Poppy Montgomery’s Connection to the Rose Cooper Painting Goes Back to ‘Only Murders in the Building’ Season 1

We know who killed Bunny Folger in Hulu‘s Only Murders in the Building Season 2, but the question of why remains. Why was Poppy Montgomery after Bunny Folger and what did the Rose Cooper painting have to do with all of this? Adina Verson has some thoughts. 

Poppy Montgomery, AKA Becky Butler, orchestrated Bunny’s murder for attention 

In the Only Murders in the Building finale, we learn Poppy is really Becky Butler, the subject of Cinda Canning’s (Tina Fey) podcast All Is Not OK in Oklahoma. After hand-delivering the Becky Butler story to Cinda on a silver platter, Poppy remains desperate for her praise. To gain that, she orchestrates Bunny’s murder in the hopes of securing her own podcast. 

“She ultimately wants recognition from Cinda,” Verson explained to Vulture. “Which would possibly give Poppy her own podcast. She could be Cinda’s partner instead of her underling; she would have her own place in the sun.” 

In the end, Poppy does get a bit of what she wants. However, instead of being recognized for a podcast, she’s recognized for murder. 

Adina Verson thinks Poppy started investigating Rose Cooper in ‘Only Murders in the Building’ Season 1

Like many fans, Verson is curious about Poppy’s connection to Bunny and the Rose Cooper artwork. “I do believe Poppy’s relationship with Bunny started because she was investigating Rose Cooper,” Verson explained. 

Moreover, she thinks Poppy went after the painting in the first place because she saw a connection between her Becky Butler background and the artist. “I look at it like Poppy had a kinship with this story, because Rose Cooper had been someone who disappeared — just like her,” she added. 

Verson believes Poppy had her eye on the painting since season 1. “She knew there was a painting owned by a woman who lived in the Arconia,” Verson said. “In season one, when Oliver and Mabel come to Cinda and are talking about the unique history of the building, I think Poppy takes it as a sign. [She’s] like, ‘Oh my God, these people live in the building where this painting is.'” 

That line the building manager, Ursula (Vanessa Aspillaga), delivers about a podcaster “sniffing around” and buying “a bunch of Gut Milk?” Verson believes that was Poppy.

“[She] is trying to have that entire Rose Cooper–podcast story ready to go,” Verson concluded. “I think that’s where her relationship with Bunny came from.” 

Rose Cooper’s painting is central to the story in ‘Only Murders in the Building’ Season 2

Early in season 2, Uma (Jackie Hoffman) and Howard (Michael Cyril Creighton) search Bunny’s (Jayne Houdyshell) apartment for the expensive painting. Bunny’s mother (Shirley MacLaine) also shows up at the Arconia in search of the painting. The artwork ends up in Charles’ apartment, where he reveals his father is the subject. 

Then, Charles learns his father had an affair with Rose Cooper and Leonora (who are later revealed to be the same person). Desperate to get away from a man, Rose sold the painting, later “went missing,” and was eventually proclaimed dead. 

Watch Only Murders in the Building on Hulu.