Only Murders in the Building is an American mysterycomedy-drama television series created by Steve Martin and John Hoffman. The main plot focuses on a trio of strangers (played by Steve Martin, Martin Short, and Selena Gomez), all with a shared interest in true crime podcasts, who become friends while investigating a succession of suspicious murders in the Arconia, their affluent Upper West Side apartment building, and producing their own podcast about the cases, titled Only Murders in the Building. Its three ten-episode seasons premiered on Hulu in August 2021, June 2022, and August 2023. In October 2023, it was renewed for a fourth season.
Steve Martin as Charles-Haden Savage,[1] a semi-retired actor who was the star of the popular 1990s crime drama, Brazzos, and later, as a result of the podcast, its 2020s revival.
Matthew Lamb as young Charles
Martin Short as Oliver Putnam,[1] an ambitious but financially struggling Broadway director who spawns the idea of the podcast and becomes its director, and later that of a new play.
Samuel Farnsworth as young Oliver (season 2)
Selena Gomez as Mabel Mora,[1] a young artist who is living alone in her aunt's unit and who was secretly best friends with the first season's murder victim, Tim Kono, throughout her childhood and teenage years.
Madeleine Valencia (season 1) and Caroline Valencia (season 2) as young Mabel
Aaron Dominguez as Oscar Torres (season 1), a friend of Mabel and Tim who was wrongly convicted of the murder of their friend Zoe ten years earlier, has recently been released from prison, and dates Mabel for a while.
Amy Ryan as Jan Bellows (season 1; recurring, season 2), a professional bassoonist who begins dating Charles, and later his stunt double Sazz.
Cara Delevingne as Alice Banks (season 2),[2] an artist and briefly Mabel's love interest.
Adina Verson as Poppy White (season 2; guest, season 1),[a][3] Cinda's ambitious but abused assistant. She later reveals her true identity as Becky Butler, the subject of the All Is Not OK in Oklahoma crime podcast.
Michael Cyril Creighton as Howard Morris (season 3;[4] recurring, seasons 1–2), a cat-loving resident of the Arconia whose cat died the same night as Tim Kono.
Special guest
Paul Rudd as Ben Glenroy (season 3; guest, season 2),[b] a Hollywood actor who is murdered on the opening night of his first Broadway play[5] named Death Rattle.
Meryl Streep as Loretta Durkin (seasons 3–present),[b] a struggling actress and Oliver's love interest, who stars in his Broadway play, and later its musical reinterpretation.
Recurring
Julian Cihi as Tim Kono (season 1), a resident of the Arconia who dies in the first episode. The mysterious circumstances surrounding his death spur Charles, Oliver, and Mabel to do their own investigation.
Da'Vine Joy Randolph as Donna Williams, a detective on the Kono murder case who initially closed the case but becomes interested again after her wife starts listening to the podcast.
Tina Fey as Cinda Canning, the host of the true crime podcast All Is Not OK in Oklahoma, a parody of Sarah Koenig and her true crime podcast Serial.[6]
Jackie Hoffman as Uma Heller, an ornery Arconia resident
Jayne Houdyshell as Bunny Folger (seasons 1–2), the iron-fisted board president of the Arconia whose murder is investigated in the second season.
Houdyshell also voices Mrs. Gambolini (season 2), Bunny's pet parrot.
Nathan Lane as Teddy Dimas (seasons 1–2), an old friend and patron of Oliver's family, who has ties to organized crime and agrees to sponsor the podcast.
Zainab Jah as Ndidi Idoko (season 1), Tim Kono's next-door neighbor
Maulik Pancholy as Arnav (season 1), Charles' next-door neighbor
Olivia Reis as Zoe Cassidy (season 1), a friend of Mabel, Tim, and Oscar who died ten years earlier after falling from the roof of the Arconia.
Jane Lynch as Sazz Pataki, Charles' stunt double, who dates everyone he dates after him.
Zoe Colletti as Lucy (season 2), the teenage daughter of Charles' ex-girlfriend, with whom Charles has a tenuous father–daughter relationship.
Michael Rapaport as Detective Kreps (season 2), a police detective investigating Bunny's murder[7]
Christine Ko as Nina Lin (season 2), Bunny's protégée and the Arconia's new board president
Ariel Shafir as Ivan (season 2), a server at Bunny's regular diner
Andrea Martin as Joy Payne (seasons 2–3), Charles' longtime makeup artist and love interest
Jason Veasey as Jonathan Bridgecroft (seasons 2–3), Howard's neighbor and love interest, and an actor in Oliver's show
Linda Emond as Donna DeMeo (season 3), a Broadway producer who funds Oliver's return to Broadway
Ashley Park as Kimber Min (season 3), a young actress and influencer who plays Ben's love interest in Oliver's show[8]
Jeremy Shamos as Dickie Glenroy (season 3), Ben's adopted brother and manager[9]
Wesley Taylor as Clifford "Cliff" DeMeo (season 3), Donna's clingy son who co-produces Oliver's play[10]
Jesse Williams as Tobert (season 3), a camera operator hired by Ben to make a documentary about his Broadway debut and briefly Mabel's love interest[11]
Mandy Gonzalez as Silvia Mora (season 1), Mabel's mother
Amy Schumer as a fictionalized version of herself (season 2), who moves into Sting's former apartment and proposes a TV series to Oliver based on their podcast[18]
Ben Livingston as Charles' late father (season 2)
Shirley MacLaine as Rose Cooper (season 2), who is Charles' father's lover and painter, pretending to be Bunny's mother, Leonora Folger[18]
Charles-Haden Savage, a misanthropic former television actor who starred in the 1990s crime drama Brazzos; Oliver Putnam, a struggling Broadway director; and Mabel Mora, a young apartment renovator, live at the Arconia. By chance, the three meet on an elevator, joined by Tim Kono, who enters talking frantically on his phone. Later, after evacuating the building for an alarm, they bond over their shared love of a certain true crime podcast. They learn that there was a death at the Arconia and sneak back inside, where they see Tim, dead. The investigators believe it was suicide, but the three think otherwise; they find more and more evidence, such as Tim's frantic phone call on the elevator and a package addressed to him that contained an engagement ring. Meanwhile, Oliver struggles with his relationship with his son, Charles discusses his need for solitude, and Mabel expresses her fear of getting personal with people. They start a podcast titled Only Murders in the Building as they continue to investigate. An old photo is shown of Mabel and the friends she dubbed "My Hardy Boys", which includes Tim.
