Creator John Hoffman said the comedy-drama Only Murders in the Building has a number of deliberate, sometimes-hidden production choices and clues that even devoted fans may have missed, including a stationary elevator, reusable blood effects and a new Easter egg in the opening credits of every episode.
Hoffman, speaking to The Post, said the building’s elevator — a recurring set piece where the three leads often confer — “doesn’t move.” He said the prop has been used to stage dramatic and comic beats across seasons and that its apparent malfunction was used as foreshadowing in Season 3.
The elevator frequently hosts Martin Short’s Oliver, Steve Martin’s Charles and Selena Gomez’s Mabel as they discuss their podcast, mull suspects or travel to interrogate neighbors. Hoffman pointed to Season 3, when a malfunctioning elevator sequence preceded the on-screen death of Ben Glenroy, played by Paul Rudd, as an example of how the set can be used narratively.
Hoffman also described a practical approach to staging grisly scenes. “If there’s ever a pool of blood, I try to resist using it because more often than not it’s like a gelatinous kind of thing that sits on a floor so you can pick it up and you’re not ruining people’s costumes or getting things on people,” he said. He described the prop blood as a reusable, removable material that can be laid down and picked up after a take, a common practice on television sets.
Beyond set mechanics, Hoffman said the series embeds a visual clue in each episode’s opening-title sequence. “A lot of people, still to this day, don’t know that there’s a new clue in the opening credits for every episode,” he said, adding that the team has placed an Easter egg in each of the roughly 50 episodes produced so far. Hoffman said multiple hints can appear in a single sequence and that the creative team considers what small visual tease might represent or foreshadow an episode.
He offered specific examples. In Season 1, episode 4 (“The Sting”), a bee flies past Charles’s window in the opening credits. In Season 4, episode 7 (“The Valley of the Dolls”), the camera pans past apartment windows and several characters sport the two-braided hairstyle associated with Meryl Streep’s guest character, a detail that later becomes plot-relevant in the episode.
Hoffman said Season 5, which debuted on Hulu on Sept. 9, continues the pattern and contains “a biggie” — a hidden element he teased but did not fully describe. “There is one in season five,” he said. “There is a biggie in season five. And there are some people in the press that have seen the episodes and stuff, and I’ve had conversations with them, and I think only one has picked up on this surprising little thing that’s going on in season five that I hope will make people laugh and they’ll enjoy it.” Hoffman declined to reveal further details.
Season 5 opens with the building’s longtime doorman, Lester (Teddy Coluca), found dead in a fountain whose water is filled with blood, setting up the trio’s latest investigation. The show has used other blood-related plot devices in past seasons: in Season 3, Charles’s stunt double Sazz Pataki (Jane Lynch) dies in a pool of her own blood and uses it to leave a clue implicating her killer.
Hoffman emphasized the production team’s attention to small, repeatable motifs and the way physical sets and props are used to serve story beats. He described the elevator as “one of the things that I love about the show” and noted the variety of interactions staged there as residents ride to their apartments and characters gossip, fight or attempt to be inconspicuous.
Hoffman said the production deliberately crafts the title sequences each season, asking what small object or beat can both tease and represent an episode. He noted the series will continue to hide visual clues, inviting viewers to look closely at the opening credits for additional context and surprises.
Only Murders in the Building premiered in 2021 and pairs comedy with a long-form mystery format, following three neighbors who record a true-crime podcast while investigating murders in their Manhattan apartment building. The series has earned attention for its rotating guest cast, tonal mix of humor and suspense, and layered visual storytelling that includes the opening-credit Easter eggs Hoffmann highlighted.