Review: 'Only Murders In The Building' Season Three

When you get to a certain age, you realize that an increasingly large amount of your time is filled with ghosts. People close to you who have drifted away or left your life for reasons which seemed to make sense at the time. Family members and friends start to pass away and the ones who remain reflect the aging that you try not to see in yourself. In a weird way, even the presence of those familiar faces haunts you with the reminders of what lies in store for you. You regret decisions you made in haste and the roads not traveled. You struggle to remember important moments of your life, but can recall every second of a mistake you made fifty years ago. This psychic haunting is one of the things they don't warn you about when you're younger and it comes for every person if they live long enough.

Much of the attention paid to Only Murders In The Building since it premiered has rightfully been paid to the way the show seeks to upend the traditional murder mystery format at the core of the show. And just as important to the success of the series has been the chemistry between leads Steve Martin, Martin Short and Selena Gomez. 

But what I've most enjoyed about the show wasn't the comedy or the obvious fun the trio have in every episode. It was the way in which Oliver Putnam (Martin Short), Charles (Steve Martin) and even the much younger Mabel (Selena Gomez) haltingly used each season's mystery as a way to find the road back to the person they wanted to be. The person they've been reminded every day was lost somewhere without them even realizing it at the time.

I won't say that season three of Only Murders In The Building is fan service for viewers such as myself, but the episodes I've seen do pare back the comedy (and even the mystery solving) in favor of an ongoing battle between the hope that comes with seeing another chance to live again and the melancholy that comes with realizing it might be slipping away from you once more. But this time, you're all too conscious of what you would be losing.

Oliver is living his dream directing a Broadway play. But with the "one step forward, two steps back" karma that has been Oliver's life, the play happens to be a murder mystery and the leading man Ben (Paul Rudd) dies onstage. Was it murder? Well, Oliver cares about that. but maybe not as much as he does about keeping his show alive. Which involves solving the murder. 

Charles's dormant career has been revived, thanks to success of the podcasts and he even has a new girlfriend Joy (Andrea Martin). But season three finds him distracted and fretting in the way that only someone who isn't quite comfortable in his skin can manage. I won't say he self-sabotages his happiness. But he certainly isn't helping himself. 

As I said, the murder mystery part of the season feels pushed back into the background and there are time when it feels as if Mabel is the primary investigator. Which is not good for a show that became a hit in large part due to the interplay between all three leads.

And that's the core problem with this season. It's a difficult challenge to bring back this premise for a third season and you can see some of them seams where writers tried to bring everything back together when one or more scenes just wandered off into an entirely different show. Secondary characters are brought back for not much of a reason and there are conversations taking place between Mabel and Oliver or Charles that I swear are simply variations of those that took place in a previous season.

But at the end of it all, the cast make season three of Only Murders In The Building worth savoring. While I don't think the show has ever quite got a consistent tone for Oliver, I'd argue it could be Martin Short's best scripted role. It's certainly his best TV turn since his role on the 1979/1980 comedy The Associates, because in both cases, Short was given the opportunity to be broad but also emotionally nuanced. It's a reminder of just how great an actor he can be when given the chance.

Steve Martin is someone whose acting roles haven't always measured up to his talent. For every Roxanne or Planes, Trains & Automobiles there was a Bowfinger, Sgt. Bilko or Father Of The Bride 3. But this show has given Martin the opportunity to take his moments and not try and carry the comedy of the project on his back. Yes, there is probably about 40% too much of Charles doing physical comedy in season three. But Martin carries it off mostly and Charles continues to be one of my favorite characters on any show. 

Gomez has been a revelation in the show, in part because the series managed to bring to screen the persona that I suspect many casual viewers have of the star. A young, droll world-weary combination of sarcasm and emotional restlessness. Much of season three finds Mabel being constantly disappointed and exasperated by everyone around her. She's out of the dead-end shell of a life she had at the beginning of the series. But she finds herself approaching thirty without one stable thing in her life. She's also haunted by ghosts, but her demons are all of the ways that her future decisions could lead to even more heartbreak and aimlessness.

Most shows try and mix up the chemistry of a long-running ensemble by season three with the introduction of a new character, who is supposed to "shake things up." Change in Only Murders In The Building comes in the form of Meryl Streep, who arrives to provide Oliver with the opportunity to be reminded of the promises of love. Even the hints of love.

Streep is of course a delight, and any streaming show is happy to have her. But as good as she is with Short, I found myself wishing they had found a lesser known older actress to fill the role. Solid roles for women in that age range are uncommon and casting a not-Meryl Streep in the role of Loretta Durkin, actress and one of the many suspects in Ben's murder, would have given their career a needed boost.

Still, the show remains one of the best things on television and while I somewhat hope there won't be a season four, I know I'd happily watch it if it does happen.

We live in a world where many of us are increasingly lonely and the powers that be have weaponized that loneliness for political and even marketing reasons. It's comforting to have a show that offers up reminders that even the loneliest of us can find community in unexpected places. And maybe that's the underlying mystery Only Murders In The Building has tried to solve. Does your life have to be filled with ghosts? Or is redemption and a few second chances out there if we just open our hearts?

“Only Murders in the Building” Season 3 returns Tuesday, August 8th, on Hulu.