Note: The episode begins with a flash-forward set two months after the trio's first meeting, in which Charles and Oliver find Mabel kneeling over a dead body.
Charles and Oliver try to learn more about who Tim was, and along with Mabel they attend a memorial service for him. It is revealed that he was unpopular among many Arconia residents and had several complaints filed against him. The trio go into Tim's apartment to find more clues, but their lack of trust in one another makes things tense. Mabel privately records a video that reveals she has known Tim since they were children, bonding over The Hardy Boys books and solving pretend mysteries together. As they grew older, they added new friends Oscar and Zoe. One night, 10 years earlier, the four attended a New Year's Eve party on the roof of the building, and Zoe was later found dead. As he and Zoe had been arguing earlier in the evening, Oscar was arrested for her murder, but Tim told Mabel that he had seen someone else fighting with Zoe before she died. He did not disclose this to the police, causing a rift between him and Mabel. Later, Mabel revisits Tim's apartment and finds a cache of jewelry and some of her old drawings.
Oliver uses his theater director skills to find the prime suspect in the investigation, which leads them to their cat-loving neighbor, Howard. They find his cat's paw prints in Tim's blood, but upon a visit they discover he has vasovagal syncope, making it impossible for him to be a cold-blooded murderer. Board president Bunny Folger threatens to evict Oliver if he does not pay his building fees. He goes to his old associate Teddy, begging for money; after initially refusing, Teddy agrees to sponsor the podcast. Charles meets Jan, a professional bassoonist, and Mabel suggests that he ask her out. Oliver sees Sting in the elevator, and thinks he may also be a suspect. Mabel comes across a note from Tim detailing a meeting in one week with somebody identified only as "G.M.". Oliver discovers a threatening note on his door and that Winnie, his bulldog, has been poisoned, presumably by the same perpetrator.
4
4
"The Sting"
Gillian Robespierre
Kristin Newman
September 7, 2021 (2021-09-07)
1DWB04
Oliver suspects that Sting poisoned Winnie and enlists the help of Charles and Mabel to prove he is guilty of both Winnie's poisoning and Tim's murder. After consulting Cinda Canning, the host of their favorite podcast, the trio present Sting with a turkey and question him about Tim, revealed to be Sting's former stockbroker. Sting guiltily confesses that, after Tim lost a substantial sum of his money, he angrily fired Tim and told him to kill himself, but is relieved when the trio announce that they believe Tim's death was murder, not suicide. Meanwhile, Charles goes on a date with Jan. It is a disaster, but she agrees to a second date when Charles later shares a personal story with her. Mabel finds out that "G.M." is actually a place called "Montrose Gems", and Oliver's son, Will, reveals that he remembers Mabel from their youth and her connection to Tim. A flash forward to a few months later reveals that Charles, Oliver, and Mabel are the subject of Cinda Canning's new podcast, Only Murderers in the Building.
Mabel is being followed by a mysterious person, who turns out to be her old friend Oscar, recently released from prison after he was wrongly convicted of the murder of Zoe. He offers to drive her wherever she is going, and Mabel directs him to Bayport, New York, on Long Island. Charles and Oliver see Mabel leaving the Arconia with a stranger, so they follow her with the help of a horticulture podcast's hosts, who have heard about their podcast. Charles and Oliver catch up with Mabel, who finally admits that she knew Tim. The place she was trying to track down turns out to be a tattoo parlor that was a contact point of a black-market jewelry dealer named "Angel". They learn that Tim had been trying to take Angel down for years, which is why he collected the jewels in his apartment. Oscar admits that he is "Tie-Dye Guy", someone Charles saw during the evacuation of the building, but claims that he did not murder Tim; he was, however, outside Tim's door when he heard a gunshot.
Oscar and Mabel appear to have feelings for each other. Mabel's mother does not want her involved in Tim's murder investigation, but Mabel asserts her independence on this matter. Meanwhile, Detective Williams discovers the growing popularity of the Only Murders in the Building podcast and starts having second thoughts about closing Tim's case so quickly. While dealing with the pressure of the arrival of her and her wife's first child, she decides to send Tim's phone to Mabel to help their investigation. Cinda Canning appears on Jimmy Fallon's show, openly mocking the podcast, but Teddy is thrilled that his business is mentioned on Fallon's show. He writes Charles and Oliver a check for $50,000 for more episodes. Charles notices that the check is drawn from an "Angel" account, making Teddy the black market dealer Tim was after.
