“Only Murders in the Building” has been working the same gimmick for five seasons now, but they keep managing to make it work. The star trio of Martin Short, Steve Martin and Selena Gomez have an undesirable chemistry that allows them to draw the attention of every episode, helping to forgive weak points in the script and story. After 4 seasons, the series manages to remain in the 90’s on RT and has been a ratings powerhouse for Hulu.
The series released three episode to mark the occasion of the season 5 premiere and from the start, there’s a lot going on. The show moves at a dizzying speed sometimes but it never drags. The trio’s humor always manages to balance out the erratic pace and the at times unbelievable situations. Although we were aware of the murder of doorman Lester (Teddy Coluca) from the season 4 finale, near the end of the last seasons closer, the series also teased a missing mobster. The mobster’s wife Sofia (Tea Leoni) approaches the group in hopes of enlisting their help to find her lost husband. Warning, beyond this point there are spoilers for anyone who isn’t up to date on “Only Murders in the Building” on Hulu.
The show moves at a dizzying speed sometimes but it never drags. The trio’s humor always manages to balance out the erratic pace and the at times unbelievable situations.”
TThe first episode, appropriately titled “Nail in the Coffin” picks p right where season 4 left off. The gag is reeling and trying to figure out who would want their kind and beloved doorman of decades dead. The first scene of the season shows the three podcasters reading Lester’s obituary. The trio’s immense chemistry Carrie’s these scenes, even when Oliver (Short) acts like a completely unrealistic person. Mabel’s (Gomez) reaction to the older men is always entertaining although the formula has maybe started to become a little predictable.
What isn’t predictable is the finger that Mabel finds in her shrimp cocktail… a human finger. The rest of th episode follows the podcasters as they try to figure out who’s finger they have found, which brings about a very cringe situation where they’re counting Lester’s fingers at a funeral – which obviously ends poorly/. As the group follows up the lead with Sofia the mob wife, there is a hilariously reliable scene with the trio and the mobsters 4 sons, who want to start a podcast.
Overall, episode 1 is a strong return to from for the gang. The series rinses and repeats the murder mystery which makes the scenario start to become unbelievable, but when you suspend your disbelief you can have a lot of fun with this show. A noteworthy storyline throughout is Oliver’s insecurity about how Lester viewed him. As a raging narcissist, Oliver will never find a good answer to questions like this and given the fact that Lester is dead means no amends can be made. This messes with the flamboyant Director and forces him to reevaluate himself, which works on multiple levels. By the final act of the premiere, Mabel and Charles have done enough detective work to find some kind of hidden casino that’s attached to a utility room in the Arconia. While the tow work on their leads Oliver has a “hat emergency” and heads to the Arconia dry cleaner, which is coincidentally owned by the missing mobster. The first episode ends with a jump scare and reveal that the mob boss Nicky (Bobby Cannavale) has also been dead for at least a few days and his body is being hung up at the dry cleaners when Oliver bumps into the guys corpse.
Episode 2 titled “After You” does a deep dive into doorman via a documentary. Lester talks about his hopes and dreams and eventually the series is in flashback land, where Lesters ties to Nicky the mob boss are eventually revealed. Lester becomes a more relatable and tragic figure as you watch him give up his dream while Charles (Martìn) lives the dreams as “Brazzos” right in front of his face. This episode does a good job of making the viewer care about the murder victim, but the cliffhanger from episode 1 kind of gets pushed aside, which kills some of the impact of a corpse falling on Oliver. Seeing Lester’s life plays out also shows how he perceives all the murders that just randomly occur in his building which have made the trio famous and it predictably devastates him. This only serves to make Lester and his death even more tragic. The one constant Lester always had in his life was this building, which ultimately became a podcast punchline which does make even the coldest heart warm for this poor guy.
Episode 3, titled: “Rigor” picks up where episode 1 left off as the trio was largely absent from the second, Lester-centric episode. In an impulsive move that’s not surpassing for Oliver, he brings the body of Nicky back to the Arconia so the podcasters can do an autopsy. What were they hoping to find? The whole sequence seems far-fetched to imagine a human opting to do something this legally dangerous, but it does make for a funny bunch of moments in the episode. When the team finally gets down with their autopsy, they have to sneak the body back, which is predictably awkward. The introduction of Althea or “Thē” (Beanie Feldstein), Mabel’s childhood friend, who is now a famous pop singer seems suspect due to the timing. Multiple murders happen and this rich and powerful singer shows up, could Althea be involved in this? What kind of relationship did we have with Mabel? Selena Gomez is typically cold in her portrayal of Mabel, but Mabel’s reaction to Althea seemed especially cold. Althea later offers to appear on Mabel’s podcast, but Mabel shits it down, which is surprising as a famous poop star’s appearance would likely elevate the groups podcast to the top 5.
Olivers storyline with the new doorman as he comes to grips with is narcissistic tendencies is also another highlight.The episode manages to end on another cliffhanger as the trio gets back into the underground casino when a group of billionaires makes their way into the establishment… and one is missing a finger! These first three episodes have setup both major conflicts for this season but we’re wondering where the podcasting went? We do miss the elements of the two old men trying to record voiceover and finding other ways to blunder the production of their unlikely series.
What do you think? Are Lester and Nicky’s murders related? Could it have been Lester’s wife? Is the finger they found property of a billionaire? Will Oliver tone down his selfish and egotistical ways? How will the group solve the murder? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!
