Only Murders in the Building peeled back the layers of Martin Short‘s Oliver Putnam in the sixth episode of Season 5, revealing the character’s surprising backstory in foster care.
The revelation came as Oliver joined Loretta (Meryl Streep) after her apartment went up in flames, prompting the pair to reminisce about their memories of living and growing up in Brooklyn. Oliver revealed he grew up in the foster care system, noting how his second foster family lived in Flatbush, where he stayed from ages 9 to 12.
However, Oliver said he didn’t truly feel “at home” until he found himself at the Mycyn Theatre and was cast in a play. Even though his foster parents stopped him from performing, he recalled sneaking out of the house in costume to watch the play as another kid performed his part.
“In my whole life, I’ve only really felt like myself in two places,” Oliver said in the episode, per TVLine. “Being back here today, I finally understand why I’m so afraid to leave the Arconia.”
Speaking with TVLine after the episode, series co-creator John Hoffman said that Oliver’s foster care backstory was something they had in mind for a while and were waiting for the perfect time to reveal it in the show.
“It was something we had thought about, and I just loved subverting the idea that he was always the Bon Vivant — the big mouth, the pied piper,” Hoffman told the outlet. “Knowing that, actually, that personality was born out of a very different experience growing up, was interesting to me.”
Hoffman said the details of Oliver’s childhood came from a mixture of his own history growing up in New York and Season 5’s central mystery, which revolves around the murder of Lester Coluca (Teddy Coluca), the beloved doorman at the Arconia.
“I was born in Brooklyn — and knowing that Lester and his wife Lorraine were living in Flatbush, and knowing Flatbush pretty well, I was imagining some symmetry that could be discovered between Oliver and Lester,” Hoffman stated.
The foster care background came from a desire “to know what kind of time Oliver spent in Flatbush” and to find a backstory for the larger-than-life character that “would be a surprise to most.”
Hoffman spoke with TV Insider last month about the future of Only Murders and whether the show can keep going with murder after murder each season.
“I hope so,” he said. “From the moment we started making the show, of course, there’s the stretch of credulity, how long can this thing go on? But it’s been very sweet because I have recognized just when you think, ‘Well, I don’t know how to make it fresh anymore,’ some new thought or some new idea in the room comes up or from one of our producers in the world or something I’ve been thinking on, and it feels like great opportunities to tell stories that feel relevant still.”
Only Murders in the Building, Tuesdays, Hulu