Teddy's son Theo spies on the trio and breaks in to take photos of their board of suspects, relaying to his father that the podcast is on to them, but Teddy dismisses the concerns. Charles and Mabel break into Teddy's apartment and discover a secret room of urns from a funeral home. Later, Oliver and Mabel leave to investigate the funeral home, while Charles has a date with Jan. At the funeral home, the two discover a secret room with jewelry. Theo is working there and stealing items off the bodies, and soon notices Oliver and Mabel. Flashbacks reveal that Theo had a crush on Zoe, who communicated with him in ASL. Theo saw Zoe stealing a ring from Teddy's apartment, which Teddy noticed during the New Year's Eve party. After an argument, Theo and Zoe got into a scuffle that led to Zoe falling off the roof on accident. Tim was the only witness, but an implied death threat from Teddy silenced him. Back in the present, Theo has kidnapped Oliver and Mabel, driving them to an unknown location, but not before they send texts to Charles telling him the password to Tim's phone might be "Theo".
Note: Except for one word at the ending, there is no audible dialogue throughout this episode. The scenes are either shown from Theo's perspective or present situations where the characters stay quiet.
8
8
"Fan Fiction"
Cherien Dabis
Matteo Borghese & Rob Turbovsky
October 5, 2021 (2021-10-05)
1DWB08
Teddy returns Mabel and Oliver to the Arconia on the condition that they end the podcast and absolve the Dimas family of suspicion. Back at the building, Mabel and Oliver are swarmed by fans of the podcast calling themselves "the Arconiacs". Detective Williams suggests the trio release all their evidence on the podcast. Oscar shares that Tim already had Zoe's green ring when he died and was planning on using it as evidence, although its whereabouts are unknown. Oliver invites the Arconiacs to help the group solve Tim's murder in time for their abrupt series finale. Charles is distracted by Jan, so Mabel and Oliver force her out of the investigation. Jan returns to her apartment, where she finds a note on the door that reads: "I'm watching you". The podcast finale premieres, complete with evidence of the Dimases' crimes. Williams doubts the Dimases' involvement in the murder when Tim's autopsy reveals death by poisoning. Security footage also proves Teddy and Theo were not in the building at the time of Tim's murder. Charles visits Jan's apartment, where he finds her unconscious and bleeding.
9
9
"Double Time"
Jamie Babbit
John Hoffman & Kristin Newman
October 12, 2021 (2021-10-12)
1DWB09
On their podcast, the trio retract their accusation of Teddy and Theo in Tim's murder. Jan survives her stabbing and Charles helps with her recovery. Charles' former stunt double, Sazz Pataki, shows up and immediately jumps into helping the trio investigate, much to the dismay of Charles and Jan. Later, a building meeting is called to address the podcast and the building votes to evict the trio, even after Charles says the podcast is done. Oliver and Mabel try to find a new lead to convince Charles to stay on the investigation and speculate that Tim might have had a secret girlfriend, a theory seemingly confirmed by Tim's neighbor. Charles goes to Jan's concert at Sazz's urging and sees a young female bassoonist who has replaced Jan at first chair. At the same time, Oliver and Mabel find a bassoon cleaner among Tim's stash of sex toys.
10
10
"Open and Shut"
Jamie Babbit
John Hoffman & Rachel Burger
October 19, 2021 (2021-10-19)
1DWB10
The trio realize that Jan is the murderer. Having been romantically involved with Tim, she mistakenly believed he had been having an affair on finding Zoe's green ring in his possessions, and killed him a day after they broke up. Mabel and Oliver break into Jan's apartment and find evidence, including a poison bottle, Zoe's ring, and a bloody knife she used to stab herself to deflect suspicion. As Charles confronts Jan, he realizes she has poisoned him. Jan tries to gas the whole building via the newly open fireplaces, but the trio run to the basement and stop it. In the basement, Jan appears and threatens to shoot them. A scuffle ensues, and Mabel knocks Jan out with the emerald ring. Jan is arrested. Later, as the trio celebrate, Mabel goes to get more champagne, and Oliver and Charles receive a mysterious text message telling them to leave the building immediately. The scene that opened the series is repeated, as Oliver and Charles run to Mabel and find her hunched over Bunny's dead body, covered in blood. The trio is led out of the Arconia in handcuffs while the Arconia tenants and others, including Detective Williams, Oscar, and Cinda, watch.
Charles, Oliver, and Mabel are arrested and interviewed by Detective Williams and Detective Kreps before being released due to lack of evidence. Mabel suggests they follow the police's advice and stay away from the case. Later, a woman named Alice invites Mabel to an art show at a local gallery and encourages her to pursue art again. Oliver runs into Amy Schumer as she moves into Sting's apartment; she wants to turn the podcast into a TV series. Meanwhile, Charles is approached to play "Uncle Brazzos" in a Brazzos reboot. The trio discovers that Cinda has started a podcast on the three of them, encouraging them to investigate to clear their names. Mabel reveals Bunny said "14" to her before she died. The trio breaks into Bunny's apartment and discovers her pet parrot mimicking Bunny. When Howard and Uma walk in, the three hide and overhear them panic over a painting missing from Bunny's apartment. Sneaking through a back elevator, they return to their apartments, and Charles discovers the missing painting on his wall.
