Only Murders in the Building Episode 9 features more than one special occasion; beyond Loretta’s court hearing, we also have a birthday, and a wedding! Perhaps the most long-awaited of them all is a reunion.
The trio is back – and better than ever before! Even though the three of them coming together in episode nine feels a little late in the game, they finally take everything they’ve learned this season and piece it together.
The episode, titled “Thirty,” starts with Oliver recovering in the hospital. (Well, it actually starts out with a slightly disturbing dream where Mabel is giving birth to not only Charles and Oliver, but a podcast.) Thankfully, Oliver’s okay, although we may need a minute to recuperate after seeing Mabel’s dream. But there’s no time to waste, since the crew has some interrogation tapes to watch!
First, Dickie (Jeremy Shamos, Better Call Saul) reveals his alibi to the trio – and it seems pretty solid. While Dickie may not have done it, he does give them some valuable information that leads to a whole new world of information on Ben. The three check out the place Dickie says Ben wandered off to each week and realize that Ben used to meet up with five older women in a sewing shop. He was part of a sewing circle, where he even made the Death Rattle hankies.
While this is unexpected, the ladies give our true crime trio some insight into Ben’s strong connection with them and discuss how Ben felt alone in his life. Then, Mabel, Charles, and Oliver decide they need to look into the others in the cast and crew and figure out who really had it out for Ben.
In the meantime, we also find out that it’s Mabel’s thirtieth birthday! The guys put a candle in a dip container and sing her a birthday song. While Mabel reveals that her life really didn’t turn out the way she thought it would when she was 10, it’s nice to see that the group are all besties again and that, even if her life took some unexpected turns, there’s really nothing Mabel loves more than doing murder stuff with her two best friends.
They start a timeline of the events they hear about in the interrogation tapes, working out what truly happened the night of Ben’s death. Multiple people seem potentially suspicious in the flashback to that night, from Loretta to Dickie to Tobert, but at this point, we’ve pointed fingers at everybody. This sequence is shown to us in classic Only Murders in the Building fashion, by setting it up as if we, the audience, are in the theater seats alongside the trio, watching the many twists of that night unfold.
The clips lead us to brand new information, like the fact that Loretta (Meryl Streep, The Devil Wears Prada) encouraged Dickie to quit working for Ben, and how Ben was fasting before the show. All of these clues paint a better picture of the night Ben died, especially by showcasing who Ben was talking to in the clip caught on Tobert’s camera.
As the viewer, it may be easy to guess where this is going based on the events, but Mabel soon mentions the idea onscreen: Ben wasn’t talking to a person that night, he was talking to a cookie – the same cookie Donna (Linda Emond, Succession) baked and subtly encouraged Ben to eat. Ben was not in a good place mentally, and he was on a strict fast, which causes him to write “fucking pig” on his own mirror. This reveal is a bit shocking, along with sad to see.
Also, Howard (Michael Cyril Creighton, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel) bursts in through the door, revealing he put together the shredded papers. The paper that was cut up that night was the review Oliver almost received, saying his play sucked.
Now, who would want the play to be a big success? Of course, most of the cast, and definitely Oliver. But who else, more than Donna, who gave Ben the cookie and was funding her son Cliff’s (Wesley Taylor, Smash) first production? Since the review said the play was horrible – and specifically called out Ben’s acting – how far would Donna go to save her son’s big debut?
Did Donna just put rat poison on Ben’s cookie and wait for him to die? Then, as the crew believes, Donna pushed him down the elevator shaft at the Arconia. It might not be 100% correct; there is still one more episode, after all, and while Donna may have planted the poisoned cookie, there’s a chance someone else pushed Ben to his death. However, there’s a decent possibility that this is the answer we’ve been waiting for, as well. It certainly highlights an important theme that this season has been emphasizing: a mother will do anything for her child.
So, the crew decide it’s time to prove Loretta’s innocence since her arraignment is that day. Charles and Oliver throw on suits and Mabel gets in Joy’s wedding dress – because no one says no to a bride. They get into the courthouse and are about to reveal everything, when their eyes fall on Donna and the episode comes to a close.
“Thirty” is yet another episode that will have you laughing, right before gripping the edge of your seat. This is what makes Only Murders in the Building such a special series. In the season finale, all will finally be revealed. And we’ll just have to see if the conclusion ends in a cliffhanger, with another budding murder to be solved in seasons to come.
