Only Murders in the Building Season 3 Episode 3 will have you questioning everyone in the cast, true to the classic and beloved formula of the show. “Grab Your Hankies” also throws new characters in the spotlight, perhaps one of whom may actually have murdered Ben.
The episode kicks off with Martin Short’s Oliver pitching his Death Rattle Dazzle musical idea to the producers. At first, it really seems like a huge undertaking with bleak results. The cast isn’t loving it – in fact, they’re pissed at Oliver, and Steve Martin’s Charles pretends to hate Oliver too in order to “get in” with the rest of them and snoop for clues.
Beyond that, Loretta, played by Meryl Streep, who does an excellent job in the role, may not be sticking with the musical for much longer. Although she believes in Oliver’s idea more than anyone, she may be onto TV fame instead. Oliver is angry about this, which only adds more problems to the slowly overflowing pot.
While Charles tries to get the cast members’ hankies to discover who could have been with Ben when he died, Selena Gomez’s Mabel takes a different route. She snoops around in Bens’ apartment – but she’s far from the only one. The man filming Ben’s documentary is there, also suspiciously looking for something he left behind.
The documentarian, Tobert (Jesse Williams, Grey’s Anatomy), and Mabel question each other at first, but also share a bonding moment that may lead to more in the coming episodes. They also see Dickie (Jeremy Shamos, Better Call Saul), Ben’s brother and manager, lurking in the apartment, talking to himself.
They hide and Tobert reveals he has footage from the day Ben died. Mabel, being the genius sleuth that she is, secretly takes the footage from Tobert. At the end of the episode, the two finally watch it, revealing that Ben was in a passionate argument with somebody the night he died – perhaps a lover?
As far as the musical goes, after Oliver’s outburst, it’s looking worse than ever. But he gives it one more shot – asking Loretta to sing the original lullaby, “Look for the Light.” This performance is stunning, and any viewer can see why the musical may finally be headed in the right direction. Loretta decides she will stay on the musical rather than accepting another role as a TV actress, the producers give Oliver the green light to proceed, and Charles even seems to get in the cast’s good graces for once.
Still, a large number of people are beginning to look suspicious. For one, Loretta always had a reason to despise Ben and it seems like there’s another side to her. Tobert was also rummaging around Ben’s apartment and trying to get on Mabel’s good side – which could be a distraction. And the episode finishes off with suspicion thrown onto Kimber (Ashley Park, Emily in Paris), not only because she may be the person in the video, but because Charles finds out she doesn’t have her hankie, which means it could be the one Ben grabbed, falling to his death!
It’s clear that Kimber’s motivation could also be the fact that she wants to be the star of the show, which is why she also wasn’t thrilled at being in Loretta’s shadow for their performance of “Look for the Light.” We’ll see if Kimber makes any moves in the coming episodes, or if it’s another red herring, especially since we are still very early on in the season. If the past two installments have shown us anything, you really never know who to trust until all is said and done.
