Only Murders in the Building continued its investigation into who killed Ben Glenroy while mixing in matters of the heart. This might just be the first time every single member of the core trio–Mabel, Oliver, and Charles–has a love interest—and one might call that a perfect distraction that keeps them from solving the mystery at hand.
While this season continues to focus on Arconia’s very own sleuths, their romantic lives are forcing them to spend a significant amount of time apart, pursuing other interests and relationships, and leading their own lives. It’s another first, and though it’s an exciting shakeup that allows the actors to share the screens with new scene partners, it also means that we’re missing out on all the witty dialogue and banter that has always made this show so good.
At the onset of the season, Charles and Oliver, especially, were a little hesitant to jump aboard the murder mystery podcast train, but now they’re realizing that they are in the thick of the mystery, standing on the tracks with their lives about to collide (and implode) by the oncoming truth bombs.
By the end of the hour, Charles has cleared his suspicions of his fianceé Joy being the suspect (though he did lose her in the process—for now), as,Oliver realizes he’s the closest one to the latest suspect having just gotten into bed with her.
The her in question is, naturally, Loretta, who dropped plenty of hints that she may somehow be involved with Ben’s death, including calling him a “f–king pig,” the exact phrase written on his dressing room mirror using Joy’s lipstick.
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There’s a lot to digest here, right down to the very possibility that it’s all just a big misunderstanding/red herring to fool audiences into thinking that it was Loretta and to divert us from figuring out the truth. After all, she was everyone’s go-to suspect, so it wouldn’t be very exciting if the reveal ended up being that she was obsessed with Ben’s success and wanted the fame all for herself.
However, there’s something off about her that we can’t just shake off… and it’s not her cooking skills. The way she manages to quell Oliver’s distrust by turning on the charm could prove that she’s the psychopath in question—and a very talented actress who likely deserved to snag more roles than just the pig in Charlotte’s Web and Animal Farm.
Aside from the “f–king pig” comment, Loretta suggests that she would’ve “killed” for a role in any of Oliver’s former productions, proving that she has a stalkerish tendency and had him on her radar for quite some time. She also utters the word “poison” before whipping out a flask and a joint, which may have been innocent, or it may be proof that she’s capable of murder.
I do want Oliver to simply find happiness in this life, and I think that he has something truly special with Loretta (their scenes getting high, realizing they ran in the same circles, and the whole Tooth Ferry storyline was so cute), so in order to protect his heart (there’s no hope for his tooth/saving that smile—and this is why he only eats dips), I’m hoping that Loretta has a good explanation for her creepy burn book filled with Ben Glenroy clippings. Maybe she was just a huge fan who was disenchanted to learn the truth about her favorite celebrity? We’ve all been there.
On the flip side, she also had plenty of motive as he attacked her right before the show began and told her that he didn’t want to share the stage with a no-name talent. This would’ve been the perfect moment for her to poison him, though we now know that Charles interferred so that likely means she wasn’t responsible.
Charles had a “come to Jesus” moment where he remembered coming to Loretta’s defense and hitting Ben in the face, which prompted the emergency call to Joy to come backstage and cover up the mark on his face.
And this takes the heat off of Loretta and places it onto our good friend Charles and his recent lapses in memory that are growing a bit concerning. Did he blackout and harm Ben? Or is there going to be a plot-twist that unfolds revealing that as Sazz suggested, Charles was the intended target? There’s so many possibilities here as there’s only speculation as to the identity of the killer for now.
Loretta also emphasized how many people despised Ben, so the potential for suspects is pretty wide-ranging at this point, though she likely didn’t think she’d be at the top of the list.
The truth is that you never truly know who you are sleeping with, but it’s probably better to get some concrete evidence and hard facts before going around and accusing people. Oliver should use the demise of Charles’ relationship as a cautionary tale of what not to do, even if his gut is telling him that Loretta may have had a hand in it.
Charles—pressured by Mabel and Oliver to get some answers about the lipstick (and traumatized by his previous relationship with a murderer)—called Joy out for being a killer. She, however, had a perfectly rational explanation, and when she realized just how unhinged and not-ready-for-committment Charles truly was, she called the engagement off. I can’t say that I blame her, or that I’m surprised. She’s waited her whole life to be with him only for things to fall apart in an instance. And poor Charles isn’t good with words so he just kept digging himself a bigger hole that blew up in his face.
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Mabel Mora was also tricked into going on a date with Tobert. He got her to the swanky cabaret bar under false pretenses, proving that he knows her well enough to know she’d never refuse a mystery or the potential to solve a muder.
But while their date was going swell, they were still investigating the suspect—Jonathan—who had a secret and shady meeting with another man. When they exchanged an envelope of money, Tobert tried to get a better look and caused a scene. They should’ve played it off with a kiss like Tobert suggested, but instead, Mabel was caught snooping, spooking Jonathan and the man that Tobert recognized and indentified as Doc C, a celebrity concierge for prescriptions. This, obviously, doesn’t look good for Jonathan, but I can see it having a handful of logical explanations—he’s sick and trying to let anyone know or it’s for Howard. It can also be proof that he purchased the poison for Ben. Either way, we can’t jump to assumptions just yet.
Tobert and Mabel are on the case… with a brief intermission for a steamy hook-up that admittedly was a long time coming given their intense chemistry. Mabel, just like the “olds,” deserves some happiness in her life, again, as long as Tobert isn’t involved in Ben’s death! And we haven’t counted him out as a suspect yet, so there’s a possibility that Mabel was on a date with the killer in question all along.
Individual investigations are enjoyable and allow Mabel, Charles, and Oliver’s characters to grow through new experiences, but they are yielding limited results. The gang needs to get back together—pull all their evidence—to make sense of everything that they’ve found while trying to figure out Ben’s killer.
Who do you think it is? Is the person staring us right in the face? Or will there be more intrigue to the death?