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Would make for one killer podcast…
Only Murders in The Building spoilers follow.
It was a long and complicated road but Only Murders in the Building has finally unmasked the killer of Bunny Folger… and like they say, it’s always the quiet ones you’ve got to look out for.
While Cinda Canning (Tina Fey) was on a mission to prove it was “Bloody” Mabel (Selena Gomez) behind the entire thing, turns out she should have been keeping an eye a little closer to home.
In the season two finale, using a naturally theatrical and elaborate plan, the truth was finally revealed and Cinda’s long-suffering assistant, Poppy White (Adina Verson), outed herself as the mastermind behind all of season two’s schemes.
Seducing corrupt cop Detective Kreps (Michael Rapaport), she had made it her mission to be taken seriously as a producer so she could land her own podcast.
Poppy wasn’t even really Poppy – her real name was Becky Butler, a supposed “murder victim” that was the subject of Cinda’s first major podcast hit.
So what lies ahead for Poppy now? Well… we at Digital Spy managed to land a chat with the killer herself to get into the inner workings of the series and the big reveal.
Here’s what she had to say…
I’m so excited. I’ve been holding this in for months! [laughs] My parents don’t even know so yes, I’m very excited for it to all be out in the open.
I think my dad might suspect that it’s me but I think my mom is really hoping it’s not!
They told me about a month before we started shooting season two. John Hoffman, the showrunner, told me that as soon as they finished season one, he was like, ‘I know Poppy is going to be the murderer of season two’. He didn’t know the story or anything, but he was for some reason set that it was going to be Poppy.
So I guess they kind of started writing season two, and when they attached me to be in season two, they were negotiating with my agents about contracts and didn’t want me to be credited for some of the episodes – and the agents were confused about why. So eventually, I had a meeting with John Hoffman and Jeff Rosenthal and they explained why I wasn’t going to be credited for some of the episodes.
It was thrilling. But then it wasn’t until I got to set that I realised that nobody else knew. It was only me, and so my first day on set, Selena was like, ‘are we gonna see you again?’ and I was like, ‘Umm… maybe!” I was like, I guess I’ll just play it cool!
I don’t think anybody was gonna ask me, I don’t think anybody suspected. So I was just trying to do it one episode at a time, and I was told the general idea of what was going to happen with my character, but I didn’t know the details, so that was kind of coming in episode by episode.
Were there any clues that you feel like people completely missed that made it obvious it was Poppy?
They did a pretty good job of hiding it. I think correcting the pronunciation of Chickasha (‘chick-a-shay’) is probably the biggest clue. They also purposefully had me under the posters of It’s Not OK in Oklahoma that say ‘Where’s Becky Butler?’ They purposefully had me under those quite a bit. Those are more like retrospect, like going back as opposed to like a clue in the moment.
I really kind of fell in love with Poppy! I really love her. I have a lot of empathy for her. And then Becky Butler, when they put me in that wig, I was like, ‘Oh, sweetie!’ She’s just like a little wounded creature. So I’m sad that she’s a villain. But you know, I guess it’s kind of sad that anybody turns into a villain. So maybe that’s the point.
I think what ultimately came through with it, I think that because she had been living in secrecy, it’s easy to feel like the moral code doesn’t apply to you anymore – because if people don’t know, then you don’t have the consequences. So I think because she’s been living in secrecy and because she does feel that she’s smarter than everybody around her because she’s kind of creating this reality, she just kind of went off the deep end because she wasn’t experiencing consequences and then it kind of all comes crashing down.
‘She had been living in secrecy, it’s easy to feel like the moral code doesn’t apply to you anymore’
So I understand how this sort of delusion could could come to it. I don’t personally fully understand how somebody could stab a woman eight times… But luckily, I never had to act that scene out because that would have been pretty upsetting! But I’m curious to know, just even for myself, what it’ll be like for her in prison once it’s not a secret anymore, and how does how does she cope with what she’s done?
Love that – they could start a prison podcast!
I haven’t been told anything one way or the other. I did have some conversations with John Hoffman, where I pitched some of my ideas of how Poppy could come back in season three! But that’s still as yet to be seen.
I would love to come back. I’m not gonna go into detail because he did like some of the ideas and so in case they happen I don’t want to reveal myself! But I mean, I think it would probably at least be combined to being in prison. I can say that much.
I pitched some of my ideas of how Poppy could come back in season three!
I was so excited that he was going to be a part of the world! As soon as I found out it was him, it was just like ‘duh, he’s perfect for this!’ I’m curious to see how they weave them into season three, because as we’ve seen, just because you’re dead doesn’t mean you’re off the show. I’m bummed that I’m not going to be able to be acting with him.
Only Murders in the Building is available now on Hulu in the US and Disney+ in the UK.
