“They’re my best buds. [We talk about] murder, mostly. And how to connect to Bluetooth. We talk about that a lot.” – Selena Gomez’ Mabel explaining her friendship with Martin Short’s Oliver and Steve Martin’s Charles to a new friend.
Just before the curtain closed on Season 2 of the smash hit Hulu mystery-comedy series “Only Murders in the Building,” Paul Rudd’s Ben Glenroy was about to deliver the first line of the comeback vehicle for veteran Broadway director Oliver Putnam (Martin Short), when Ben started gasping for breath before falling to the stage, quite dead.
“You’ve got to be f---ing kidding me,” exclaimed Selena Gomez’ Mabel from the audience.
Just before the credits roll on the premiere episode of Season 3, a certain thing happens which we won’t spoil, leading Jackie Hoffman’s Uma Heller, a longtime resident of the Arconia apartment building complex, to sardonically exclaim, “You’ve got to be f---ing kidding me.”
Indeed, these sentiments echo what the viewer might well be thinking: There’s ANOTHER mystery for the unlikely trio of amateur sleuths/podcasters Oliver, Mabel Mora (Selena Gomez) and Charles-Haden Savage (Steve Martin) to investigate? Why, this is absurd! Madness, I tell you! Farcical insanity, designed to bring about yet more inspired comedy, brilliant writing, nifty twists and turns, and let’s bring in some high-powered A-list guest talents to further muddy the waters, why don’t we?
YES. Sounds great to me.
Season 3 kicks off with Ben kicking the bucket before we flash back some four months and follow the build-up to the opening night of “Death Rattle,” a murder mystery that will mark Oliver’s return to Broadway after a long and painful exile. (Somehow, the play seems to center around infant triplets in Nova Scotia who are accused of murder. I’m not sure Agatha Christie’s legacy is in peril.) And what a coup to land the TV and movie actor Ben Glenroybest known for the “CoBro” film franchise about a zoologist who morphs into a 20-foot, crime-fighting snake, for the lead!
Paul Rudd turns his trademark affable everyman persona inside-out in a sly and hilarious performance as the odious Ben, a preening and casually cruel narcissist who can offend an entire room within five minutes, as he does when he shows up (late, of course) for the first table read of “Death Rattle.” The play also stars Charles, the veteran actor best known for his long-running detective show on PBS, “Brazzos”; the TikTok influencer Kimber (Ashley Park), and, in the pivotal role of the triplets’ nanny, an unknown actress named Loretta, who has finally gotten a break after decades of failed auditions, and yes, it’s a hoot that Meryl Streep, the most decorated actress of our time, is playing Loretta. We get an extra helping of meta humor when Loretta insists on trying out different exotic accents for her character at that first table read. I mean, who does she think she is, Meryl Streep?
Shortly after Ben’s murder, police arrest a stalker and consider the case closed, but Mabel, Charles and Oliver come to believe otherwise. It’s more likely the killer is someone associated in some way with “Death Rattle.” After all, the egomaniacal Ben was so despicable he had provided a motive to just about everyone, from any of the cast members to Ben’s beleaguered and resentful brother/manager Dickie (Jeremy Shamos) to the makeup artist Joy (Andrea Martin), who is in a relationship with Charles.
As Oliver restages “Death Rattle” as a musical, “OMITB” becomes even more inspired, with star Broadway songwriters such as Justin Paul and Benj Pasek, Sara Bareilles and Michael R. Jackson crafting plausible and, in some cases, infectious tunes, including a devastatingly effective solo for Loretta and a crazy “patter song” by Charles titled “Which of the Pickwick Triplets Did It,” with Steve Martin mastering lyrics such as:
Which of the Pickwick triplets did it
Which little putz had the guts to kill
As a forensics pediatrician I’ll complete this inquisition
I will name the neo-natal from the cradle that proved fatal
I will find the perpetrator that did murder to their maker!
Adding to the fun: an extended cameo from a modern-day Broadway legend playing an exaggerated version of himself, and a brief appearance by one of the great comic icons of all time, also playing himself. Having seen the first eight episodes of the 10-chapter run, I’m dying (so to speak) to see who did it and why.
Martin Short, Steve Martin and Selena Gomez are never short of wonderful together, and though there are times when it appears life is taking the trio down three separate paths and their crime-solving days could be winding down, we hope somebody gets killed at the end of Season 3. That might sound harsh, but it would mean we’d be getting a Season 4. At the very least, I’m hoping to find out which, if any, of the Pickwick Triplets Did It.
