I’ve just started Only Murders in the Building (a brilliant series by the way) and one episode in particular stopped me in my tracks, ‘The Boy From 6B’. Coming so early in my watch, it felt bold and surprising, and it’s stayed with me more than most television I’ve seen recently.
This episode places a character called Theo at the centre of the story and unfolds almost entirely without spoken dialogue. Instead, the audience is drawn into his world through American Sign Language (ASL), subtitles, and a carefully designed soundscape that muffles and distorts what little sound there is.
As a viewer, I found the episode deeply engaging. It forced me to watch intently, to stay with the screen and pay close attention to every subtitle, facial expression and gesture.
There was no chance of half-watching while scrolling on my phone, reading a book or barely paying attention (as many of us do now while watching TV). The format demanded presence, and in return, it rewarded me with a story told in a more intimate way than usual.
Far from feeling like a gimmick — at least to me — the near-silence felt integral to the story. It drew me closer to Theo’s perspective and gave me a sense of his isolation, but also of the richness of his communication. James Caverly was outstanding in the role, carrying the episode with vulnerability. I also appreciated the effort from Nathan Lane (Theo’s on-screen dad) to learn ASL for his part, even if I can’t personally judge the accuracy outside reading articles and knowing that James Caverly is an ASL-user.
The sound design added another layer, with a sort of underwater/muffled quality pulling me further into Theo’s subjective point of view. I hope these aren’t offensive ways to describe the sound. The absence of clear, spoken dialogue heightened emotion and made small details feel magnified. Dialogue is present, to be clear, but mostly delivered via ASL and subtitles.
For me, the episode is a reminder that accessibility in media doesn’t have to be something bolted on after the fact. Here, it was woven into the fabric of the story itself.
“Framing the entire episode in the perspective of a Deaf person is a subversive act” because ‘it forces the audience to listen closely, but with their eyes instead of ears.’”
– James Caverly, who plays Theo in Only Murders in the Building