroic figure. That’s what he was doing in the building [in Episode 8, trying to protect Lucy]. I tend to think he is just a sweeter guy who is deeply confused.”

Have any more lingering questions about Only Murders in the Building Season 2? Drop ’em in a comment below.