S01.E07: The Boy from 6B

[AnimeMania]

With the investigation scratching at a web of old crimes originating inside the building, a mysterious young man turns the tables to spy on Charles, Oliver & Mabel.

Available September 28, 2021

[CraftyHazel]

Holy. Crap.

For all the episodes where little to nothing happened, this one more than made up for it…and with barely an audible spoken word.  I thought this was great!

[grandmabegum]

17 minutes ago, CraftyHazel said:

Holy. Crap.

For all the episodes where little to nothing happened, this one more than made up for it…and with barely an audible spoken word.  I thought this was great!

Yep. I can't remember what make up line it was, but this episode "made a statement without saying a word."

[bybrandy]

How did they know the password to Tim Kono's phone?  

 

[grandmabegum]

They didn't know for certain. But, it was worth a try. It was my actual guess. Still sad it wasn't Evelyn.

Mabel is kicking  herself for not packing her knitting needle.

[sjankis630]

This escalated quickly.

I am not sure why Tim Kono would lock his phone with that password. Was it done by someone else?

I am a sucker for older humor but Martin Short had me going this episode.

I loved the going to Sardis for lunch line and then of course Nathan Lane was going to pay! I also liked the falling off the chair bit at the funeral home. Can you really fence that much jewelry off of dead people? I guess deli slices and  hummus don't bring in the bacon.

I loved the 78 missed texts and 11 missed phone calls. Whenever something like that happens to me I always get upset because whatever the emergency at that point I have already missed the good parts.

[Irlandesa]

So it feels like the girl falling off the building was more of an accident than murder.  She was pushing him and he may have pushed back but it didn't look like it was a forceful push. 

But having Oscar take the fall (I wonder if they paid him) was when it really went into the point of no return. 

I loved erotic scrabble--and the fact that it looked like the two of them didn't get erotic at all. 

Oliver and Mable made for a fun team in this episode.  I wonder if Martin Short still does those pratfalls on his own or if he gets a stunt double to them. 

The building has a funeral parlor?  I must have missed that. 

There are three episodes to go.  The episodes aren't long but I wonder if we're going to get a twist.  Teddy and his son are guilty of covering up the other girl's murder and stealing from the dead but maybe not for Tim Kono's demise.

[grandmabegum]

15 minutes ago, Irlandesa said:

So it feels like the girl falling off the building was more of an accident than murder.  She was pushing him and he may have pushed back but it didn't look like it was a forceful push. 

It was an accident. He didn't push back. He grabbed her to stop her from pushing him and she said, "Get off of me!" so he let go of her and she fell.

17 minutes ago, Irlandesa said:

But having Oscar take the fall (I wonder if they paid him) was when it really went into the point of no return. 

I don't know if Oscar took the fall or if Tim told the cops it was him. Clearly Theo didn't like Oscar cause of the way he treated Zoe and perhaps this is a weird revenge? I don't like the word revenge.

18 minutes ago, Irlandesa said:

The building has a funeral parlor?  I must have missed that. 

It doesn't. The name of the funeral parlour was on the bottom of the urn and Oliver is holding directions to get there when he gets on the elevator.

[AnimeMania]

The stuff with Theo and Zoe went the way that I thought it would. I had no idea how awful the Deli King was. I knew the Hardy Boys breaking into peoples apartment and stealing things, then someone trying to get the ring back would be part of what caused Zoe's death. Seemed more like an accident. Where is the Deli King's wife.

2 minutes ago, Irlandesa said:

The building has a funeral parlor?  I must have missed that. 

That wasn't in the building, that was the funeral parlor that was on the bottom of the urns in the Deli King's apartment. Theo removes the jewelry from the dead people before they are buried and sells it on the Black Market. I am sure the Deli King was stealing jewelry with the funeral parlor for years before the Deli King got Theo his job there.

I would love it if The Hardy Boys breaking into people's apartments was the reason that Charles and Oliver's relationships broke up and they both figure out that Mabel was responsible for that.

Just now, grandmabegum said:

I don't know if Oscar took the fall or if Tim told the cops it was him.

