We’re around halfway through Only Murders in the Building Season 3 and already, the killer has come clean about their crime. Yes, that’s right—a confession has been made.
Well, that is, if you believe in spirits, ghosts, and bad voodoo as potential causes of death.
Howard (Michael Cyril Creighton) arrives at Mabel’s (Selena Gomez) doorstop ready to reveal some huge news: “I have something to confess,” he says. “I killed Ben Glenroy.” What a twist! But the “killing” wasn’t real. Howard forgot to perform the Gooseberry Theater’s ritual on the opening night of Death Rattle. He blames himself for Ben’s (Paul Rudd) death, although he played no part in the actual murder.
Before each performance, someone must sweep Gideon, the ghost of the Gooseberry, off the stage. Any performance where this doesn’t happen will be cursed. Howard was sweeping before every rehearsal, horrified by the ghost, but forgot to do so on the night of the show. While prepping for Death Rattle’s upcoming musical adaptation, Howard claims to have seen Gideon haunting the theater. Death Rattle is cursed!
Still, if there’s any one Only Murders cast member I’d place my bets on being innocent, it’d be Howard. Mabel, Oliver (Martin Short), and Charles (Steve Martin) come off more guilty than sweet Howard. But the trio suspect there might be some foul play involving Jonathan (Jason Veasey), who was Ben’s understudy, and who appears to be working with Ben’s doctor in some capacity. That was who he met for drinks in the last episode. If that’s the case, there’s a chance Howard has been helping Jonathan, who also happens to be Howard’s boyfriend, to rid the production of Ben so both can take the spotlight.
The main trio bands together once again, after having spent the last few episodes separated in rehearsals and on dates. Mabel, Charles, and Oliver spend a rainy New York day in their wellies at the Gooseberry Theater looking for clues and the ghost of Gideon. Mabel is elated to have the gang back together, but is just as quickly alone again when both Oliver and Charles leave her to pursue their own side quests at the Gooseberry.
Charles’ storyline has been whittled down to bare bones; although he’s still a delightful presence, he really doesn’t have all that much to do with the murder itself. He’s brought his pet goldfish President McKinley along for the sleuthing. McKinley is all Charles has left, he whines, following Joy’s (Andrea Martin) departure from his life. Charles accidentally locks himself in a closet trying to find more water for McKinley’s draining bag, nearly killing himself with a fog machine in an effort to escape.
On the flip side, Oliver’s arc is actually related to the ongoing plot. While climbing through the rafters of the theater, he encounters an old director friend, Jerry (Peter Bartlett), who has been squatting in the theater for…decades? Who knows. Jerry has been acting as the ghost, dropping sandbags on people and shouting late at night, as to scare away anyone who might find him. He was the one who scared the crap out of poor Howard.
Oliver confesses to his pal that’s broken the first rule of theater. “Don’t feed Hugh Jackman after midnight?” Jerry asks, a clever Wolverine quip. But no, the actual first rule is to not fall in love with the actors. Oliver is head over heels for Loretta.
But Jerry has some insight that may affect Oliver’s feelings. From his vantage point, Jerry was able to see the big fight that broke out between Loretta and Ben—although he doesn’t know what caused it, he did see that Charles got involved at some point and punched Ben in the face.
Near the dressing rooms, Mabel confronts Jonathan about meeting with Ben’s doctor. Jonathan is too adorable to be the killer. He’s been really anxious about having to step into Ben’s part, so he asked the stage doctor to give him the “leading man cocktail” of anxiety meds. Jonathan has been hiding this from Howard because he doesn’t want Howard to worry about how nervous he is to take the stage.
Mabel is relieved to be reunited with Charles (who has escaped the closet) and Oliver (who has pledged to keep Jerry’s hiding space a secret). But Oliver is enraged with Charles over the fact that he punched Ben on opening night. Charles argues this was only because he was trying to defend Loretta, and that Oliver didn’t have any control over his stars. They have a friend break up. Mabel is displeased, and says she should’ve stuck with Cinda (Tina Fey) to make their own ladies’ podcast.
In the heat of the fight, Oliver smears the lipstick on Ben’s mirror, making it an illegible clue. Oliver has drawn a line in the sand between his sleuthing pals and his relationship with Loretta. Oliver is pointedly on Loretta’s side, even if she is Ben’s murderer. It’s quite early in the game for Only Murders to be pointing towards a killer—but Loretta has done nothing but prove herself more and more guilty.
Clues From the Crime Scene
-Charles and Oliver kick Tobert (Jesse Williams) out of the sleuth crew. Still, Tobert crashes their theater search sesh. Again, there are no clues pointing towards Tobert, but he continues to act super suspicious.
-Alas, no one is more suspicious than Loretta. Oliver uses her scrapbook of Ben artifacts to compare her handwriting to the “FUCKING PIG” lipstick note. They match perfectly. It’s Loretta’s handwriting. Oliver pretends he doesn’t notice.
-More Loretta clues: During the fight, Jerry recalls seeing Loretta get in Ben’s face and hearing her call him “a cock-sucking ding-dong.” Oliver says this doesn’t sound like Loretta. Jerry suggest maybe it was something else, perhaps, “Fucking pig!”
-Jonathan says that Ben was also taking the “leading man cocktail,” but one of the key ingredients—a dash of methamphetamine—didn’t show up in Ben’s autopsy. Did someone give him the wrong pill the night of the show?
Keep obsessing! Sign up for the Daily Beast’s Obsessed newsletter and follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and TikTok.
