Charles, Oliver, and Mabel are back, and this time some Hollywood heavyweights have joined the cast for the third season of the hit show, “Only Murders in the Building.” After solving two murders in the Arconia, it appears they experience a third murder on the opening night of Oliver’s latest Broadway effort. Paul Rudd joins the cast as Ben Glenroy, a television star making his Broadway debut. He amazingly survives that murder attempt only to die on top of the Arconia’s elevator later that same night. Now, the trio is on a new quest to find his killer and try to save Oliver’s return to Broadway.

On top of Paul Rudd, the show also added Oscar winner, and Hollywood legend, Meryl Streep to the cast. One of the most accomplished actresses in history, ironically, plays a woman who struggled to make it as an actress with a bunch of near misses before landing a role in Oliver’s play. The first episode hints at a romantic entanglement between Oliver and Streep’s character, Loretta Dunkin. It’s a nice change of pace since the first two seasons focused on romances for Charles and Mabel as side plots. I don’t know where their storyline is going, but I’m certain that Streep will nail the role. Plus, the first episode established animosity between Rudd’s and Streep’s characters, so she is definitely a suspect, but I don’t think she’ll be the killer.

While there are a lot of new characters for this season, some favorite recurring characters have returned. Howard, the cat-loving Arconia resident is back and serving as Oliver’s assistant for his Broadway play. Uma has also returned referencing how it first appears like the trio avoided a murder in the building only for Ben to be murdered in the building later that same night. And Oliver’s son, Will, is also back taking care of his father when Oliver needs him most.

For many series on the air today, this would be considered a great first episode of season three. It was certainly good but didn’t hit me the same way the first episode of seasons one and two did. I think it’s only disappointing for me because of how strong the first two seasons were rather than it actually being disappointing. It was still good enough that I jumped immediately into episode two as soon as I finished the first episode. I have high hopes for this season but must learn to temper my own expectations so the series can be viewed in the proper light.

Rating: 3.5 stars

What did you think of the first episode of season three of “Only Murders in the Building.”

Jeremy Brown

Jeremy has been a big Disney fan since he was a kid growing up during the Disney Renaissance. One day he hopes to go to every Disney Park in the world.

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