12
2
"Framed"
John Hoffman
Kristin Newman
June 28, 2022 (2022-06-28)
2DWB02
Charles realizes one of the people in the painting is his father, while Mabel reveals Bunny also said "Savage" to her before she died. At Howard's invitation, the trio attends a memorial for Bunny, planning to return the painting to Bunny's apartment. There, they meet Leonora Folger, Bunny's mother and the owner of the painting. Oliver and Mabel sneak the painting up the elevator into Bunny's apartment, planning to meet Charles outside by the elevator, but Charles accidentally lets the door close, locking them out. In a panic, they stash the painting near a dumpster but later find it missing. Mabel returns to the art studio, where Alice encourages her to smash art to release her emotions, and they eventually kiss. Oliver meets with Amy in her apartment and discovers that she found the painting by the dumpster and hung it on her wall. Leonora talks to Charles about the painting, causing him to remember a day from his childhood when his father was arrested. Leonora learns the painting is at Amy's but upon inspection, declares it is a fake. Bunny's parrot is delivered to Oliver as per Bunny's will, and the bird says "I know who did it."
The trio tries to find out what Bunny's last day was like before she died. In a flashback, it is revealed that on Bunny's last day as board president she considered moving to Florida after her retirement. She received a phone call from a mysterious person who wanted to buy her painting, but she rejected it. She also gave present money to her regular café server, Ivan, and easily fixed the elevator when she, Charles, and Mabel got stuck in it. At the end of the day, she realized how much the Arconia meant to her and decided not to retire, upsetting her successor, Nina Lin, who openly threatened her to step down. Later, Bunny visited Charles, Oliver, and Mabel, offering a bottle of champagne in hopes of joining their celebration, but they thought she was just stopping by and did not invite her in. A masked and gloved figure attacked her when she returned to her apartment. The trio feels guilty that they could have saved Bunny's life "with a simple act of kindness." They realize Nina had enough motive to kill Bunny, making her the prime suspect in the investigation.
Lucy, the teenage daughter of Charles' ex-girlfriend, unexpectedly shows up at his apartment. She reveals to Charles, Oliver, and Mabel that there are secret tunnels inside the walls of the Arconia that she discovered years earlier. As they walk through the tunnels, they overhear Nina and her husband agreeing that Bunny had to go so that the Arconia could be modernized. Oliver also witnesses an argument between Teddy and Theo Dimas, who have been released on parole, which makes Oliver reevaluate his relationship with his son. Later, the trio and Lucy visit Nina to get her to confess to Bunny's murder, but she goes into labor and asks them to find Bunny's killer. Lucy confesses to Charles that she ran away from home after her mother remarried. Though touched by Lucy's words that he is the best stepfather she ever had, Charles insists she go home. Before leaving, Lucy warns Charles that he is in danger, but she does not tell him that she came to the Arconia on the night of Bunny's murder and saw the killer escaping through the tunnels. Charles visits Jan in prison to ask for her help.
Jan tells Charles that the killer is possibly an artist since they composed the crime scene to frame Mabel. Charles and Oliver learn that Mabel is dating Alice, who is an artist, and they become suspicious of her. At a party Alice hosts for an eclectic art crowd, Oliver proposes a murder game called "Son of Sam." By the end of the game, he declares Alice the murderer and asks a multitude of probing questions, forcing her to reveal that she lied about her background and her studies so people would think she is a legitimate artist. Later, they learn that Bunny had met someone in her regular diner the day before she died, and the person might be the killer. Alice apologizes to Mabel for lying to her, and the two reconcile by sharing personal secrets. Meanwhile, Will takes a DNA test for his son's school project, which reveals that he has Greek ancestors despite Oliver's Irish heritage. Oliver sadly speculates that his ex-wife may have had an affair with Teddy, who might be Will's biological father.
16
6
"Performance Review"
Cherien Dabis
Ben Smith & Joshua Allen Griffith
July 26, 2022 (2022-07-26)
2DWB06
The trio wants to ask Detective Williams' help with a fingerprinted matchbook they recently found, but she is on maternity leave. When they receive a text message in her name to leave their evidence in a public place, they fear this is the killer trying to get their hands on the evidence. They decide to leave a glitter bomb instead to catch the killer, but their personal problems distract them during the waiting until they miss their opportunity. Meanwhile, Cinda finds a man from Mabel's past who falsely claims that Mabel cut off one of his fingers, and she wants to use this in her podcast. Cinda's assistant, Poppy, however, has second thoughts about it, and reveals some hidden truths about Cinda to Mabel. Mabel later goes to Alice's art studio where she finds Alice recreating the crime scene of Bunny's murder for an art exhibit. Heartbroken, Mabel runs off, but sees a glitter-bombed person in her subway car. Later, Charles and Oliver see an Internet video of Mabel seemingly stabbing that person.
A series of flashbacks details Mabel's relationship with her father before his death from cancer. Following the subway incident, Mabel wakes up in Theo's apartment with no memory of the attack and her bag missing. Theo explains to her that he was in the subway car too, saw what happened, and brought Mabel home after she passed out. He shows Mabel an employee badge from Coney Island that her assailant had dropped, so they go there to investigate. Mabel recovers her bag before her assailant discovers her, but finds the matchbook gone. Meanwhile, Detective Williams visits Charles and Oliver, who reveal that they have the murder knife, which they give her for analysis. After fleeing Coney Island, Mabel forgives Theo for Zoe's death and remembers the night of Bunny's murder, realizing she saw someone escaping from her apartment. Reuniting with Charles and Oliver, Mabel shows Charles a picture of Lucy that she found in her bag. Fearing Lucy is the killer's next target, Charles tries to call her, but the call is cut off when a blackout hits the city.