I think Tim didn't say a word, the way the Deli King told him to. The Deli King and Theo might have said that Oscar was the last person with Zoe that night.

[grandmabegum]

3 minutes ago, AnimeMania said:

I think Tim didn't say a word, the way the Deli King told him to. The Deli King and Theo might have said that Oscar was the last person with Zoe that night.

Gotcha. This episode was jam packed and I am a terribly slow reader so I must have missed it.

[Kiddvideo]

That was fun, and we’d put most of it together based on the clues we’d been given. Not knowing Theo worked at the funeral parlor meant we couldn’t guess grave robbing, and I’m not going to pull too hard on the loose threads — I’m liking the show too much.

Edited September 28, 2021 by Kiddvideo

[thuganomics85]

Interesting concept with how the episode mainly followed Theo and all of the sound was muffled to highlight him being deaf.  Reminded me a lot of that film, Sound of Metal.  And even the scenes without him found ways to keep things silent (like the gang sneaking around), so there wasn't really any words spoken out loud until the very end.  I dug it and thought it was an unique way to film it.

That said, it wasn't all just for show and we get another big reveal: at least when it comes to Zoe's death.  So, after her fight with Oscar, she had also got into a fight with Theo as well, but this time it ended with her falling off the building to her death.  But it seems like it was an accident and Theo didn't intend to actually kill her.  Seems like they didn't realize just how precarious they were being right next to the ledge and then all it took was one moment for it to all to go south.  Never the less, it definitely looks like he feels some guilt over it.  Also, Tim Kono did witness it, but the reason he kept silent was because Teddy basically threaten to do something to Mabel if he talked, and I guess he believed the threat enough to comply (to be fair, those showbiz bigwigs can be ruthless!)  Man, I can only imagine how Mabel will react if she finds out: especially that Tim was trying to protect her this entire time.

But while we might have gotten that revelation out of the way, I'm suspect that Tim's death isn't going to be due to either Teddy or Theo.  I wouldn't be surprised if there is still a connection there, but with three episodes still remaining, I'm guessing his murder is still up in the air.

While I do feel like the bond between Charles and Mabel is the heart of the show in some ways and Charles and Oliver are certainly a delight as always thanks to Steve Martin and Martin Short's chemistry and friendship, I do like getting more Oliver and Mabel scenes together.  Short and Selena Gomez seem to have established their own kind of rapport that I'm really digging.

Erotic Scrabble is just an older version of sexting, right?!

Only thing I'm confused about is how was Theo able to apparently capture both Oliver and Mabel?  Did they not try to fight back or did he have a weapon of some kind?  I guess he had a physical advantage, but I would have thought being two vs. one would have been in their favor.  I guess it's also possible others are involved in this grave robbing scheme and showed up to assist Theo off-screen.

[AllyB]

When did Oliver get to text 78 messages to Charles? And why would Tim's password be Theo? Do people really use significant words and dates as their passwords in real life or is that just a tv thing? I've always only used random words and numbers and even then I'll spell the words phonetically with some 1337 mixed through it. I'm aware that nothing is ever completely secure but nobody would ever be able to crack my password just by guessing. But for 30 years now, I've been watching tv characters guess people's passwords as they just use the usual spelling of a significant word or a significant date.

[grandmabegum]

18 minutes ago, thuganomics85 said:

Erotic Scrabble is just an older version of sexting, right?!

Haha. Aloha, Jan!

[AnimeMania]

29 minutes ago, AllyB said:

When did Oliver get to text 78 messages to Charles? And why would Tim's password be Theo? Do people really use significant words and dates as their passwords in real life or is that just a tv thing?

They were probably in a group text, so anything Mabel and Oliver texted to each other also went to Charles. They were probably together for hours, since they probably used public transportation or Ubers.

I was thinking that might be an evidence phone that Tim Kono had, if something happens to me send this phone to the police. It might have tons of incriminating evidence on it because Tim Kono has probably been investigating Theo and the Deli King ever since Zoe's death. Tim Kono needed leverage against Theo and the Deli King, if Tim Kono wants to keep Mabel safe and expose Deli King & Deli King Jr.'s crimes.

