Only Murders In The Building season 5 returns to the hallways of the Arconia after touring to LA in the previous season. This time, our podcast hosts stay in the building and in and around New York as far as the iconic Godfather would take them. The new season doubles down on what works best for them and brings back some iconic characters while introducing another set of crazy characters New York has to offer. The show is obviously coming to an end, but it still maintains its niche writing, and that’s the biggest win for Only Murders In The Building.
Stars: 3.5/5
The show begins at the end of the previous season when the now beloved doormen Lester is found dead in the pool of his own blood in the building’s fountain. Charles, Oliver and Mabel don’t take much time to start looking for clues around the building and among their neighbours before the body is cold and under. However, it isn’t enough, especially when the police reports claim it was an accident. As every season of the show unfolds, the latest instalment also follows the trio as they track a list of trails left behind by the killer, which may or may not lead them to the end.
These trails always put them in danger, and they discover some big secret about the building, the city or a major company, putting their lives even more at risk. The comedy and the comic timing are impeccable, whether it is Charles, Oliver or Renée Zellweger’s Camila, Christoph Waltz’s Bash or Keegan-Michael Key as Mayor Beau Tillman. This season, the show focuses on the death of Lester, the Arconia, its past and its future, while the same themes and fears also follow the leading characters.
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Each season, the makers manage to bring in a theme which takes over the storytelling but never the plot and this time it is the same with Lester’s death, New York’s Mafia and Arconia’s history. Without giving much away, season 5 is well-rounded and focuses on the roots of the show, its main characters. It also explores supporting characters in a new light, which always adds more charm and worldbuilding to the story. The sets, costumes, and make-up never falter in this show, and it keeps raising the bar every season, especially when taking their real-life actors and characters into account.
The treatment of Teddy Coluca’s character as the doorman and the social commentary around it is really the highlight of season 5. Téa Leoni and Dianne Wiest have shorter screen time, but watching them have fun in their characters is even more interesting. But after five seasons of a similar pattern with bodies dropping in the same location, it does get repetitive, but the makers continue to use it as fuel for more comic material. But for how long can they manage to continue the same, as the cast grows and the budget grows, and everyone has moved away? Does the podcast change, or get spin-offs of its own?
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Overall, Only Murders In The Building never stops amazing its audience with the clever writing, but it is often a lot of misdirection one after the other, rather than an actual crime thriller or a simple whodunit. And in this season, the misdirections just grow with each trail, witness or suspect.
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