Knowing that Lucy is alone in Charles' apartment, the trio races back to the Arconia to save her from the killer. Meanwhile, the blackout forces the Arconia's residents to make new connections. Howard hangs out with one of his neighbors, whom he has a crush on, and eventually asks him out, despite the man's lethal allergy to cats. Concurrently, Lester, the doorman, helps Nina assemble a baby swing, during which Nina evaluates Lester's job and gives him a promotion. The trio discover that someone broke into Charles' apartment and chased Lucy through the secret tunnels. They later encounter Marv in the tunnels, believing he is the killer, but in reality Marv wanted to help the trio catch the killer yet unintentionally scared them away with his presence. At Marv's request, Oliver agrees to record him for a podcast episode while Lucy finally tells Charles what she saw on the night of Bunny's murder. After the power returns, the trio meets Detective Kreps in the building. Mabel notices some glitter on his neck and realizes he was her former assailant.
Mabel tries to confront Detective Kreps about his involvement in Bunny's murder. He denies everything, but mentions his admiration for Cinda's podcasts, heightening Mabel's suspicion. Meanwhile, Charles and Oliver discover the original Rose Cooper painting hidden under the cage of Bunny's parrot. Charles further discovers that Leonora is Rose Cooper herself. She reveals to Charles that she and his father were lovers for years and he was arrested as a result of trying to defend her from her enraged husband. She also shows Charles another painting hidden in the canvas, picturing young Charles and his father. Elsewhere, Oliver learns that Teddy is indeed Will's biological father, but, for Will's sake, they both decide to keep this a secret. Alice gives Mabel a jigsaw puzzle as a peace offering, and with the help of that, Mabel realizes one of Cinda's podcasts mentioned a restaurant with the logo she saw on Kreps' backpack. When she questions Poppy about this, she reveals herself as Becky Butler, the subject of the podcast, and that Kreps is Cinda's lover who helped Cinda provide evidence. Mabel concludes that Cinda is the true mastermind behind Bunny's murder.
20
10
"I Know Who Did It"
Jamie Babbit
John Hoffman, Matteo Borghese & Rob Turbovsky
August 23, 2022 (2022-08-23)
2DWB10
The trio stages a killer reveal party where they endeavor to induce Bunny's killer into confessing. After failing with Cinda, Mabel declares Alice the killer, which seems to be true when Alice stabs Charles in the stomach. Cinda praises Mabel for solving the case, which makes Becky so frustrated she unwittingly reveals information only the killer would know. As Charles wakes up unharmed, all the guests reveal the party was an act to expose Becky as the real killer. Detective Williams found out the murder knife had Becky's DNA on it and Mabel realized Bunny said "14 Sandwich" to her, which was Becky's favorite meal at Bunny's regular diner. Becky is arrested along with Kreps, who is revealed to be Becky's lover and accomplice. Their motive was to become famous by making their own podcast about the murder investigation. With the case closed, Charles gets a proper role in the Brazzos reboot; Mabel and Alice resume their relationship; and Oliver reconciles with his son, who already knows they are not biologically related. One year later, on the opening night of a Broadway play Oliver directed, the lead actor, Ben Glenroy, suddenly collapses on stage during his performance.
At an audition for Oliver's murder mystery play Death Rattle, a struggling actress, Loretta Durkin, amazes him with her performance. Four months later, at the play's read-through, the cast and crew meet for the first time, including Howard as Oliver's assistant, Charles in a supporting role, and Ben Glenroy in the lead role. Loretta fails to deliver her lines convincingly, so Ben urges Oliver to fire her, but Oliver is convinced of Loretta's talent. In the present, Ben is pronounced dead by the authorities after collapsing on stage. At the play's planned after-party, Mabel floats the theory to Oliver that Ben was poisoned and proposes a new podcast. A revived Ben appears at the party, attributing his clinical death to food poisoning. He gives a phony apology to everyone for his arrogant behavior over the last few months, but veiledly insults Loretta again. Afterward, Mabel tells Charles and Oliver that her aunt sold her apartment, so she is moving out of the Arconia in a month. As they take the elevator, Ben's dead body suddenly crashes down in front of them.
22
2
"The Beat Goes On"
John Hoffman
Ben Smith & Joshua Allen Griffith
August 8, 2023 (2023-08-08)
3DWB02
At Ben's funeral, Mabel and Charles meet Gregg, who claims to have worked for Ben as a security guard. Instead, Gregg is revealed to be an obsessed fan of Ben's, and kidnaps them. In Gregg's custody, Mabel tells Charles that Ben's murder is personal to her because one of his shows helped her overcome her father's death, while Charles reveals that the tension between him and Ben stemmed from when he unintentionally got Ben fired from Brazzos years earlier. Gregg intends to torture the pair into confessing to Ben's murder, but Detective Biswas arrives with the police and arrests him as Ben's killer. Mabel theorizes that since Gregg had Ben's handkerchief from the play and the body was found holding an identical one, Gregg could not have committed the murder. She and Charles agree to begin a third podcast to find Ben's real killer, about which Oliver is reluctant. Following a minor heart attack he suffered after encountering a critic who was planning to pan his play, he becomes inspired to turn the show into a musical.
