Hulu’s Only Murders in the Building is back with – you guessed it – another murder in the building. The premise that was established three seasons ago still hasn’t fallen flat. With a crew like Martin Short’s Oliver, Steve Martin’s Charles, and Selena Gomez’s Mabel, it’s hard not to wait at the edge of your seat and fall back into this show alongside the Arconia residents.
Only Murders in the Building Season 3 starts with a bang, and two new episodes filled with a star-studded new cast, Meryl Streep and Paul Rudd among the new faces. It picks up right where we last left the crew, at the opening night of Oliver’s newest musical, Death Rattle. Ben (Paul Rudd, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania) collapses to his death.
It’s clear what you may be thinking – that’s not a murder in the building! It was on stage, not on the grounds of the Arconia, which Uma (Jackie Hoffman, Knives Out: Glass Onion) is pleased about. But as the episode progresses, and we find out more about what the characters have been up to, we see that all may not be as it seems.
For one, Oliver’s hit play that he was so excited about comes to a halting stop, which also puts on pause the dreams of many starring in it, like newcomer Loretta (Meryl Streep, Big Little Lies) who struggled at first with the play’s material. While we see some budding sparks between her and Oliver, we also find out that she hated Ben…and she was not the only one. Charles wasn’t a big fan, either.
Mabel, who loved Ben’s acting, even says that the lead actor going down on opening night is a brilliant idea for a podcast. She’s clearly hoping to get the crew back together for another hit investigation, and the audience is definitely hoping for that, too. If we go down the list, it seems that anyone could have done it.
But just as they are coming to terms with that, we find out that Ben is – surprise! – not dead. It sounds like everything is going to return to how it was, but at the end of the episode, they uncover a body in the Arconia’s elevator: belonging to none other than Ben. He’s really gone this time, and it’s up to the crew to start investigating for real.
In the second episode, “The Beat Goes On,” a series of turns leads Mabel and Charles down the wrong path while Oliver grapples with the fact that his play may not have been a hit. Oliver even suffers from a heart attack, but is able to recover. At the end of the day, it’s back to the drawing board for them all. Mabel and Charles pick up a new hint, in the form of a handkerchief, and Charles realizes his play would be much better reimagined as a hit musical.
These details will entice you and make you want to watch more, not only to see what happens with their latest murder mystery, but to see where the characters will go next. The Only Murders in the Building Season 3 Premiere mixes humor, drama, and suspense in such a compelling way, and with it so early on in the season, it’s hard to tell which direction we’ll be pulled in next. It sure is going to be fun finding out.
