Only Murders In The Building Season 5 Review – Old (And New) New York

In many ways, Only Murders In The Building shouldn’t work as a show. The concept, the characters overall, especially the main trio, shouldn’t “work” on the level that many would expect…but it does! With every season, the actors and the writing team work hard to ensure that every new murder, regardless of who the victim and killer are, is special, unique, and “builds upon” what came before. I love this show, and it’s never had a bad season for me. So, as I write this Only Murders In The Building Season 5 Review (on my birthday, no less), I’m happy to say that the trend continues in spectacular fashion.

So…let’s start with the traditional recap, shall we? After learning the truth about Sazz and her “writing career,” our beloved trio of Charles, Oliver, and Mabel catch her killer, preserve her legacy, and celebrate the beginning of a “new life” for Oliver, as he marries Loretta…only to find out that Lester has been killed not long after meeting the wife of a “New York City Mob Boss.” Was Lester killed in a “mob hit?” Who really runs New York City these days? The answers were ever twisting and turning, and reflected real life more than you might think.

There are two things I want to point out immediately in this review that I really loved about Season 5. First, unlike a majority of the last two seasons, things were “truly set” in the Arconia, both in the past and the present. While I understood “drifting away” from the place for a while to show off Broadway and even Hollywood, it was the right call to get back to the “true setting” of the story. Second, while it may have seemed like a “classic mob story” to start, the show broke all the tropes and stereotypes you likely thought would come with the season and replaced them with something more…believable.

For example, while there were actually two murders in the building, with one being a “gangster,” he wasn’t your traditional one. He wasn’t a “classic mob boss,” but one forced into the life, barely hanging on to it, and more than willing to leave it when the “right opportunity,” and person, came along.

Then, there was Lester, who had far more ties to the Arconia than we ever imagined, as he never meant to be the doorman for the building for decades, but ended up “finding his dream job” there because he fell in love with the building and helping its people. One of the standout episodes of the season was “After You,” where we learned Lester’s life story, and how he actually did become part of a “mob racket,” and how his decisions with it, and being a doorman, would change his life forever. Having the right victim is what separates the best seasons, like Season 4, from the lesser seasons, like Season 3.

Seeing the Arconia “change” through Lester’s flashbacks, including him meeting Charles, Oliver, and Mabel, among the other tenants, and trying to be there for them in their highs and lows, made him all the more sympathetic. And much like the building itself, the people within started to realize that they really did adore Lester, even if they didn’t realize it when they should’ve. A life lesson for us all.

Speaking of “life lessons,” I was impressed by how our favorite trio had their own “growths” in the season, both big and small. Not to mention, keeping us on our toes (and…fingers…?) with what happens to them. From the hilarious way they find out that there WERE murders in the building this “season,” to the lengths they went to for answers, and, naturally, coming together when it mattered most because they really do need each other.

“Change” was a big theme of the season, and we saw that reflected in all of them in various ways, showing off their “growth” in past seasons, while also highlighting that they’re still incredibly flawed people. For example, Oliver, for me, shone the most via his questions about his narcissism, and whether he actually knew anything about the woman he married. Not to mention, we got to hear more about his origins as a foster child, and how he fell in love with the play. The scene with him and Loretta (yes, him and Meryl Streep are still adorable together) at the theater was all manner of joyous, and I’m glad the small “bumps” in the road didn’t go beyond the fear of not knowing a partner.

As for Charles, he was seeing things change around him in a new way, after finally getting comfortable with all he now had. Sazz was gone, Mabel was finally in a new apartment, and Oliver was now married. What did that mean for him? Naturally, he “lashed out” in ways to try and make himself “feel something,” like going onto dating apps, being a “testosterone group,” and…you know…sleeping with a mob boss’s wife. Thankfully, Charles did evolve through this, including realizing his “bad choices” with women traced back to the trauma his mother caused him, so hopefully, his next partner isn’t a suspect, an actual killer, or, in the case of Joy, nuts. Seriously, she was crazy.

Mabel, once again, had to deal with her past being tragic and her future potentially being a wreck. The arrival of “old friend” Althea, AKA “THE,” created a heavy jealousy in her and forced her to do some “lashing out” on her own. While this may have felt like “old territory” via a Tim Kono kind of situation, it worked well because the reveal that it was “two perspectives of the same problem” is something we can all relate to. I know I can. Plus, when Arconia seemed lost, the murderer was “out of their reach” and the future was impossible to predict, you could understand why Mabel was shattered once again, because she finally had something she was good at and could call her own…and then it was gone.

And just to be clear here, Steve Martin, Martin Short, and Selena Gomez are still absolutely magic with one another. They play off each other so well, it’s incredible. There were numerous scenes where I couldn’t help but laugh out loud because of something they did together or said to one another, and it just felt so right. The show absolutely wouldn’t work without them, and I’m glad they’re still pulling out all the stops to make things magical.

Speaking of “magic,” a key missing part of the Arconia was brought back after two seasons: the rest of the Arconia tenants. Remember, Season 3 was more about the “Broadway crew,” like Loretta, instead of the tenants. And in Season 4, it was about the Hollywood cast and those connected to Sazz. This time, though, it really was about those in the building, both old and new, and it was great seeing (most of…) the OG cast back, including Nathan Lane’s return as Theodore, appearing in both the present day and in flashbacks.

