Diksha Sundriyal
The fifth season of Hulu’s ‘Only Murders in the Building’ unfolds another murder in the Arconia. This time, it’s the doorman, Lester, whose death is entangled with the disappearance of a mob boss, Nicky. The investigation leads Charles, Mabel, and Oliver to discover shocking new things about the Arconia, which puts the building and its residents in a whole new light. A major discovery arrives in the form of a secret underground club called the Velvet Room. While describing its history, the trio digs up the names of some famous mob bosses who have run such clubs or appeared in them. This makes one question the reality behind the Velvet Room.
The Fictional Velvet Room Borrows Several Elements from Reality
The Velvet Room becomes an important plot device in ‘Only Murders in the Building’ Season 5 early on and plays a significant role in unraveling the mystery behind Lester and Nicky’s deaths. However, the fans of the show cannot visit the club in real life as it is entirely fictional. The filming for the scenes concerning the club most likely took place at the Silvercup Studios in Long Island City, where a custom set was built to give the Velvet Room a unique look. In the show, the club is located in the depths of Arconia. In real life, the fictional Arconia is filmed at the Belnord apartment building on the Upper West Side of New York City. As such, there is no secret underground club operating from the building, which places the Velvet Room entirely in a fictional realm.
While the Velvet Room is fictional, the setup is borrowed from real life. As Charles explains in an episode of the podcast, several underground nightclubs functioned in different locations in New York and were often run by the mob. These places weren’t necessarily illegitimate and often functioned as social clubs where prominent people, from the mob as well as other sections of society, appeared. Some clubs may have been used for illegitimate activities, but the same cannot be said about all. In the show, the Velvet Room is revealed to have existed for several decades. In Charles’ introduction, the place is said to have hosted people like John Gotti, which means it has been functioning, at least, since the 60s.
What makes it different now is that the mob is gone. While Ricky Caccimelio comes from a mob background, he is a failed mobster at best. The only illegal thing he has been involved in is the Velvet Room. In the same vein, other crime families have also met their decline, so the crowd of the Velvet Room has changed extensively over the years. This means that the people now attending it are not your regular criminals. These are even more powerful and dangerous people because they are billionaires, and that’s what serves as a major twist in the story. This change in scenario also adds a sense of authenticity to the story, giving the Velvet Room the vibe of a real place, even though it remains made up.
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