[shapeshifter]

6 hours ago, thuganomics85 said:

Interesting concept with how the episode mainly followed Theo and all of the sound was muffled to highlight him being deaf.  …And even the scenes without him found ways to keep things silent (like the gang sneaking around), so there wasn't really any words spoken out loud until the very end.  I dug it and thought it was an unique way to film it.…

Yes, but there were several moments in the scenes without Theo that strained the conceit of having an entire episode without spoken words, and broke into my suspension of disbelief necessary to, well, believe that, for example, Martin Short [wordlessly] and Selena Gomez were sleuthing around.  I wonder if it would have been better to have a few short spoken lines to contrast with the silence and subtitles.
However, speaking of subtitles, I always watch with closed captioning nowadays, which will annoyingly cover any added subtitles of a bit of foreign language, and that was not a problem in this episode, because there was no captioning during the ASL subtitles. 
 

7 hours ago, grandmabegum said:

Mabel is kicking  herself for not packing her knitting needle.

Perhaps Mabel’s Chekhovian knitting needle is up her sleeve yet?

 

7 hours ago, sjankis630 said:

I am not sure why Tim Kono would lock his phone with that password

—because for ten years it is the one name he’s been wanting to say to get Oscar out, but which he didn’t to protect Mabel.

Interesting that Mabel, Oscar, Tim, and Theo are all of designated minority groups, and assuming Zoe was mentally ill, she would be too.

 

6 hours ago, thuganomics85 said:

Only thing I'm confused about is how was Theo able to apparently capture both Oliver and Mabel?  Did they not try to fight back or did he have a weapon of some kind?

Yes. Well. Perhaps there’s still an actual Chekhovian gun out there that shot Tim Kono? Didn’t the ballistic tests never happen? Or Teddy "took care of" it?
Also, back at the police station: Maybe someone who works with the Medical Examiner gets kickbacks for letting Teddy rob the corpses, and they got a bigger bonus for disrupting the processing of the evidence from Tim Kono’s murder? 
And, about Tim’s killer: Oscar or Teddy or Theo?

AND: Gold fillings from teeth? Does this corpse robbery enterprise have a 1930s-40s Nazi origin?

Early in the episode I was hoping the secret doors and passages would have an Underground Railroad reveal. But no. Maybe originally to stash Nazi loot?

Edited September 28, 2021 by shapeshifter

[JakeyJokes]

Teddy is obviously the villain, but his scenes with Theo were still moving, especially when Theo came home sobbing right after Zoey died.

Amy Ryan and Steve Martin were great in the Scrabble scene.

[sjankis630]

Wow I just realized that Steve Martin will have to crack this case just like his alter ego Brazzos!

Maybe Bassoon lady helps out?

Edited September 28, 2021 by sjankis630

[AnimeMania]

Quote

And, about Tim’s killer: Oscar or Teddy or Theo?

AND: Gold fillings from teeth? Does this corpse robbery enterprise have a 1930s-40s Nazi origin?

Early in the episode I was hoping the secret doors and passages would have an Underground Railroad reveal. But no. Maybe originally to stash Nazi loot?

I am going to start recusing myself from making too much speculation since I have seen some pretty clear images from the original trailer (a lot of which still hasn't happened yet). But I will guess, that none of the above is Tim Kono's killer.

If the funeral parlor gets the corpse of one dead Rapper, they will have enough Gold teeth to set them up for life!

I was hoping the building would have passages for electric, plumbing, etc. that only janitors would have access to and the Hardy Boys would be using those to move undetected through the building and to spy on the residents. Theo seems to be able to effectively spy on people as well by reading the lips of people through the windows of the different apartments. Theo can also communicate silently with Zoe from long distances. It would have been great if Theo would have mentioned those abilities to the rest of The Hardy Boys when he applied for membership.

