To Protect and Serve

To Protect and Serve
Season	1
Episode	6
Air date	September 21, 2021
Writer	Madeleine George and Kim Rosenstock
Director	Don Scardino
Episode guide
Previous	Twist
Next	The Boy from 6B

To Protect and Serve is the sixth episode of the first season of Only Murders in the Building. It was available for streaming on Hulu on September 21, 2021.

Synopsis

Mabel brings her new friends (and an old one) to her childhood home to meet her mother. Meanwhile, Detective Williams starts to have her own doubts about the case as she prepares for motherhood.

Plot

A flashback shows Detective Williams as a child as she recounts watching a television show that helped her learn how to be alone. She was a big fan of the show. Back in the present, Detective Williams is at home with her wife who is listening to the Only Murders in the Building podcast. Her wife tells her that she is worried that her work will consume her given she is stressed and barely has any time free recently; as the two continue their discussion, Detective Williams realises that the podcast is about her case, the murder of Tim Kono.

Oliver, Charles, Mabel, and Oscar are still at Tavo's tattoo parlour. They sort through the jewellery Mabel brought from Tim's apartment when Tavo's reveals that Tim was after a specific piece from a man named Angel, but it seems as though he was unsuccessful in acquiring the piece. He further reveals that Tim had a meeting with a man named Cutter in the shop today, but as he reveals this, they are distracted when Mabel's mother enters the shop.

With the new discovery, and with the arrival of Mabel's mother, they all head to Mabel's house to eat. Mabel and the others tell her mother about the death of Tim Kono, but her mother worries for Mabel, believing that she is getting caught up in their history. She reminds Mabel about what happened in the Arconia years earlier, and forces her to tell this to the rest of the investigation team; this includes information on why Oscar spent a decade of his life in Jail.

Detective Williams returns to work and sorts through the investigation material on the death of Tim Kono. She realises that a key piece of evidence is missing and was not submitted with the other parts of the evidence for examination by the Police Department.

Mabel pulls Charles and Oliver to one side and tells them that she is worried about Mabel. At first, she was happy that Mabel decided to go to live with her aunt at the Arconia for the summer, but now, she isn't too sure. Mabel has been changed by what happened at the Arconia all those years ago and being back there — especially since the death of Tim — isn't doing her any favours. As a result of this, Mabel tells Charles and Oliver that she should probably quit the podcast and that they're on their own.

When Charles and Oliver return home, they sit and talk about the podcast. Charles tells Oliver that it wouldn't be right to continue the podcast without Mabel, so they too should stop. Continuing the podcast would cause more pain for Mabel, which is not what he wants. Oliver is distracted when he receives a text from Teddy, the sponsor of the podcast, asking him to meet straight away.

Oscar has returned to Mabel's with her, and notices an old album which is aptly named "My Hardy Boys". Inside, it contains photos of them from the past when they were children, but the two become sidetracked when Mabel receives a text message from Tavos. The text contains a photograph of Zoe's ring, but Oscar tells her that she wasn't wearing the ring the day she fell from the roof of the Arconia. Oliver quickly becomes to emotional at the thought of Zoe's death and asks Mabel to stop talking about the case.

Meanwhile, Charles and Oliver go over to Teddy's apartment. Teddy is watching the Jimmy Fallon show in which Cindy is talking about the Only Murders in the Building podcast. Teddy is excited about the publicity the show will garner for them even if Cindy is laughing about it, but this is quickly shut down when Charles tells him that they lost Mabel and don't want to continue the podcast without her. Teddy is able to convince them that they must continue the podcast, however, even without Mabel, and they eventually agree.

Back at Mabel's, her mother asks her about Oscar and the time he spent in prison. They talk about the death of Tim Kono and Mabel tells her mother that she must continue with the podcast and finish what she started; she must find out who killed her friend.

Back at the Police Station, Detective Williams is listening to the podcast whilst putting something in an envelope that is addressed to Mabel. It quickly becomes clear that Detective Williams believes that the police are either involved in, or hiding something, to do with Tim's death given the missing item that wasn't submitted along with the others.

Charles and Oliver are happy to see their downloads on the podcast increasing rapidly, but talk about shredding the check from Teddy. As they do so, they make a revelation when they notice that the name in the check is "Angel". They wonder if this could be related to the Angel Tavos told them about in connection with Kono. Mabel arrives momentarily and tells them that she wants to continue the podcast. She is sorry that she lied, and has Tim's cellphone that she is willing to share with the others. There is an issue, however, it is passcode protected.

Trivia

• The title sequence shows a shadow of an angel statue, foreshadowing that 'Angel' is a resident of The Arconia.

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