“Only Murders in the Building” continues to be one of the best shows on any streaming platform. Not only is the chemistry between Martin Short, Steve Martin and Selena Gomez incredible, but this season they added even more incredible actors by giving lead roles to Jess Williams (Grey’s Anatomy) Paul Rudd (Ant-Man), and the incomparable Meryl Streep! Even Matthew Broderick makes a few special guest appearances. This season was truly incredible.
I’m not sure why the premise of an aging director, a former bumbling actor and a millennial who has no real life direction, coming together to be amateur sleuths solving murders in their apartment complex works–but it just does!
And this season is no exception. Season 2 ended with a surprise collapse of Ben Glenroy, Paul Rudd’s character, and the cast all believing he was dead. Season 3 starts at the exact same point only there is a twist–he isn’t killed when he collapses! Instead his character comes back to the apartment building, where the rest of the cast is gathered mourning his death, and surprises everyone! It’s quite a shock, but even more shocking is that shortly after his comeback, he is killed again! For real this time as he falls down an elevator shaft. Thus the trio is thrust back into the spotlight as yet another murder has occurred in their building! I’m truly not sure how many people can be killed in this building before it’s condemned, but nevertheless the sleuths are back on the case.
The biggest differences this season between the two former seasons are that the trio is fractured. Steve Martin’s character is originally coupled off and living with his fiance, except he blows it and ends up alone. Martin Short’s character Oliver, falls for the leading lady in his cast played by Meryl Streep. And Selena Gomez’s character, Mable, strikes up a new relationship with Jesse Williams’ character, Tobert. Due to these new relationships and their different focus on what is important–for Oliver it’s the play and protecting his new love, for Charles (Steve Martin) it’s resurrecting his career, and for Mable it is finding the truth behind the murder. This rift causes this season to take a different direction as the close trio goes in different directions. Of course they are not able to fully solve the murder until they all make amends and once again work together as a team. Only then is the real murderer and truth revealed. Different than in the first 2 seasons, the murder in this season truly is accidental. The murderer is not evil or bad, he is simply defending a loved one.
What is interesting is that the relationship between the Directors, a mother and son combo, is paralleled by the relationship between Meryl Streep and her on-screen son as well. **Spoiler** Streep’s character reconnects with a son whom she abandoned as a baby during this season and their healthy relationship is cast alongside the almost incestious relationship of the Director and his mother. Although their relationship is also based on their intense love for each other.
I think that the main reason this series continues to do so well is the incredible caliber of the actors that are cast. There is a reason this golden generation of actors continues to impress all of us. They are simply classy and talented. The writers do a wonderful job as well of giving us great plot twists, good dialogue and quirky yet loveable characters.
If you have yet to check out this series you really need to do so immediately. It’s one of the most surprisingly shocking yet endearing new series currently being streamed.
