Only Murders in the Building Season 3: A smart, silly showstopper
Review Overview
Cast
10Concept
10Crabs
10David Farnor | On 08, Aug 2023
Episodes 1 and 2 of Season 3 premiere on 8th August 2023, with episodes then arriving weekly.
“You gotta be kidding me…” Those are the words of more than one character as Only Murders in the Building returns for a third season. After two standout runs of witty, warm murder mystery comedy, it’s only natural that the series should once again enter our lives – what’s really impressive is that not only is it still brilliant, but it also might even be getting better with each new act.
That’s partly thanks to an inspired conceit for Season 3: Oliver (Martin Short) has been given the chance to make his Broadway comeback, years after his last theatre flop, and direct a star-studded revival of a creaky old whodunnit (the hilariously titled “Death Rattle”). The stars? Not just Charles Haden-Savage (Steven Martin), who’s only in it because Season 2’s murder-charge fame and not because of his much-forgotten turn as TV detective Brazzos, but also Hollywood blockbusting Ben (Paul Rudd). Ben is best known for his role of Cobro (part Cobra, part bro), but ends up drawing all the wrong headlines when he collapses dead on stage on opening night.
Thanks to some enjoyably daft twists, the show contrives a way to make sure that murder does technically happen within the building – which means that Charles and Oliver’s fellow podcaster, Mabel (Selena Gomez), is on hand to poke around into the murky homicide. The trio’s unlikely but heartfelt friendship has always been the core of the show’s appeal, and there’s a sweetness to the on-the-nose way that the tree of them are aware that they’re best when they’re in each other’s lives, and that they just want an excuse to hang out as friends.
The finely balanced scripts have always been good at giving each character a chance to shine and bring out some unexpected depths. While Mabel shares an amusing yet poignant insight into her childhood early on, the show continues its gradual cycle through its leading stars: Season 1 leant heavily on Charles’ washed-up desperation, before Season 2 delved into Mabel’s existential crisis, which means that Season 3 is Oliver’s moment to take the stage. Martin Short remains an absolute delight as the preening would-be auteur, his every exagerrated mannerism and line delivery impeccably timed for maximum flamboyance. If Martin Short stole the show in Season 1 and 2, Season 3’s masterstroke is that it gives Martin Short the opportunity to steal the show from himself – and he’s one of the few people who’d actually be game enough to try.
He’s got some stiff competition, though, thanks to a back-and-forth structure that gives Paul Rudd the maximum amount of screentime possible for a corpse, as we see Ben being entertainingly terrible with everyone he meets on set and in rehearsals. And even he has competition too, with the arrival of Meryl Streep as Loretta Durkin, a lonely woman who’s all but given up on her dream of being spotted by a casting director – until Oliver casts her in his play. Streep is marvellously discombobulated here, all bad accents and genuine talent, as she stumbles through fluffed line readings, early career dilemmas and a possible romantic spark with Oliver.
The result is a surprisingly moving tale of the fleeting nature of stardom, fame and what people define as success – laced with a heart-wrenching development for Oliver as he reaches the twilight of his professional life. But it’s also a deceptively tightly sprung puzzlebox, with no end of suspects, from Ben’s ambitious co-star Kimbey (Ashley Park) and his put-upon brother/assistant to his on-hand documentarian, played with hidden grit by the always-excellent Jesse Williams. Combined with the confined nature of a theatrical ensemble, Only Murders feels the closest it has yet to classic Agatha Christie territory. Except, of course, this Mousetrap includes Bob Fosse-style dances, a musical number involving malevolent sea crabs and a possible killer baby. “You gotta be kidding me,” you might well think, but Only Murders in the Building pulls off that rare feat of both kidding you and tricking you into taking it seriously. What a joy it is to have it back on our screens.