Charles attempts to find out which cast member lost their handkerchief, believing that one could be the killer. Concurrently, Mabel goes to Ben's apartment looking for clues and meets Tobert, Ben's documentarian. They are forced to hide when Dickie, Ben's brother and manager, enters the apartment, during which Tobert reveals he intends to make a documentary about Ben's murder and that he has footage of Ben before he collapsed on stage. Meanwhile, Loretta tells Oliver she has won a television series role in Los Angeles that begins shooting next week. Not wanting to lose her, Oliver reminds her that she is under contract, but later agrees to let her go if she performs her character's lullaby to the producers, Donna and Cliff. Amazed by her performance, they agree to fund Death Rattle Dazzle, prompting Loretta to stay as well, and she and Oliver kiss. Tobert shows Mabel footage of Ben in his dressing room talking to someone off camera. At the same time, Charles discovers that cast member Kimber, who plays Ben's love interest, lost her handkerchief.
The trio suspects that Kimber killed Ben due to an affair gone awry between them. Kimber, however, tells Mabel she only wanted Ben to promote her beauty products, and when he backed out at the last minute, she sold her handkerchief. She also reveals that Ben was upset on opening night about a red mark on his face until someone in his dressing room fixed it. Charles and Oliver break into Ben's dressing room, finding "Fucking Pig" written on his mirror with lipstick. Later, Cinda approaches Mabel with a job offer, but Mabel turns it down. Meanwhile, Charles has to perform a patter song in the play, but every time he rehearses it, he enters "The White Room", a comforting place inside his mind, while his body acts disturbingly without his knowledge. Oliver thinks this is caused by the pressure of his girlfriend, Joy, moving in with him, which Charles is not ready for. When he attempts to tell her that, Charles enters The White Room again, reemerging to discover he has proposed to Joy, while she recognizes the lipstick from Ben's dressing room as her own.
While Oliver goes on a date with Loretta, Mabel meets with Tobert at a restaurant to observe Jonathan, Ben's understudy and Howard's boyfriend. They see him exchanging something with a man, whom Tobert identifies as Ben's doctor. Meanwhile, following a fight between Charles and Joy about the lipstick, Charles is visited by Sazz, who gives him an impromptu therapy session about his relationship problems. Oliver and Loretta eat dinner at her place, but Oliver is surprised when Loretta calls Ben a "fucking pig" and confesses to him that she had a scuffle with Ben on opening night. Joy explains to Charles that she simply left her lipstick at Ben's dressing room after she fixed a mark on his face, which Charles reveals was because he punched Ben for his scuffle with Loretta. Charles also reveals that his proposal was accidental, causing Joy to break up with him. Mabel takes Tobert back to her apartment to show him her board of clues, and they kiss. Oliver and Loretta sleep together in her apartment, where he later finds a scrapbook full of news clippings about Ben.
After Howard claims to have seen the ghost of a deceased actor at the theater, the trio goes there to investigate. Mabel and Tobert confront Jonathan about his meeting with Ben's doctor; he confesses that he obtained the same cocktail of medications Ben used to cope with the pressure of being the lead, a role he never wanted. Oliver discovers that his former director friend, Jerry, pretended to be the ghost to hide that he has been living in the theater's attic for months. He also tells Oliver about the fight between Ben, Loretta, and Charles, which he witnessed firsthand. Despite growing increasingly suspicious of Loretta, Oliver chooses to hide his suspicion from Charles and Mabel, who find him trying to scrub the lipstick. An argument erupts, in which Oliver accuses Charles of not being forthcoming about the fight, frustrating Charles into quitting the play. Oliver also accuses Mabel of sabotaging his show with her investigation, causing her to reveal Cinda's offer and vow to continue investigating on her own.
Charles discovers that Uma stole the handkerchief from Ben's corpse; however, she sells it to an unknown buyer before he can retrieve it. Meanwhile, Oliver replaces Charles with Matthew Broderick, but soon fires him and rehires Charles after growing annoyed with Broderick's method acting antics. Elsewhere, Mabel learns from Dickie that he was adopted before his parents conceived Ben and that he was always overshadowed by Ben’s success despite doing most of the work for it. Finding an old drawing of CoBro, Ben's most famous role, and looking at the signature below, Mabel theorizes with Tobert and Theo that Dickie could have created the character, giving him a motive to kill. Oliver shows Charles the scrapbook he stole from Loretta, and they decide to give it to Mabel, only to learn that Mabel has already moved out of her apartment and that she started the podcast's new season without them. Listening to the first episode, which details evidence that Gregg is not the killer, Detective Biswas decides to reopen Ben's case.
Flashbacks reveal that Dickie is Loretta's biological son, whom she gave up for adoption to pursue her acting career. Nonetheless, she had always kept tabs on him by collecting news about him and Ben, and upon learning their involvement in Oliver's play, she auditioned for a role to be reunited with him. At the musical's sitzprobe, she decides to tell Dickie the truth in a letter, but the police arrive and lock down the theater, saying the killer is someone from the cast or crew. The trio make amends with each other and decide to work together again to find the killer. While Charles and Oliver secretly record Detective Williams' interrogations of the cast, Mabel helps Howard reassemble a shredded document that might be a clue. Loretta learns that the police and the trio suspect Dickie as the killer, which she refuses to believe. Charles and Mabel find Loretta's letter, while Oliver returns the scrapbook to her and confesses his love for her. During her rehearsal on stage, Loretta sees the police approaching Dickie, so she confesses to Ben's murder to save him. As she is led out of the theater in handcuffs, Oliver suffers another heart attack and collapses.
