Major spoilers to follow
From the moment that the mystery over who killed Ben Glenroy opened up in the theatre and not in the Arconia, it was evident that Only Murders in the Building – a show that was now taking place outside of it – was losing its way. There was always a likelihood of that for a murder mystery show that started off enjoyable for a first series and became somewhat derivative in the second. After all, there are only so many ways that a whodunnit can be taken. Although the third season expresses the occasional tendency to dazzle, the mystery of Paul Rudd’s deceased and disliked actor failed to compel on the whole, for a handful of reasons.
By labelling a member of the cast of Oliver’s stage play Death Rattle as the culprit, season three finds an engaging concept for a murder mystery akin to the first season’s revelation that one of Tim Kono’s fellow Arconia residents must have been responsible for killing him. However, very few of the characters actually become established, and only a handful of them outside of Glenroy himself form an identity, most of whom are implausible killers. Take Meryl Streep’s Loretta as an example – giving one of the world’s most treasured actresses the great challenge of playing someone who cannot act – who comes in as such an obvious top suspect that it so clearly will not be here. If it was, the result would be disappointing. The result turned out to be disappointing regardless.
Some of the characters were so underdeveloped that their names fail to spring to one’s mind. Instead, only a few characters were viable, and the hints towards them were too overt for anybody else to have been responsible. On Writers Room Reviews, episode-by-episode blame was wrongly shifted onto Tobert, Ben’s cameraman who embarked on a fling with Selena Gomez’s Mabel. Aside from him, it was the incestuous devotion of Donna and Cliff that caught viewer’s attention, but nothing was enforced to make audiences care about them, because they were essentially nothing more than a nuisance.
Season three never seemed to care about its mystery. A lack of commitment to the suspects, and to the legend of Ben Glenroy himself, came about because those writing the show became too distracted by the other ingredients they insisted on throwing into the pan and ended up juggling too much. Part of this was the insistence on including characters from years gone by, and giving them each a (forced) role, like Cinda and Theo and trying to balance these with the new additions to the ensemble, and another part was that there was little care taken to anything outside of the character’s of Mabel, Oliver and Charles. The dynamic between Gomez, Martin and (particularly) Short has been magnetic since the show began – and arguably the reason why the first season became such a hit – but by this stage their characters are fully fleshed out and the focus should be on having fun and solving mysteries. There are parts of that in this season, but it lacks the spark that made the two previous mysteries so engaging.
Anybody who speculated that the mystery of Glenroy’s killer would end up being a disappointment would be right, as the season drew towards a close. Unlike Poppy and Jan before her, Cliff was neither somebody the audience hated or loved. He was someone they hardly even knew, so why should they care about him? He wasn’t even in most of the season, he wasn’t in previous seasons, and he wasn’t a resident of the Arconia. Sure, the murder technically happened in the building, but that must be reinforced as a technicality. It was a mystery with only very few possible answers, and Only Murders unfortunately dished up the least interesting ones imaginable. Drawing in Streep and Rudd for the game was a great move – and they fitted in seamlessly – but it’s just a shame that the mystery around them wasn’t done greater justice.
While there are hints of metaness at the heart of the narrative, the scriptwriting spark lacks some of the ignition it needs to set off. This was a show about three true crime nuts coming together and obsessing about their love of podcasts, and stumbling into a mystery. The whole podcast shtick is hardly ever exploited in this season. Instead, it’s a mere platform for an old-fashioned, bog-standard murder mystery that nobody ever particularly cared about to begin with.
Following the usual structure which a finale of Only Murders must (according to the rulebook) adhere to, Only Murders sets up the season to come with another dead body in the building, and this time it’s Jane Lynch’s Sazz. Admittedly, this is unfortunate, as Sazz is one of the show’s funniest recurring characters, and this takes the opportunity for her to provide levity away from the narrative. The mystery her death opens up, however, is quite interesting, especially since we have known her, and about her links to Charles, since series one. The killer was after Charles, presumably, but who would want him dead? Is Jan back? We’ll find out on the next season of Only Murders in the Building…
Writers' Room Reviews 