Edited September 28, 2021 by AnimeMania

[sjankis630]

I am going to be a little obtuse here but what are the odds that there are hidden panels at both the apartment and the funeral parlor?

I am guessing Teddy got a 2 for one special on hidden passages back in the day.

 

[AnimeMania]

Just now, sjankis630 said:

I am going to be a little obtuse here but what are the odds that there are hidden panels at both the apartment and the funeral parlor?

I am guessing Teddy got a 2 for one special on hidden passages back in the day.

 

I wouldn't be surprised if the Deli King owns the funeral parlor and designed both systems. I am still not sure how Mabel knew about and knew how to operate the secret doors. Zoe seemed to know there was a secret room there, but would not know how to get in.

[Irlandesa]

4 hours ago, shapeshifter said:

Yes, but there were several moments in the scenes without Theo that strained the conceit of having an entire episode without spoken words

I think there were a few with him that seemed off.  I don't read lips but I thought lip reading required seeing the words pretty straight on.  Yet, in many of the discussions Theo was eavesdropping on via lip reading, the people talking were seen from the side or even, at times, from the back.

[Abra]

Whoa, what an episode. I can't say I was expecting a reveal like that with 3 episodes to go, but that also makes me think there are more reveals to come. Very excited for next week!

50 minutes ago, AnimeMania said:

I am still not sure how Mabel knew about and knew how to operate the secret doors.

The reading of lots of Hardy Boys novels would be my guess.

[bybrandy]

1 hour ago, Irlandesa said:

I think there were a few with him that seemed off.  I don't read lips but I thought lip reading required seeing the words pretty straight on.  Yet, in many of the discussions Theo was eavesdropping on via lip reading, the people talking were seen from the side or even, at times, from the back.

Yes, Theo's lip reading had some real magical realism things going on there.  Lip reading is hard even for people who get by with lip reading and reading lips from the side through a peep hole where line of sight is impacted?  It was ridiculous.  I loved the concept of the episode but there was a fair bit of eye rolling on the lip reading front from me.

[Snapdragon]

10 hours ago, sjankis630 said:

Can you really fence that much jewelry off of dead people? I guess deli slices and  hummus don't bring in the bacon.

 

My guess would be no.  I'd assume plenty of people are buried with their wedding rings and maybe a watch but all of your expensive pieces of jewelry (engagement rings, etc) are usually passed down.

I'm not sure why Teddy felt the need to go with the elaborate cover up over Zoe's death.  It was clearly an accident so if they had immediately gone to the police and said what happened, odds are everything would have been fine.  I don't even know how Oscar would have been convicted for her death.  There was zero evidence of foul play and no witnesses (since Tim wasn't speaking) so I can't see anyone thinking it was more than just an accident.  

[LADreamr]

Wow.  That was fantastic.  Some great dialogue, too. 

"That boy isn't good for you."

"I didn't know boys were supposed to be good for you."

And

"You're confused about which direction the pity flows."

Mean, but a great line.

[shapeshifter]

9 minutes ago, Snapdragon said:

I'm not sure why Teddy felt the need to go with the elaborate cover up over Zoe's death.  It was clearly an accident so if they had immediately gone to the police and said what happened, odds are everything would have been fine.  I don't even know how Oscar would have been convicted for her death.  There was zero evidence of foul play and no witnesses (since Tim wasn't speaking) so I can't see anyone thinking it was more than just an accident.  

When Teddy was interrogating Theo after Zoe's fall, I got the sense that Teddy presumed Theo had killed Zoe, and then Teddy barged ahead to "fix it" as it was revealed in another scene between Teddy and Theo, that Teddy considered it was his role in their relationship to "fix" Theo and anything that Theo did.
We saw Teddy cruelly try to make Theo hear the music in the headphones; then Teddy was filled with remorse; but the pattern continued.
Teddy knew ASL, but I don't think we ever saw him "listen" to Theo.
So I assume Teddy decided to say he saw Oscar push Zoe.

[Turtle Wexler]

3 hours ago, Irlandesa said:

I think there were a few with him that seemed off.  I don't read lips but I thought lip reading required seeing the words pretty straight on.  Yet, in many of the discussions Theo was eavesdropping on via lip reading, the people talking were seen from the side or even, at times, from the back.

