The Beat Goes On

In the latest episode of Only Murders in the Building's third season, titled "Grab Your Hankies," the murder mystery surrounding actor Ben Glenroy's death unfolds further, revealing a complex web of suspects. Meryl Streep's character, Loretta, emerges as a prime suspect due to her history of hostility with Ben. The episode explores potential suspects Tobert and Kimber, highlighting their characters' roles. As Mabel investigates, she encounters Tobert in Ben's penthouse, leading to intriguing chemistry between them. Tobert confesses to having crucial footage of Ben's final moments, implicating Kimber due to a tense conversation and jealousy. The episode artfully balances Loretta's audition and musical involvement, deepening character dynamics. The trio's usual banter takes a backseat, allowing individual pursuits and fresh dynamics. Despite departing from the high-energy premiere, the episode provides character development while maintaining entertainment value.

In the latest episode of Only Murders in the Building, Ben Glenroy is the murder victim, having fallen down the elevator shaft of the Arconia. Despite not being the most sympathetic victim, the story continues to unfold, with new layers being revealed. As the story unfolds, viewers and onscreen sleuths become more invested in solving Ben's murder. Mabel, a fan of Ben from his TV show Girl Cop, is determined to investigate the crime, even sneaking photos of the crime scene before the police arrive. Oliver, on the other hand, is more concerned about the murder shutting down his play and the dismantling of his sets. He decides to track them down at Ben's star-studded funeral and convince them that the show must go on. Mabel joins Oliver and Charles for the funeral, but they are relegated to "Overflow 3," a room playing a live stream of the service happening in the main cathedral upstairs. Mabel meets Ben's security guard Greg, who has been doing some investigating work of his own, and offers to share his files with Mabel. The story highlights the importance of understanding and sleuthing in the face of adversity. Mabel and Charles discover Greg's apartment, where they discover a shrinelike collection of Ben Glenroy memorabilia. They realize they need to escape, but are chloroformed and chained to a pipe in Greg's basement. With eight more episodes left in the season, they hope to find a way out. Mabel and Charles' relationships with Ben are explored, giving deeper meaning to their interest in solving his murder. Mabel, a fan of Girl Cop, explains that it helped her connect with her mother after her father's death and that she feels a connection to the late actor, despite not knowing him personally. The story highlights the importance of understanding and overcoming personal challenges in solving murders. Charles's relationship with Ben is revealed to be more complicated than previously thought. In a flashback, he confronts Ben about his rudeness and reveals that he was fired from a play at the age of 8 for being "phony." Ben decided to make his life hell instead of getting Charles fired in return. Now, it's too late to make things right, but catching his killer would be a start. Mabel and Charles are convinced that the crazed stalker who chained them up in a basement full of weapons is the killer, but they are surprised when Greg accuses Charles of killing Ben. The police raid the basement just as Greg is about to light them up with a crème brûlée torch. Oliver, who has spent 15 years in Broadway jail, is desperate to make Death Rattle happen by any means necessary. He begs Maxine, a theater critic, to share her review with them, thinking it would encourage the producers to save the show. Oliver is desperate to make the show happen because he knows how cold it gets when the spotlight gets taken away and how difficult it can be to get it back.

As someone who loves Only Murders in the Building, I must say this must be one of my least favorite episodes throughout the series so far.

Ben who is portrayed by Paul Rudd is not a loveable character at all, but it was nice to see how he opened up to Oliver, the reason he is mad at Charles and was sweet to see how much he meant to Mabel growing up. Other than that I found the show difficult to watch with what happened to Oliver.

I found Mabel's theories about what happened to Ben and the handkerchief he was holding interesting and I am pretty sure they'll look into it more.

Sad to see Loretta (Meryl Streep) missing from this episode.

We binge watched the first 2 and would be watching ep 3 if it was up right now.

The story expands with some nice touches. Overflow 3 was hilarious, as was Adrian Martinez as number 1 super fan, and the interrogation room scene.

The episode was rich with clever details, including the hallucination dance number, and the quietly funny correct names of parts of a church building.

Steve Martin and his co writer must have saved up a book full of funny details to drop into shows and we're seeing them pop up everywhere. There as some really clever lines in here that do not insult the audiences intelligence and if you miss them, no matter, they'll be more you will get.

The only minor drawback is the unnecessary swearing which seems out of place. I get what they're going for but I think we've moved past the shock value of expletives now. There's no weight in it anymore, so it seems a misjudgement on the writers part, perhaps a left over from the period these people lived through. Mabel in particular still doesn't really work as a character and that's partly because of the uncomfortable way she swears. A small point we over look.

The set up was good, all the players with their motives nicely outlined. Bring on episode 3.

This episode clinched it for me. Now I have to wait for Tuesday nights again and feel lousy thirty minutes later because it's over. I think the beauty of this show is the sincerity of the characters. Martin short is always looking forward to the next gig (even after so many of them have failed miserably). Steve Martin is the cautious one who tries to be the voice of reason when things get out of hand, but has an ego that needs to be fed. Selena Gomez wants to be cool and make something of herself, but keeps being drawn back to these old guys because she really cherishes them. Here we have the return of the victim (I won't say how). There are great scenes where an imagines dance number makes Oliver imagine the play as a musical. Now he has to sell it. There is a great bit at the funeral where the gang is put in a big room to watch it on CCTV. Then we have a kidnapping and a possible revenge murder. Keep it coming. It's terrific.