It was hilarious seeing how much things were changing around them, and how the tenants and the support staff of the Arconia were adapting to it, such as Lester being replaced…by a robot. Yep, that’s emphatically relatable. Seeing the support staff fearful of their jobs, and Oliver trying to rally them to fight back (via a building meeting…) was also relatable.

Plus, it paid off in the long term, as it was the tenants and staff who helped piece together the final pieces of the mystery, including the robot.

Switching now to the main mystery and the suspects in my Only Murders In The Building Season 5 Review, a key highlight of Season 5 was introducing twist after twist after twist, making you wonder if you really knew anything that was happening here, and making you question with each episode ending who the real killer is. The best example of this is with the billionaire trio.

As we find out, there’s a secret casino underneath the Arconia that a certain gangster oversaw, and Lester helped supervise by letting people in through a secret passage. On the night of the murders, there were three mega-billionaires there trying to work a backroom deal to make the first casino in New York City. We had the “tech genius obsessed with living,” the “decor magnate” who wanted to do it for a certain someone she loved, and the “rich boy” who was an idiot and couldn’t stand on his own two feet, but kept trying to make his mark.

Going in, you’d swear that these three were the killers, especially since they all had means and motive, but then they weren’t suspects, and then they weren’t, and then they were! Just as cool, though, was them flexing their “rich muscles” to trick our tremendous trio to get the “deal that they’ve always wanted,” but then they couldn’t tag the billionaires as suspects due to a “conflict of interest.” Brilliant.

Even though, looking back, I had actually gotten spoiled (thanks, Google recommendations…) on who the killer was, I put it out of my mind well enough so that the twists really did land, and by the time it did pop back into my mind, it was the end of the season, so it didn’t bother me that much.

Yes, the one and only Keegan-Michael Key, aka Mayor Beau Tillman, was the killer…well…one of them. The idea of the “accidental death” that Lester was a part of was well-handled, and then Lester trying to do the right thing at the end, at the cost of his life by the mayor, was equally well-handled, as the mayor flexed his political muscles with the billionaires to ensure that they helped clean up his mess in return for the casino rights.

Oh, and the factor that this season happened RIGHT as the New York City mayoral race was going on, with the last TWO New York mayors being infinitely corrupt individuals? Pure poetry. And guess what? That was all by accident, according to the showrunner!

One more new cast member shout-out to praise here. I want to give a shoutout to Tea Leoni, who played Sophia, the mob boss’s wife. She really played her part well, not just as a widow, but someone who was literally exhausted of the life she had, as it wasn’t the one she was promised. Another theme of this season. Her desperation to just “get out,” even when it meant being in Italy alone and leaving her family behind because of all the suffering they had caused her, was, again, relatable. We likely won’t see her again, but that’s okay. She did well.

Before I move on to the negatives, I do want to point out the continued fun this season had at making fun of both itself and the world at large. We got insults about influencers, the “way things work with money,” and arguably the best bit, jabs about how “crime shows usually go,” and how it can’t apply here. Like the suspect running away and Charles, Oliver and Mable being unable to catch them for unique and hilarious reasons. They even had a returning Teddy show up for a few scenes to “stop a suspect,” only for him to get told he “stopped a killer,” and he replied, “Of course it is, I know what building I’m in.”

Classic stuff. Even the final scene, where a returning Tina Fey is killed outside the Arconia, is played perfectly because of the debate of “What is in the building?” I look forward to Season 6.

So, sadly, we must get to the part of my Only Murders In The Building Season 5 Review where I must talk about the negatives. I do want to say off the bat that, unlike Season 4, we didn’t have an “Island of the Dolls” incident. I’d argue this was one of the most consistent seasons throughout, with no major speedbumps. But, there were things that held it back from a perfect score…starting with…

HOWARD!!!! I seriously can’t stand this character. His going “full Despot” with the robot LESTR was so cringe! Yes, we got more of his origin story, and part of it I liked, but his “confession” to Charles about his life situation wasn’t as meaningful to me as I’m sure the writers were going for. Plus, he’s just SO ANNOYING!!! Even with his “help solving the case,” it didn’t make me like him more. It more or less made me say, “Oh, great, he’s definitely going to be back in Season 6.”

To that end, some of the new characters, like THE and the FIVE sons of Sophia, were just…too much, at times. That goes double for some of the dialogue of certain characters, including our main trio, once or twice, because the show does like to “test the waters” a bit.

Finally, speaking on a personal thing I noticed, so I won’t put it in my “Negatives” in the review score, there was the question of why we didn’t get a little more “reveal” of the growth of our main trio post-killer capturing. The reason I bring that up is that we saw throughout the season that all three of them struggle with certain aspects of change and their identity, but after the murder, it jumps three months ahead, and…nothing has really changed. They even make a joke about Charles having “minimal character growth.” But I wanted more than that joke.

Mabel, at the end of Season 4, wanted to take her windfall from the movie deal and do something big with it that was just for her, but now, at the end of Season 5, with the Arconia saved and “all right back in the world,” we didn’t see anything from that. We didn’t see how Loretta and Oliver are doing in the revived apartment, nor what Charles is doing to “grow” after his “existential crisis.”

Don’t get me wrong, there was growth…but can we have it be a little more tangible and visible, next time?

In the end, as I finish my Only Murders In The Building Season 5 Review, I’m more than happy to say that I loved this season, and with Season 6 confirmed, and possibly going to England, there are many more new adventures to be had, and I can’t wait.