Only Murders in the Building Season 3 Episode 9, the penultimate episode, seemingly zeroed in on a murder suspect responsible for taking out Ben Glenroy, but this new development isn’t all that shocking or exciting. 

The trio—Mabel, Oliver, and Charles—did what they should’ve done about 8 episodes ago in an attempt to solve the mystery: create a timeline of Ben’s movements from opening night. 

By retracing his steps while watching the witness statements, the hope was that they would be able to pinpoint the person responsible. It’s one of the first times this season that they were all on the same page, which is likely why they were able to make some real headway on the case. 

But the revelation that the killer is Donna DeMeo falls kind of flat, particularly when she jumped to the top of the suspect’s list following her chat with Meryl Streep’s Loretta in the bathroom, where she declared that a “mother’s love” knows no bounds when it comes to protecting a child (not to mention the creative forces behind the show underscored that this seemingly fleeting bathroom interaction was going to play a much larger role in the grand scheme of things in a post-mortem, thus nearly confirming that she’s responsible). 

Donna had the most to lose and the most at stake, and with it being her son’s first production—she couldn’t afford for it to be his last. 

The motive was staring them dead in the face the entire time, however, the “how” was unknown until Mabel witnessed Oliver speaking passionately to his biggest vice—dips. 

From there, Mabel was able to piece together that the person Ben was accusing of ruining his career in his dressing room wasn’t a person at all, it was a cookie (his biggest weakness) and one that was poisoned by Donna when she read the early review of the play calling Ben the weakest link. If you’re trying to destroy evidence,  you should probably empty out the shredder—just food for thought. 

They figured they cracked the case with 20 minutes to spare before Loretta’s arraignment, and with time of the essence, needed a fast way to get into the city, which is where Joyce’s bridal dress came in handy. 

Since before the seasons even premiered, fans wondered why Mabel was spotted running across NYC in a wedding dress with her two besties in full-on tuxes by her side (the Fathers of the Bride joke was a nice touch), and now, we know—it was murder business, the best kind of business of all. 

They made it to the courtroom with enough time to spare for Oliver and Loretta to not only quip about how good they both looked—orange is her color—but for him to warn his true love that she can’t confess to a murder she didn’t commit just to save Dickie because he’s not even the prime suspect anymore. 

And that’s when they see Donna, in the crowd, ready for action. It definitely comes off as menacing, but the question does remain—did they pinpoint the right suspect this time around?

And could it really be as easy as Donna? They didn’t put too much thought into Donna’s second attempt at killing Ben, who might not even be the same person. Maybe they only solved half the puzzle?

What about all the other potential suspects? This season hasn’t really done a great job at including them all, including Tobert, who has basically been sidelined for the past few episodes. 

The episode was good at giving a deeper insight into Ben—the man, not the movie star, including his struggles, insecurities, and the fact that his best friends were “5 whores,” who weren’t whores at all, not anymore at least, and in actuality, five ladies that made up his sewing circle. 

We also learned that Loretta was encouraging Dickie to leave Ben behind and no longer serve as his manager because he “deserved better,” (how did no one realize she’s so maternal to him? Did Dickie know the whole time?) a fact Ben found out right before opening night which led to his spiral. And when he shoved the whole poisonous cookie in his mouth, he’s the one who wrote “f**king pig” on the mirror to torment himself. He self-sabotaged. There were so many layers to Ben that sort of explained his asshole-ish ways, and it was kind of heartbreaking to see them pulled back. 

Also, all of this transpired on Mabel’s 30th birthday, with her birthday wish coming true as they were all back together doing what they do best. 

The trio may have landed on their most logical suspect, but there’s still much more to the story, and I for one am hoping that the series pulls the biggest twist of all and reveals that Dickie was, in fact, the second killer. Or maybe it was always Loretta and that’s why she’s so at peace with her decision?

They have a reputation to uphold, and they can’t ruin it on a subpar season. 

What did you think? Are you convinced that Donna is responsible for Ben’s demise?

With just a few episodes left in the third season of Only Murders in the Building and the action ramping up, fans are wondering whether we’re about to reach the end of the road with Mabel (Selena Gomez), Charles (Steve Martin) and Oliver (Martin Short), the dynamic murder-mystery-solving-podcasting trio. 

It would be a shame to wrap up a series with a cast that has such a genuine bond and chemistry, however, one has to wonder how many murders three people can endure without it taking a toll on their mental health.

This season alone, it seems like they’re over death taking such a strong hold over their lives, but then again, getting to solve the unsolved mysteries and helping those wrongly incarcerated get out of prison is important work.

As for writing, Hulu has not given word on whether it will renew or cancel Only Murders in the Building. This means Only Murders in the Building Season 4 is not guaranteed, and it can go either way, however, it does have plenty working in its favor. Each season, there’s a better and more star-studded cast, leaving fans wondering how the series can top itself.

There’s also plenty of buzz and interest in the show, along with rave reviews, including Emmy wins and nominations. The writers continue finding new and fresh ways to expand the storyline, with season 3 roping in potential suspects outside of the walls of the Arconia (though the murder does still happen there) through Oliver’s Broadway play.

There are so many reasons for Hulu to give the series a green light, however, we may have to wait a smidge longer as it’s impossible currently due to the ongoing WGA and SAG-AFTRA strike. The strikes have halted production on most shows, and that extends to any talks of renewals.

Until an agreement is reached between the union and the studios, we likely won’t get any information about the show’s fate, unless there was an agreement for a fourth season in place prior to the strikes.

