Josh Reviews Only Murders in the Building Season Five

In season five of Only Murders in the Building, our heroic trio is faced with the task of solving the murder of Lester, the Arconia’s genial doorman, found dead in a fountain at the end of the season four finale.  Lester’s death might or might not be connected to missing mobster Nicky Caccimelio (Bonny Cannavale), whose wife Sofia (Téa Leoni) tried to hire the gang to investigate his disappearance, or to the trio of bazillionaires who are vying to purchase the Arconia: Camilla White (Renée Zellweger), “Bash” Steed (Christoph Waltz), and Jay Pflug (Logan Lerman).  As the investigation unfolds, the Only Murders trio discover a secret gambling parlor beneath the Arconia, vie with the new robotic doorman, and have to deal with the potential loss of their beloved Arconia itself.

First off, I must once again applaud show-runner John Hoffman and the entire Only Murders in the Building team for managing to successfully continue to release a new season of their show on an annual basis.  This is a nearly unheard-of feat in today’s streaming age.  I am extraordinarily grateful that we’re able to get 10 new episodes of this show once a year, and that they’ve been able to maintain the quality of the show.

I know some feel that’s not the case, and that the show has lost some of it’s original appeal.  I agree that the first season was the best season.  The delightful surprise that first season represented is hard to duplicate.  And in watching a show like this, you have to suspend a significant amount of disbelief that murders keep happening in and around the orbit of the Arconia and the show’s trio of sleuths.  But if you’re willing to go with that, I think the show continued to offer an array of pleasures here in its fifth season.  I had a great deal of fun watching all ten of these new episodes, and I was left completely satisfied by the end of this latest run.

I continue to thoroughly enjoy the main trio.  Steve Martin, Martin Short, & Selena Gomez are as good as ever; they’re a delightful threesome who seem able to anchor this series with a near-effortless ease.  They’re all so funny, and also able to continue to play the emotional beats with the needed dramatic heft.  Many great TV comedies get broad in their later years (even the great Seinfeld suffered this curse), but this trio have managed to maintain the perfect calibration of their performances.  It’s a testament to their skill that the show is at its best when these three are on screen together.  Each season the writers like to find ways to split the threesome up and provide moments for them to be at odds with one another; I understand this, but I am happiest when the three are together in scenes and bouncing off of one another.  With a show like this, it could easily become all about the guest stars, but I am happy that I still love the main three leads the best!

Which is not to say that the guest stars aren’t once again fantastic!  I loved all three of the weirdo maybe-evil billionaires introduced this season.  It’s a pleasure to see Renée Zellweger back on screen and putting her comedic talents to good use.  She’s wonderful as the icy, Martha Stewart-esque Camilla White.  Christoph Waltz has made a career out of playing villains; it’s fun to see him lean into his silly side as the Steve Jobs-like tech giant “Bash” Steed.  I will love Logan Lerman forever for his lead performance in The Perks of Being a Wallflower; it’s wonderful to see him grown up as Jay Pflug, the Mark Zuckerberg-ish social media magnate.  They teased Téa Leoni (Spanglish, Jurassic Park III) as Sofia Caccimelio at the end of season four, and she’s as much fun as I’d hoped as this mysterious wife of a mobster.  I loved her flirtation with Steve Martin’s Charles.  Their scenes together were great!  Their strange date night was a highlight of the season for me.  I always love Bobby Cannavale (The Station Agent, Ant Man, Spy, The Irishman, and this fall I saw him on Broadway in Art, in which he was spectacular), and he’s great here as the shady mobster Nicky.  This season also introduced Dianne Wiest (Hannah and her Sisters, Bullets Over Broadway, The Birdcage) as Lester’s widow Lorraine, and the always-funny Keegan-Michael Key as Mayor Tillman.  Jermaine Fowler was great as the new doorman, Randall; I hope we see more of him in the future.  And Beanie Feldstein (Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising, Lady Bird, Booksmart, Drive-Away Dolls) was hilarious as Mabel’s childhood rival Althea (sorry, I mean: “Thē”).  This is a powerful array of new guest-stars on the show!

Thankfully, many familiar recurring faces also popped up this year.  I’m glad they’ve managed to keep Meryl Streep involved with the show, as Oliver’s now-wife Loretta.  It strains credulity a bit that Oliver and Loretta aren’t living together full time, but I don’t mind the story-telling convolutions required to keep Martin Short’s Oliver on the show full-time and Loretta involved occasionally.  Ms. Streep is of course a pleasure whenever she pops up.  (I’d love it if she was on the show more in the future, but I’m happy with a once-a-season appearance if that’s all that can be arranged.)  Someone who I’d REALLY love to see more of is Da’Vine Joy Randolph (Office Christmas Party, Dolemite is my Name, The Holdovers) as Detective Donna Williams.  I love Ms. Randolph on the show — she makes me smile whenever she’s on screen!  Her love-hate relationship with the main trio is never not funny.  Plus, it makes story-sense that this cop would continue be involved with all these murders!  So let’s get more Da’Vine Joy Randolph next season, OK??  Moving on…  I was happy to get to see Nathan Lane and James Caverly back as Teddy & Theo Dimas.  Michael Cyril Creighton is always amusing as Howard Morris; I loved his story this season with his obsequious obsession with the Arconia’s new robotic doorman.  I was happy that Richard Kind, introduced last season as one of the “Westies”, popped back up this season.  And I’m always happy when they find a way to get Tina Fey back involved with the proceedings somehow, as podcaster Cinda Canning.

While I’m always sad to see a member of the ensemble killed off, it also usually means that now-deceased character gets some well-deserved time in the spotlight.  So it was nice getting to spend time with Teddy Coluca as the doorman Lester, and to get to explore his life.  I enjoyed getting to know him better, and the path that led him to the Arconia.  Overall, I enjoyed the twists and turns of this season’s mystery, and I was satisfied by how the pieces fell into place by the end.

Other thoughts:

• I loved Sofia’s wacky pack of children.  They were good for a laugh whenever they showed up.
• I enjoyed getting to see glimpses of the Acronia’s history in the episode 2 flashbacks; it was fun to see how Lester crossed paths with the younger versions of so many of the show’s characters over the years.
• Sometimes in this type of story, characters will do dumb things in order to move the plot forward.  I understand that.  But I’m not sure I’ve ever yelled at the screen more when watching this show than in episode 3, when our trio decide to conduct an autopsy on Lester’s body by themselves, in Charles’ apartment.  Illegal, dangerous, stupid… oy!  This stretched the reality of the show too far for my tastes.
• Though the end of episode 4 also rivaled that for me, when the gang idiotically allow themselves to sign a podcasting contract that legally prevents them from investigating the billionaires.  Duh.  I thought it was painfully obvious that was happening, and didn’t like our characters being so dim as to not recognize that.
• I liked getting to explore a little of Oliver’s youth in Flatbush.
• I’m intrigued by the latest murder victim as revealed at the end of the finale!  I look forward to getting to explore that character further next season!

I’m so pleased this show continues to chug along.  These ten new episodes were a lot of fun.  I can’t wait for season six, next year…!

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