 

2 hours ago, bybrandy said:

Yes, Theo's lip reading had some real magical realism things going on there.  Lip reading is hard even for people who get by with lip reading and reading lips from the side through a peep hole where line of sight is impacted?  It was ridiculous.  I loved the concept of the episode but there was a fair bit of eye rolling on the lip reading front from me.

Just finished watching, and I came to say this; only about 30% of spoken English is lip-readable, so it annoyed me when I realized that the text was supposed to be showing what Teddy was understanding (vs. for us, the audience, so we wouldn't be completely confused). I just wish they'd actually stuck with the conceit through the entire episode. We could have been shown text messages or things could have been cleared up for us in the next one.

[bosawks]

With how much NYC theatre folk are in this does anyone else know if the portrait in the funeral home was Lois Smith?

[tennisgurl]

The one time Mabel forgets to pack her knitting needles...

That was a great episode, it had a really interesting concept of not using sound to convey Theo's point of view, even keeping scenes without him sans dialogue, while also giving us a TON of revelations, the biggest being we finally know who killed Zoey. I was right about the jewelry she was stealing being a part of her death, but I missed out on most of the details. Her death was definitely an accident, she just seemed to trip over the side when Theo let her go after she pushed him a few times, but Teddy setting up Oscar and threatening to hurt Mabel to get Tim to not tell anyone what he saw was very much not. My guess is Tim has been trying to bring down Teddy and Theo's operation, stealing jewelry from dead bodies and selling them on the black market, so that he can finally clear Oscar's name without endangering Mabel. I cant wait to see Mabel's reaction when she realizes that the reason Tim stayed silent so long was to protect her. Still, despite all of this, I could see them pulling out a last minute twist where Teddy and Theo had nothing to do with Tim's death and he was killed for some other reason. I wonder if it will turn out that the murder in the park mentioned in the first episode will end up being tied into it? The name Cinda Canning called her podcast about them was Only Murderers in the Building, so there could be multiple murderers all in the same building. We have Theo, who accidently killed Zoey, Teddy, who covered it up and let Oscar take the fall, and possibly whatever person killed Tim if it wasn't them. 

Oliver and Mabel were really fun together, mostly engaging in a lot of slapstick as they creeped around looking for clues, and it was nice to have them together for the episode as they are the least used partnering of the three characters so far. Martin Short really nails the wacky physical comedy. 

Sexy scrabble, sexting for seniors!

[Sakura12]

Wow, a lot happend in this episode. And all without spoken words. 

We find out that Mabel's friends death was an accident. And Deli King "fixed it" by threating Tim to keep quiet to protect Mabel. She's going to feel awful if she finds that out. He probably pushed her away to protect her too. And from what it looks like she was his only friend. 

I too wonder how Theo was able to overpower both Oliver and Mabel. The only thing would be is if he had a gun or something. This reminds me of the Black Mirror episode where the woman kept committing more and more crimes to keep her original crime hidden. 

If this was a real podcast they'd have quite the story to tell. Providing they don't get murdered. 

Didn't think I'd ever see erotic scrabble. Lol. I guess it's a good thing one of the trio is free to help the others. 

[shapeshifter]

17 minutes ago, tennisgurl said:

I wonder if it will turn out that the murder in the park mentioned in the first episode will end up being tied into it?

I totally forgot about that and missed it in my re-watch, so thanks! Writers like these do not waste a single word.

[bosawks]

I felt terrible for Theo.

Accidentally causing the death of your friend/girlfriend and then having your father (deliberately?) misinterpret your responsibility so you’re never able to accept what happened and move on, yeesh.

I don’t want him to be one of the “bad guys”!

 

[bybrandy]

I wonder if Theo actually ever told the whole story of what happened.  He was young still and I can see him agreeing he was responsible but if he's never told the story of how she died to anybody does he even realize it was just a horrible accident and he isn't guilty of anything?  Well, you know, aside from the cover up and the graverobbing and the kidnapping of Oliver and Mabel.   

