On this week’s episode of Only Murders in the Building, the Arconia gang deals with their breakup by seeing new people. Mabel forms a new trio with Theo (whoo!) and Tobert to pursue leads around Dickie, while Charles tracks down Ben’s bloody hankie from Uma (Jackie Hoffman).
Matthew Broderick briefly joins Death Rattle as Charles’ replacement, but Oliver learns why you never ask an actor more than two follow-up questions during rehearsal. Oliver and Charles make up and prepare to apologize to Mabel, but they get hit with two long-developing bombs: Mabel’s moved out of the Arconia and she’s started a new season of the podcast without them.
For this week’s episode, let’s go to the CableTV.com Only Murders in the Building Suspicion Power Rankings. As always, we’re ranking characters from most to least suspicious using two metrics:
- Who killed Ben Glenroy on Only Murders in the Building?
- Did they have something to do with the murder?
Who killed Ben Glenroy on Only Murders in the Building?
#1: Dickie
Mabel and Theo head to a silent auction to talk to Dickie (Jeremy Shamos), but the investigation has a rocky start. After Mabel asks about Ben’s death, he accuses her of trying to make a dollar off of him and storms away. But after a follow-up conversation, Dickie starts to open up to Mabel and, in short: hoo boy.
Dickie reveals that he was adopted because his parents had problems conceiving a child, but eventually, they had Ben. Behind the scenes, Dickie was always managing Ben’s various scandals (illicit pics, arrests, feud with the Pope) but resented having to play second fiddle and constantly take care of him.
Later, Theo pitches a potential motive to Mabel and Tobert after examining the original CoBro drawing: What if Dickie was the original creator of CoBro and Ben stole the idea from him? The drawing was originally credited to a B. Glenroy, but Theo points out that the “B” was originally written as an “R.” The CoBro film franchise turned Ben into a movie star and kept Dickie from earning millions in profits.
And if that wasn’t enough, the episode’s closing montage shows that Dickie bought Ben’s bloody hankie from Uma. Did Dickie kill Ben? With three episodes left this season, we’re due for a few more story turns, but Dickie’s firmly locked onto our leaderboard.
#2: Loretta
Loretta took this week off, but she’s still on the suspect board for several reasons:
- Did she write the message on Ben’s dressing room mirror?
- What was her feud with Ben about?
- The Special Guest Star in a murder mystery is always involved, right?
In Loretta-related developments, Oliver shares Loretta’s Ben scrapbook with Charles to get his advice.
But as Charles points out, her scrapbook full of Ben news clippings is weird, but it’s not proof that she’s a murderer. Charles—who knows a thing or two about breakups due to poor communication—suggests that Oliver talk to Loretta and ask her about the book.
#3: Dr. C
Dr. C also keeps his spot on the leaderboard, as we still haven’t figured out how Ben got poisoned during the murderer’s first attempt.
#4: K.T.
K.T.’s office and shredder maintain their locations on the suspect board for this week’s power rankings. We know that the office was locked and being used during opening night. Last week’s episode also had an intentional close-up of her office shredder, and you don’t do a Chekhov’s paper shredder scenario if you don’t intend to pay it off later.
#5: Kimber
At this point, we can safely rule out the bulk of the Death Rattle cast. Jonathan came and went off our big board, and the rest of the cast has been on the sidelines. Kimber (Ashley Park) still has a spot on our big board for several reasons (she’s the only cast member who got voiceover duty, her death glare at Loretta), but we’re inching closer to even odds on her being a culprit or a red herring.
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Off the board
- Cliff (the producer’s son)
- Jonathan (we cooked that shoe but did not eat it)
- Joy (safely single/out of sight)
- Cinda Canning (she’s just around to tempt Mabel away from the Arconia, and Tina Fey probably had to leave to film A Haunting In Venice)
Playbill notes
- This week’s opening credits easter egg: The hankie doubles as the wallpaper in Charles’ apartment.
- Ben’s watch habits put a bow on Gregg (Adrian Martinez) being falsely arrested for Ben’s murder, as he left the Arconia 20 minutes before Ben died.
- Jackie Hoffman is on voiceover duty this week, and we also get a flashback cameo from Bunny (Jayne Houdyshell) as they grab lunch at the Pickle Diner.
- Speaking of unexpected cameos, Oliver does a video call with Mel Brooks for tips on handling Matthew Broderick and his deluge of performance notes. Beyond being another example of Martin Short and Steven Martin working their Rolodex to fill this season’s guest spots, it also gives us an excuse to point out the shared history between all three men. Short was initially offered a role in Mel Brooks’s The Producers but turned it down over family commitments. Matthew Broderick and Nathan Lane headlined the show’s acclaimed New York run, but Short would eventually star in the show’s 2003 Los Angeles production alongside Jason Alexander:
Eric Chiu is a CableTV.com senior writer who covers internet tech, entertainment, and sports news. He’s written about consumer technology for nearly a decade for outlets including CNN Underscored, Wirecutter, Newsweek Media Group and TopTenReviews/Future. In his free time, he enjoys playing any instrument he can find, rooting for the Michigan Wolverines, and hunting for the best hole-in-the-wall restaurants.
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