Only Murders in the Building – Thirty

By: Sammi Turano

The episode opens with Mabel (Selena Gomez) narrating about her dream life she had based on a MASH game. It leads to her having triplets, which symbolize the podcast.

Back in the present day, she and Charles (Steve Martin) are in the hospital with Oliver (Martin Short), who is itching to get back to work. Before long, he is released and they get to working on the podcast and looking for clues. As they comb for clues, Oliver admits his love for Loretta and how he thinks she is innocent. The podcast and besties are officially back!

They wonder how they are going to question Dickie (Jeremy Shamos) without letting them know that Loretta (Meryl Streep) is his mom. At that moment, Joy’s wedding dress arrives, along with cookies and a note from Donna (Linda Emond) saying that they need a new leading lady. Oliver refuses to find one while Charles is upset over the dress.

The trio goes to question Dickie, who says there was a lot that Benips didn’t want getting out. He confesses he freaked out when Ben came back to life and how the night he died he went to look for ‘drugs and whores’ like Ben did when he disappeared every Thursday night. This gives me an alibi for the night Ben was murdered. They realize Loretta confessed for nothing, leading Dickie to realize the killer is still out there and he needs a lawyer.

The trio decide to look for where Ben went for ‘drugs and whores,’ leading them to a sewing shop….where Ben met five women every Thursday for a sewing circle. They were NOT ‘whores’ (even though one said she used to be one), but instead sweet ladies who helped them make hankies and run lines. They all also promised to see him on opening night.

Back at the apartment, the trio watch the videos they obtained from the interrogations and try to piece together what happened on opening night. Cliff gives Ben a cookie, but he only smells them since he is fasting before the show. Ben tells Cliff to make sure that his ladies are on the list to attend.

Dickie talks about leaving Ben to work with Loretta, who gives him a pep talk. Dickie tells Ben he is resigning, leading to a fight.

Donna gets a bad review for the play and shreds it….which Howard overhears….leading to him putting it back together.

Loretta confesses her issues with Ben and working with Dickie, which led to her own fight with Ben and the bruise he obtained….thanks to Charles.

 Charles jokes about being pale as he recalls the incident.

Donna and Cliff (Wesley Taylor) are talking about the play when Ben shows up, upset that the ladies have yet to arrive. He complains about Charles and Loretta to Donna, who tells him to put it together. As he heads to the dressing room, Tobert tries to get behind the scenes stuff, only to get into a scuffle with Ben.

Ben also screams at an unseen person….which confuses the trio and leads to Charles having  a meltdown. They all talk about their lives and dreams that have come and gone…..with Mabel saying that today is her 30^th birthday and her life isn’t what she expected.

Howard stops by with his taped together shredded papers. This gives them the clue they need…which is the bad review.

After they sing happy birthday to Mabel with red herring dip, they get back to piecing things together and realize that Ben had eaten a cookie and freaked out over being the f**king pig….which he wrote on his mirror with the lipstick. He calls the ladies for help, but they do not answer.

The trio realize that Donna saw the review and has a motive to kill Ben and poison his cookie, so they rush to the courthouse with Mabel dressed in Joy’s dress and the guys as the fathers of the bride.

They go to tell Loretta they know the truth….but spot Donna in the courtroom.