Following Oliver's recovery, the trio learns that Dickie has an alibi for the time of Ben's murder. Using their knowledge and the clues they already obtained, they recreate the last 30 minutes before Ben collapsed on stage: Ben arrived late to the theater after being with his seamstress friends, who helped him make the handkerchiefs he presented to the cast and crew. Later, he overheard Loretta encouraging Dickie to quit as his manager due to the stress he was under, resulting in a fallout between the brothers and the fight between Ben, Charles, and Loretta. An upset Ben then fired Tobert and retreated to his dressing room, where he ate a cookie and wrote "Fucking Pig" on his mirror out of guilt for ruining his diet. Howard gives the trio the reassembled document, which turns out to be an early negative review of Ben's performance. The trio reaches the conclusion that Donna poisoned Ben to prevent the show and Cliff's career from being ruined. They run into the court to stop Loretta from pleading guilty, only to learn that Donna is among the witnesses.
After Loretta receives the missing handkerchief from Dickie, the trio uses it as evidence to force a confession out of Donna on the opening night of Death Rattle Dazzle. To their surprise, she readily confesses to Ben's murder but asks to see the play before she is arrested. Oliver takes the lead role when Jonathan cannot perform, having taken too much anti-anxiety medication, and Loretta finally tells Dickie she is his biological mother. Mabel notices Cliff going to the theater's attic after a conversation with Donna, and confronts him upon realizing he pushed Ben down the elevator shaft. A guilt-ridden Cliff insists it was an accident and attempts to commit suicide by jumping from above the stage but is stopped and comforted by Donna. The two are taken into custody as the show ends with a huge success. At the play's after-party, Dickie, Loretta, and Tobert reveal they all have upcoming gigs in Los Angeles, but the trio decide to stay in New York. Sazz, once again dressed the same as Charles, comes to celebrate and tells Charles they need to talk before entering Charles' apartment, where she is shot by an unknown assailant.
Production
Development
Steve Martin conceived of the idea for Only Murders in the Building ten years before its premiere. His original idea involved three elderly men who discover that they are all obsessed with solving crimes, but are too old and tired to go outside, so they decide to solve crimes that are only in the building. The idea later developed with one of the old men changed to a younger woman.[19] In January 2020, it was announced that Martin and Martin Short would star in the then untitled Hulu series, created by Martin and John Hoffman, with Martin, Short, and Hoffman as executive producers, alongside Dan Fogelman, with 20th Television serving as the studio;[20]Selena Gomez would then join as the series' third main lead. On September 14, 2021, Hulu renewed the series for a second season.[21] On July 11, 2022, the series was renewed for a third season.[22] On October 3, 2023, it was renewed for a fourth season.[23]
Casting
Alongside the initial announcement, it was announced Martin and Short would star in the series.[20] In August 2020, Selena Gomez joined the cast and also serves as an executive producer.[24] In November 2020, Aaron Dominguez joined the cast in a series regular role.[25] In January 2021, Amy Ryan joined the cast in a series regular role[26] and Nathan Lane joined the cast in a recurring role.[27] In December 2021, it was reported that Cara Delevingne joined the cast as a series regular for the second season.[28] In January 2022, Short announced that Shirley MacLaine and Amy Schumer were cast to guest star for the second season.[18] In February 2022, Michael Rapaport joined the cast in a recurring role for the second season.[7] In October 2022, Jesse Williams was cast in a recurring capacity for the third season.[11] In January 2023, Meryl Streep was cast in an undisclosed capacity for the third season.[29] In February 2023, Ashley Park joined the cast in a recurring role for the third season.[8] In March 2023, Jeremy Shamos, Linda Emond, Wesley Taylor, Don Darryl Rivera, Allison Guinn, and Gerald Caesar were cast in recurring capacities for the third season.[9][30] In April 2023, Michael Cyril Creighton was promoted to series regular for the third season.[4] In February 2024, Molly Shannon, Eva Longoria and Eugene Levy joined the cast in undisclosed recurring roles for the fourth season.[12][13][14]Kumail Nanjiani and Zach Galifianakis were added in undisclosed recurring roles in March 2024.[15][16]
Filming
The Belnord on West 86th Street on the Upper West Side is used for exterior shots of the fictional Arconia apartment building.
Principal photography for the first season began on December 3, 2020, in New York City,[31] and concluded in April 2021.[32]The Belnord was used for exterior shots of the Arconia.[33] Filming of the second season began on December 1, 2021.[34] Filming for the third season began in January 2023[35] and concluded in late April.[36] Filming for the fourth season began in March 2024.[37]
Music
A digital album for the score was released on August 27, 2021, four days before the series' debut.[38] On July 15, 2022, the original song that was played briefly in the season 2 episode "Here's Looking at You", "Angel in Flip-Flops", was released online. It was performed by Steve Martin as his character Charles-Haden Savage and written by Martin and Kirker Butler, with Paul Shaffer as producer.[39] An album for season 2 was released on August 12, 2022. An album for season 3 was released on September 15, 2023, followed by a deluxe edition on October 4.