So yeah I guess he's guilty of some things.

But he totally didn't kill anybody.

And honestly with 3 episodes left I think they didn't kill Tim Kono.

[callie lee 29]

I lived the episode but there were some scenes that stained credulity: the side wise lip reading, the perfect lip reading, Oliver actually being quiet that long...

They didn't get much sympathy from me. Yeah he's better than his dad but that's not really a bar to be proud of. Once he gave up Mabel's name and then let Ann innocent guy go to jail for him... Nope. 

I don't have anything against Amy Ryan but what's the point of the bassoon lady?

[tvfanatic13]

Theo really looks like he could be NL’s son. Good casting. 

[sjankis630]

1 hour ago, callie lee 29 said:

I don't have anything against Amy Ryan but what's the point of the bassoon lady?

I am thinking if she is not the murderer that she can assist Steve Martin in getting his friends freed.

Maybe she comes around next season.

[shapeshifter]

1 hour ago, callie lee 29 said:

I don't have anything against Amy Ryan but what's the point of the bassoon lady?

Well, aside from giving Steve Martin's character someone to play Scrabble: The Sexting Version with, if he had not been on a date with the bassoon lady, likely all three of the Scooby gang would be kidnapped right now with none to save them. 
Hey, Brazzo. Time to make a comeback.

[dovegrey]

I enjoyed this episode, with the same reservations expressed by others here. I’ve rewatched this series more times than I’ll admit to, and I had just finally noticed that Theo seemed to be understanding what Teddy and Oliver were talking about when Oliver was begging for funding. The lipreading, while a bit fantastical, was at least possibly foreshadowed! Plus, I really like that the show recognized how invisibly Theo is treated and perceived, ostensibly because he’s deaf, despite being one of the more astute, observant, and clever characters (no excuses for him being a dirtbag).

I’m a little underwhelmed, though. I think this episode “sold” Teddy being a bad guy, but I was expecting the Angel thing to be a Sting-like red herring, rather than a hard pivot in the season. I didn't care enough about Teddy and Theo to want either of them to be involved, but, again, I think the episode did a nice job of making me care. I suppose I also expected Zoey’s death to be more than her being a teenage wreck who essentially pushed herself off the roof. All that being said, it plays as realistic, and I appreciate that more than some ridiculous twist for the sake of a twist.

So, who killed Tim Kono? Did Tim get too close to Teddy and Theo, or is there another player? I do think that whoever poisoned Winnie (Oliver’s dog) killed Tim (because of Evelyn the Cat dying after wandering the crime scene), but I’m not so sure it was Theo/Teddy, although that would make sense...but it would also turn the show from a whodunnit mystery into more of a manhunt for the rest of the season. Maybe it was the creepy bassoonist? There has to be more to her (and I really, really, really dislike her; her expectation that Charles should reveal an emotionally painful story in response to hers out of some transactional debt was Effed. Up.).

I love the set designs…and Charles’ apartment, decor, and bedding. #lifegoals

I wish they had released a real podcast for the show. I’d listen to it!

[callie lee 29]

That green kitchen and Oliver's wood paneled sitting room are my true obsession. 

[shapeshifter]

5 minutes ago, dovegrey said:

I wish they had released a real podcast for the show. I’d listen to it!

Now that you mention it, @dovegrey, not having an accompanying podcast for the show was a totally missed opportunity. 
I can appreciate that Steve Martin and Martin Short might not have been overly concerned with marketing, but in these times of social disconnect, it could have been a nice connector.

[cardigirl]

What an episode! I'm so sad that Teddie and Theo are the bad guys, or more specifically, Teddie.  But at least my theory of Tim lying to protect Mabel held up. Poor Tim. All those years being hated for protecting someone he loved. Wouldn't it be something if he let Oscar in on it and Oscar didn't fight it, to also protect Mabel?

I don't know who killed Tim, but I'm hoping the next three episodes are as satisfying as this one was. 

