So my previous piece on Only Murders in the Building only covers this season’s first seven episodes. A studio is making a biopic of our big three, Charles, Mabel, and Oliver (co-creator Steve Martin, Selena Gomez, and Martin Short respectively). Tensions between them and their Hollywood doppelgangers (Eugene Levy, Eva Longoria, and Zach Galifianakis playing fictional versions of themselves) heal up. The big three shuffle between Hollywood and the Arconia as they investigate Sazz Pataki’s (Jane Lynch) murder. This murder coincides with the disappearance of Milton Dudenoff (Griffin Dunne) and Arconia’s weird west wing.
Kumail Nanjiani and Richard Kind lead the Westies who hold a secret directly pertaining to Milton Dudenoff. Milton’s disappearance, again, may or may not have a link to Sazz, her murder and her film work. After all, knowing more about Sazz will lead the big three to finding her mysterious killer. One of her last forays into stunt work involves a big film director whom Mabel hunts down. How much will the show reveal about that disastrous production that may help solve this murder mystery?
Longoria and Levy were the fan favourites of this season so far, and they’re personally fine. The eighth episode, with the title ‘Lifeboat’ gives their characters more quirks like Eva’s multi purpose contraption. Nonetheless, I gravitate more towards Kind and the Westies, who reinforce the show’s much needed New York authenticity. The Westies, even if they’re closer to home, add to this season’s feeling of unwieldiness. So when they knock on the Three’s door, there’s a part of me wanting to wrap this up.
Maybe I’m being unfair to that arc in Only Murders in the Building, only unrelated on surface. There are connections between this season’s two mysteries, like Helga, a name mysterious to the Big Three. Helga, then, shows up as a voice on a ham radio, warning the Three about the Westies. There are, however, characters that actually show their face, like Glen Stubbins (Paul Rudd), a stunt double. One of these characters seems more helpful for the Big Three, but one never knows about that.
My training when it comes to determining good Irish accents from the bad ones is quite spotty, so I’ll give Rudd’s Irish accent a pass but then he can charm his way into anything. If anything, Only Murders in the Building exists for its side characters, even if they occasionally distract. Think of them as beautiful digressions, stories that surprisingly and eventually contribute to a bigger picture. It helps that Jamie Babbit’s direction highlights the charm that his actors have. These two episodes may not always do the flips right but it lands where it should.
Watch Only Murders in the Building every Tuesday on Disney+, the penultimate episode coming out during my birthday.
- Rated: TV-MA
- Genre: Comedy, crime, Mystery, Thriller
- Release Date: 10/15/2024
- Directed by: Jamie Babbit, Robert Pulcini, Shari Springer Berman
- Starring: Martin Short, Selena Gomez, Steve Martin
- Produced by: Jill Risk Wolfe, Joshua Allen Griffith
- Written by: Alex Bigelow, Ben Smith, Jake Schnesel, Kristin Newman
- Studio: 20th Television, 40 Share Productions