Only Murders in the Building season three
This one is not your typical detective drama. The big changes: a ragtag and altogether amateur three-strong crew (hoping to produce an entertaining podcast out of the process) stand in for the ingenious-yet-flawed inspector plus sidekick combo, and the one body per episode with occasional two-parters run rate is replaced with one comprehensive series-long arc per murder. Only Murders in the Building makes for a pleasant change, and this, its third season, maintains the series’s established quality and charm.
Steve Martin is pretty great, isn’t he? His character, Charles, is one of the trio, alongside Oliver (Martin’s serial collaborator, Martin Short) and Mabel (Selena Gomez) – what’s more, he co-wrote the thing. His deliciously overt brand of comedy (summoned alongside fellow co-writer John Hoffmann) is all over the show, conjuring an unparalleled lightness from the horror. Sure, not every performance here is absolutely stellar (though an absent Ms Delevingne is off the hook this time), but that’s far from being a standout issue.
This third season is a delight thanks to its resisting the “bigger, better, outdo everything” arc that plagues so many popular longstanding series. Only Murders in the Building knows what made it a much-loved hit and sticks to it, with only poised variation to keep matters intriguing. Murder mystery clichés are thrown about with self-aware abandon amid the veritably unexpected, and a genuinely good-feeling feel-good message is never too far away.
On the whole, Only Murders in the Building’s latest is a strong season of a strong show, maintaining its most enjoyable aspects with zeal. Though it may not be perfectly put together or performed in every case, its blend of entirely charming, wryly offhand and damningly crude is a winner.
Will Snell
Only Murders in the Building season three is released on Disney+ on 8th August 2023.
Watch the trailer for Only Murders in the Building season three here:
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