[DrSpaceman73]

Probably the best episode so far.  And conceptually a great idea.  

Though I'm still not clear on how teddy gets blamed for the death. Or at least I guess convicted if their was a trial.  Maybe he took a plea deal?  Any evidence would seem circumstantial and guilt by association. 

Also Bojack horseman did an episode like this with no sound.  

 

[bybrandy]

2 hours ago, callie lee 29 said:

I lived the episode but there were some scenes that stained credulity: the side wise lip reading, the perfect lip reading, Oliver actually being quiet that long...

I laughed so hard I snorted.  

2 hours ago, callie lee 29 said:

I don't have anything against Amy Ryan but what's the point of the bassoon lady?

1) to introduce bassoon theme puns onto the show.
2) To prove Charles isn't hallucinating when he hears bassoon music coming from the building, as opposed to when looney tunes hang out in his apartment
3) Because Charles playing dirty scrabble as a game of solitaire would be really, really sad.  (We totally played dirty scrabble in college.  That is how massive nerds roll with new found freedom, or at least this massive nerd)
4) To have a plausible excuse for Charles missing 78 texts and 11 phone calls.
5) To provide a whimsical bassoon themed distraction that allows Charles to rescue Mabel and Olivia.
6) To provide a free but bassoon heavy score for the podcast
7) There is no reason number 7
8) Because she sits at her window a couple of floors down and plays the bassoon so she might have witnessed something that will lead them to the murderer...
9)...or have inspired her to murder.  

[dovegrey]

21 minutes ago, DrSpaceman73 said:

Though I'm still not clear on how teddy gets blamed for the death. Or at least I guess convicted if their was a trial.  Maybe he took a plea deal?  Any evidence would seem circumstantial and guilt by association.

How Oscar got blamed for the death?

Oscar and Zoey were heard and/or seen arguing shortly before Zoey died, and he was the last reported person to be seen with her before she died. Zoey also implied to Theo that she and Oscar had more than one argument like the one that night, so there's a history of volatility between them. Of Oscar's tight friend group, Zoey was dead, Tim wasn't talking to anyone, and Mabel appeared very drunk that night; he had no one to speak up for him and likely only one "character" witness (Mabel). Beyond all that, Zoey was a wealthy white girl whose family owned the entire 11th floor, while Oscar is a Mexican boy who came from "the help," as Zoey herself put it. Wrap all of that into one situation, and Oscar being charged with and convicted of murder beyond a reasonable doubt doesn't seem unrealistic to me, given that most evidence in real trials is circumstantial rather than direct. (Direct evidence is really hard to get.) I could also see a plea deal.

It seems more unrealistic that Oscar's dad kept his job as the building super. And that so many people seem to have forgotten about Zoey's death and the super's kid going to prison for it. I know it's a big building, but that's pretty yikes.

Edited September 29, 2021 by dovegrey
clarification

[DrSpaceman73]

10 minutes ago, dovegrey said:

How Oscar got blamed for the death?

Oscar and Zoey were heard and/or seen arguing shortly before Zoey died, and he was the last reported person to be seen with her before she died. Zoey also implied to Theo that she and Oscar had more than one argument like the one that night, so there's a history of volatility between them. Of Oscar's tight friend group, Zoey was dead, Tim wasn't talking to anyone, and Mabel appeared very drunk that night; he had no one to speak up for him and likely only one "character" witness (Mabel). Beyond all that, Zoey was a wealthy white girl whose family owned the entire 11th floor, while Oscar is a Mexican boy who came from "the help," as Zoey herself put it. Wrap all of that into one situation, and Oscar being charged with and convicted of murder beyond a reasonable doubt doesn't seem unrealistic to me, given that most evidence in real trials is circumstantial rather than direct. (Direct evidence is really hard to get.) I could also see a plea deal.

It seems more unrealistic that Oscar's dad kept his job as the building super. And that so many people seem to have forgotten about Zoey's death and the super's kid going to prison for it. I know it's a big building, but that's pretty yikes.

Yes I meant Oscar.  

