‘Only Murders in the Building’: 3 Mind-Blowing Ways Season 2 Hinted at Poppy’s True Identity
The newest episode of Hulu‘s Only Murders in the Building Season 2 revealed a major twist: Poppy is not who she said she was. Her real identity came as a total surprise to many fans. However, as viewers likely know by now, Only Murders doesn’t reveal anything without dropping a few hidden clues first. Looking back on season 2, some fans have realized the truth of Poppy’s secret was there all along. Here are some of the hints.
[Spoiler alert: The following story contains spoilers for Only Murders in the Building Season 2 Episode 9, “Sparring Partners.”]
‘Only Murders in the Building’ revealed Poppy was Becky Butler
Back in season 1, Mabel (Selena Gomez), Charles (Steve Martin), and Oliver (Martin Short) bonded over Cinda Canning’s (Tina Fey) true crime podcast, All Is Not OK in Oklahoma, which inspired the trio to start their own podcast. All Is Not OK followed Cinda’s investigation of Becky Butler, a young woman who went missing in Chickasha, Oklahoma.
Fast-forward to now, when Mabel is looking into Detective Kreps (Michael Rapaport), a.k.a. Glitter Guy. Kreps denies Mabel’s accusations, but he’s not totally quiet. He goes on a rant about Mabel’s “stupid” podcast and how it can’t compare to All Is Not OK, which takes “talent” and “intelligence.”
After listening to Cinda’s podcast once more, Mabel makes the connection that Kreps met and fell for Cinda during the Becky Butler investigation. He worked as a freelance cop in small towns that needed help in these kinds of cases, including Chickasha. Cinda may have convinced Kreps to corrupt the investigation so she could be the one to solve the case.
Hoping to find answers, Mabel visits Poppy (Adina Verson), but she’s tense and nervous. She tells Mabel that she has no idea how far Cinda will go to “get what she wants.” And there’s a reason Poppy knows this: She’s Becky Butler.
For now, it’s unclear what this means. Cinda may have found Becky and forced her into hiding so that Cinda could solve her murder. On the other hand, Cinda may have faked the whole thing to get a hit podcast. Either way, Only Murders hinted at the truth about Poppy from the beginning of the season.
Poppy was the only person who could pronounce Chickasha on ‘Only Murders in the Building’
One of the running jokes on Only Murders in the Building is that no one can seem to correctly pronounce Chickasha … except Poppy. As a fan in a Reddit thread pointed out, Poppy always gets the name right and corrects Cinda when she pronounces it wrong. Until now, many people assumed it was because of Poppy’s role as a producer and assistant — it’s part of her job to get these names right. However, knowing that she’s Becky, it seems more likely that she knows how to pronounce Chickasha because she’s from there.
Cinda whistling at Poppy like a dog was more than a coincidence
Remember when Cinda whistled at Poppy to get her attention? Poppy told Mabel that it was an “inside joke” between her and Cinda. It served as a comedic moment in Only Murders in the Building Season 2, but was the moment also trying to tell us something about Poppy?
As another fan pointed out, this could have been a callback to All Is Not OK, which revealed that Becky’s uncle’s dog, Bo, found her underwear. Cinda whistling at Poppy like a dog draws a connection between her and Poppy. The writers do everything purposefully, so this doesn’t seem like a coincidence.
The answer to ‘Where is Becky Butler?’ was hidden in plain sight
The most subtle yet obvious clue about Poppy’s identity can be found in the “Where is Becky Butler?” posters on the walls of Cinda’s studio. As a fan on Twitter shared, there are lots of posters for Cinda’s podcasts, and yet Poppy always sat or stood beneath the Becky Butler posters. The answer to the question was in front of us all along.
Poppy’s confession is definitely mind-blowing, but what does it have to do with the murder of Bunny Folger (Jayne Houdyshell)? Did Cinda or Poppy kill Bunny so that Cinda could manufacture another hit podcast? Thankfully, all should be revealed in the Only Murders in the Building Season 2 finale, which arrives on Hulu on Tuesday, Aug. 23.
