There were times when good movies and tv shows were like Diwali and Christmas, they were occasional and that made them ever so special. However, with the onslaught of Netflix, Amazon Prime, and honestly countless other OTT platforms, good shows have become a staple diet. Hence what could have been a great movie or a tv show in the past can now pass on as average or decent. Today good is not enough, you have to stand out either through the unique story or style. Today I want to share one such Tv show and especially one episode from the show that stood out with its innovative approach. The Tv show is “Only Murderers in the building” and its episode 7 – The boy from 6b
Only Murderers in the building is created by Steve Martin who also plays one of the 3 main characters in the show. It is a very refreshing take on a murder mystery in which 3 commoners who love a murder mystery and are a fan of a true-crime podcast try to solve a murder that happened in their building. It’s a unique combination of comedy and crime thriller. Both ingredients of the show – comedy and crime thriller are so well proportioned that it’s like a signature dish of a Michelin star chef.
However, one particular episode – The boy from 6b uses a very interesting way of storytelling that I have never seen.
So this episode is about a character who is deaf and is a son of a prime suspect. Now the general approach is you show the character using ASL (sign language) to communicate and continue with your storyline. But what if you want to show the episode from the deaf character’s perspective?
That’s exactly what this episode is. It shows the episode from the characters episode, so the entire episode has no dialogues… crazy right? Well, there are no dialogues in the traditional sense i.e dialogues can be seen (ASL and subtitles) but not heard.
This is especially challenging because of two things.
- Audience could get bored
- How do you create scenes where no one talks or talks only in sign language
That’s where the brilliance of this episode lies. It uses silence most naturally.. like when the deaf character is peaking through his binoculars into the amateur investigator’s window. Although the characters are speaking they are far away and you can only see lip movements and that’s where the dialogues are. There are other such scenes like breaking into an apartment where you obviously will not talk or make sound, and of course when other characters communicate with the deaf man which has to be either ASL or lip movements. Also, the background score is gently sprinkled at the right places to break the monotony of silence.
For a brief time, you join this character and experience how he experiences the world where there is no sound. It’s bizarre, uncomfortable, and amps up your empathy towards people who were are unfortunate to live like this.
Also being a comedy thriller there is a brilliant scene four minutes into the episode where the deaf man breaks the fourth wall and says
People talk way too fucking much in this city.
Only Murderers in the building is a brilliant show streaming on Disney+Hotstar and I urge you to watch it and thank me later.