But still seems like he probably took a plea deal to me.  Yes it's race and class but it's very little to go on to prove anything.  The fact they fought often would seem to back his innocence more than his guilt.  Did he ever hurt her before during a fight?  History of abuse? Nothing seems to indicate that. Seems more like she was the violent or abusive one if anything.  She was likely drunk or drinking too.  Could easily have just fallen.  He wasnt up  there when she fell so did anyone else see him at the time of her death wherever he was?  And it's a party, plenty of other people around.  Not like it was just the two of them around. 

[MerBearStare]

I agree, @DrSpaceman73, I think it was a plea deal. Good criminal lawyers are expensive, so I imagine he either had a shitty lawyer or an overworked public defender. A good lawyer could have gotten him off because there's literally no proof he murdered her, or even that she was murdered at all, but his own either shitty or overworked lawyer likely advised him that he could either do 10 years and be done with it or risk getting 25 to life. And Oscar seems smart, so knowing that his lawyer is either shitty or overworked, he decided not to take his chances, especially since the victim is a young, rich white girl and he is a working class Latinx guy.

[bybrandy]

Maybe there was a little agreement that if all of this was handled quickly and quietly and Zoe's parents were saved from having to go through a lengthy court battle (and if their daughter had mental illness they might have been very eager not to have that exposed through a lengthy court process) then Oscar's dad got to keep his job.  Just a little hush, hush, everybody agrees it was a horrible accident and justice is served and everybody can go back to not thinking about anybody else in the building.   

People keep talking about Oscar having the keys to the building but they didn't get caught doing the snooping/stealing thing.  Zoe fell off a roof.  I doubt anybody ever had to know about the apartment keys.

[MisterGlass]

I did not expect so much so suddenly, and I certainly didn't expect Teddy to prove out the ruthlessness implied by his speech last episode.  The funeral parlor dealings are amoral and gross, but they aren't murder or dog poisoning, so I agree that Tim Kono probably met his fate at other hands.

I was in complete sympathy with Theo right up until he spelled Mabel's name.  He was scared, but that was a choice.  As far as him overpowering the two of the them, I assume there were weapons to hand in a funeral home.  He could have directed one of them to tie up the other to start with.

Zoe is turning out to be exactly the character I thought she was, between her "might as well be dating the help" to Oscar and her contemptuous "the way the pity flows" to Theo.

The episode conceit was interesting and probably done as well as a TV episode could manage it.  In addition to the too-good lip reading, I was reminded of a couple comments by a deaf acquaintance.  He said if you are going to do subtitles over sign language, you should commit to them all the way through, even once there is speaking.  And, half the time the sign language wasn't visible.  Whether the sign language was any good I don't know.

[shapeshifter]

1 hour ago, cardigirl said:

Poor Tim. All those years being hated for protecting someone he loved. Wouldn't it be something if he let Oscar in on it and Oscar didn't fight it, to also protect Mabel?

Yes, I agree that Oscar may also have taken a bad plea deal to protect Mabel from whatever Teddy threatened. This would explain why Oscar was thinking about Mabel while he was in prison and looking forward to seeing her.
Oscar kind of put Mabel on the proverbial pedestal, which fits with this show is not overly realistic, as was noted above vis a vis the sideways lip reading. 

Although--about the fantastical lip reading--maybe when I re-watch it will just seem like a cubist painting style of directing and filming--ignoring actual lines of sight to give the TV viewer a better view of the the relationships. To lip read, the 2 people must face each other. But Theo is almost completely isolated from most people.

 

5 minutes ago, bybrandy said:

Maybe there was a little agreement that if all of this was handled quickly and quietly and Zoe's parents were saved from having to go through a lengthy court battle (and if their daughter had mental illness they might have been very eager not to have that exposed through a lengthy court process) then Oscar's dad got to keep his job.  Just a little hush, hush, everybody agrees it was a horrible accident and justice is served and everybody can go back to not thinking about anybody else in the building   

Yes, I can imagine this. Probably Oscar's father initially said no, but Oscar went along with it--for Mabel.