If there are any developments, we’ll update this post quickly and accordingly. 

You can catch up on all of our OMITB reviews here. 

Only Murders in the Building Season 3 Episode 7 picked up following Mabel, Charles, and Oliver’s huge fight—and the tension was surely present. 

None of them felt compelled to apologize, and when Charles realized Oliver was already re-casting for his role, it was an even bigger gut punch.

Oliver thought he landed on a gem when Matthew Broderick walked through the door, but as it turns out, getting a Broadway legend to play the Constable comes with plenty of strings attached and a process that was way too invested than it needed to be. 

Before he knew it, Oliver was missing the simplicity and kindness that Charles always brought to the set. The old saying that you don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone couldn’t be more true in this instance, so when Oliver finally had enough and sort of, well, snapped, he couldn’t be more delighted to see Charles lurking by the door and ready to make amends. 

Broderick was shown the door—sorry, Ferris Bueller—while Charles and Oliver forgave each other over a glass of gut milk. It’s at that point that Oliver felt the need to share his fears about Loretta potentially being the killer—long overdue—though Charles didn’t seem to get that same vibe after looking at her little burn book filled with pictures of Ben Glenroy. As Oliver pointed out, his track record with identifying killers isn’t great, so we probably shouldn’t take his word for it.

Charles suggested that Oliver simply talk to Loretta, but I haven’t crossed her off my lists of suspects just yet, and I don’t think she’d take too kindly to being accused of being a murderer or even questioned about her involvement. Not to mention the fact that Oliver stole her personal property. 

Not wanting to believe that someone is capable of murder doesn’t explain why “f**king pig” was written on the mirror in Ben’s dressing room, but there’s still a lot that needs to be addressed from that night and the events prior to his death, along with why Charles hit Ben right before the show in the first place. We haven’t gotten a full picture here, and it’s kind of frustrating that it’s just bits and pieces that may be something or may be nothing. The action is very slow-paced. 

This season started off as a very promising one with the theater setting leading to Ben’s death, but it feels like the focus has been lost, likely because the characters aren’t as invested in solving the mystery either, well, aside from Mabel, that is. It’s come as an afterthought rather than something that’s being prioritized, so instead, the plot is all over the place, and with each passing episode, we’re no closer to learning the truth. 

At the very least, Mabel made a discovery that slowly but surely moved things along and led to the first podcast episode, solo as Bloody Mabel this time—though both Theo and Tobert were on hand for the assist—which also convinced Detective Biswani to reopen Ben’s murder investigation. I guess that’s a fair outcome when someone outright and publicly states that they’ve got the wrong guy serving time behind bars.

Mabel and Theo, who was on hand to help her move out of her apartment, attended the CoBro auction being hosted by Dickie to get some insight as to Ben’s final moments. Dickie didn’t seem pleased with Mabel digging around and trying to make some money off of her brother despite doing the exact same thing, however, he eventually opened up and aired some grievances that definitely gave motive. 

It’s no surprise to learn that Ben was an asshole—we’ve known that—but it was heartbreaking that all of his success was stolen from his brother, who was the actual mastermind behind CoBro. And despite all of it, Ben kept Dickie as nothing more than his assistant till the very end—that’s enough to make anyone snap and get revenge. 

As Mabel’s podcast episode reaches the masses, we also see Dickie cling to the handkerchief that Uma stole from Ben’s cold dead hands after his fall, the bloody fingerprints still there, which does kind of make him seem guilty. Did he buy it from her simply as a memento of his brother or did he want to make sure there was no evidence for cops to find?

Mabel also figured out that Greg couldn’t have killed Ben because he wasn’t even in the building at the time of his death, which is what the cops hinged their whole investigation on. And she only knew this because Dickie slipped up and informed her that Ben always set his watches 20 min early, meaning that he wasn’t killed at 12:06 but 12:26 when Greg was already gone.

While she doesn’t have a suspect at the moment of the podcast episode’s launch, this doesn’t bode well for Dickie, who not only had motive but also now had someone to pin Ben’s death on; a scapegoat. He clearly knew about Greg for “years” and was always protecting his brother from him, so maybe he just decided to let Greg take the fall because of his “obsession,” while Dickie got to walk away, free from Ben’s toxicity. 

But this is also the problem with the season, no case has really been made against any of the suspects aside from broad general observations. Mabel insisted that this was a very credible piece of evidence, and she’s right, they have accused off of way less, but it shouldn’t be—seven episodes into a season of a whodunnit means we should be in a tailspin, finger-pointing at everyone for a good reason. 

While Mabel didn’t replace the olds in her podcast, choosing to move forward alone, Tobert and Theo were technically stepping in, and it was fun to see her dynamic with someone other than Charles and Oliver. I do wonder if maybe Tobert is so eager to help her as to take the heat and attention off of himself.

Oliver and Charles decided to offer up Loretta’s burn book as a peace offering to Mabel the following morning, but when they knocked on the door, they were face to face with a new tenant—a fed-up and tired new mom. 

I was hoping that Mabel wouldn’t actually move out of the Arconia, but alas, her time had come, and without the connection to the olds, I wonder how she’ll find access to the building to continue her investigation… not that I think she’ll have any problem getting through security, especially as she’ll likely be forced to work with the FBI moving forward. 

And hopefully, they all make up sooner rather than later and bring this mystery home because the killer is staring them right in the face this whole time.

What did you think of the episode? Are you enjoying the season? Or is it an, as Oliver would put it, epic fail?

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