Only Murders in the Building premiered on August 31, 2021, on Hulu.[41] Internationally, the series premiered on the same day on Disney+ under the dedicated streaming hub Star, as an original series, and on Star+ in Latin America. Disney+ Hotstar released the series in select territories on September 3, 2021.[42] On Disney+, Disney+ Hotstar, and Star+, Only Murders in the Building episodes were scheduled to debut on a weekly basis.[43] The second season premiered on June 28, 2022.[44] The third season premiered on August 8, 2023.[45] The first season made its broadcast television premiere on ABC on January 2, 2024; episodes were edited to meet broadcast standards and practices and follow FCC rules.[46] The show was added to Disney+ in the United States via the Hulu hub beginning in December 2023.[47]
Reception
Audience viewership
On September 3, 2021, it was reported that Only Murders in the Building set a record for the most-watched comedy premiere in Hulu history.[48] On October 28, 2021, Hulu Originals president Craig Erwich said in an interview with Vulture that the show had become the most-watched comedy ever on Hulu "by a good measure." In the same article, Vulture reported that, according to Parrot Analytics, the show went from having about 16 times the audience demand in the U.S. as an average show when it debuted on August 31 to generating 37 times typical demand by the time the season 1 finale dropped on October 19. This meant that the day after the finale the show ranked as high as 14th on the list of most in-demand shows in the U.S. and signaled a "massive" 135% growth rate that according to Erwich is mainly attributable to word of mouth.[49] According to the streaming aggregator JustWatch, Only Murders in the Building was the most-streamed TV series across all U.S. platforms during the week ending October 24, 2021,[50] and second during the week ending October 31, 2021.[51]
According to Parrot Analytics, which looks at consumer engagement in consumer research, streaming, downloads, and on social media, Only Murders in the Building was the third-most in-demand streaming original series in the U.S. during the week of August 13 to 19, 2022,[52] as well as during the week of August 20 to 26.[53] According to Whip Media's viewership tracking app TV Time, it was the most-streamed TV series across all U.S. platforms during the week ending August 7, 2022,[54] and during the week of August 28.[55] According to the streaming aggregator JustWatch, it was the third-most streamed TV series across all U.S. platforms during the week ending July 3, 2022.[56] Whip Media announced Only Murders in the Building was the fifth most-watched streaming original television series of 2023.[57][58]
For the first season, review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported a 100% approval rating with an average rating of 8/10, based on 107 critic reviews. The website's critics consensus reads, "Only Murders in the Building's silly approach to true crime obsessives is at once hilarious and insightful, thanks in large part to its extremely charming central trio."[59]Metacritic gave the first season a weighted average score of 76 out of 100 based on 34 critic reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[60]
Kristen Baldwin of Entertainment Weekly gave the first season a "B" grade and wrote, "Only Murders delivers above-average laughs, a clever mystery, and a starry cast. But it's hard to shake the feeling that the show missed an opportunity to be something special."[65] Reviewing for Rolling Stone, Alan Sepinwall gave a rating of four and a half out of five stars and said, "The series soon turns out to be—like The Princess Bride, Galaxy Quest, or Jane the Virgin—that rare and wonderful thing: the parody that also offers a great example of the genuine article."[66]
For the second season, Rotten Tomatoes reported a 98% approval rating with an average rating of 8/10, based on 120 critic reviews. The website's critics consensus states, "Only Murders in the Building gets a new lease on life with a knottier sophomore outing that retains the series' core charm and wit."[61] Metacritic gave the second season a weighted average score of 79 out of 100 based on 25 critic reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[62]
For the third season, Rotten Tomatoes reported a 96% approval rating with an average rating of 7.95/10, based on 114 critic reviews. The website's critics consensus states, "Relocating the action to the theatre, Only Murders in the Building can take a bow for yet another twisty mystery handled with a good-humored touch."[63] Metacritic gave the third season a weighted average score of 77 out of 100 based on 33 critic reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[64]
Accolades
Accolades received by Only Murders in the Building
The seventh episode of the first season was given the Seal of Authentic Representation from the Ruderman Family Foundation for the portrayal of Theo by James Caverly, as an actor with a disability and at least five lines of dialogue.[138] The first season was recognized with The ReFrame Stamp for hiring people of underrepresented gender identities, and of color.[139]
^ abcThis award does not have a single winner, but recognizes multiple series.
^Dan Fogelman, Jess Rosenthal, Jamie Babbit, Steve Martin, Martin Short, Selena Gomez, John Hoffman, Kristin Newman, Kirker Butler, Ben Smith, Matteo Borghese, Rob Turbovsky, Thembi L. Banks, and Jane Raab
^ abDan Fogelman, Jess Rosenthal, Steve Martin, Martin Short, Selena Gomez, John Hoffman, Matteo Borghese, Rob Turbovsky, Ben Smith, Kristin Newman, Kirker Butler, Nick Pavonetti, Kristin Bernstein, Valentina Garza
^ abThembi Banks, Matteo Borghese, Rachel Burger, Kirker Butler, Madeleine George, John Hoffman, Stephen Markley, Steve Martin, Kristin Newman, Ben Philippe, Kim Rosenstock, Ben Smith, Rob Turbovsky
^Matteo Borghese, Rachel Burger, Kirker Butler, Valentina Garza, Madeleine George, Joshua Allen Griffith, John Hoffman, Noah Levine, Stephen Markley, Kristin Newman, Ben Philippe, Ben Smith, Rob Turbovsky
^Matteo Borghese, Madeleine George, Sas E. Goldberg, Joshua Allen Griffith, John Hoffman, Elaine Ko, Noah Levine, Tess Morris, J.J. Philbin, Ben Philippe, Jake Schnesel, Ben Smith, Siena Streiber, Pete Swanson, Rob Turbovsky
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