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The mystery comedy-drama TV series Only Murders in the Building (OMITB) aired its fifth season on Hulu this fall with the first three episodes coming out on Sept. 9, a little over four years after the show’s premiere. The series follows a New York trio of friends — Mabel (Selena Gomez), Oliver (Martin Short), and Charles (Steve Martin) — and their true crime podcast in which they solve murders in their apartment building, the Arconia. The first seasons have been popular with a broad public because of their binge-watchability, light humor, easy plot-following and warm tones, so it is no shock that the series is keeping strong.
On Oct. 28, the murderer of the Arconia’s charming senior doorman Lester (Teddy Coluca) was revealed. Seven weeks up to then on our screens, the trio of friends roamed around New York through fake and not-so-fake mob business, a mansion and a historical private house, connected basements and new corners of the city, city streets, and, as usual, the floors of the Arconia to find which of the strangers-turned-suspects is the connecting piece between them all.
In this series, the beloved trio aren’t only fighting for justice and the safety of their community, but also for the existence of their home, the Arconia: Another trio, three of the richest people in New York, have been gambling in the basement of the Arconia so much that they have also gambled away its fate. They plan to turn the Arconia into a grand casino. To keep their friendship, community and beloved building, Mabel, Oliver, and Charles must find out whodunnit, while proving the illegitimacy of the plan to rework the Arconia territory into another source of income.
Arconia, fear not. This true crime trio always (at least so far) finds a way to stay at home. Familiar are the apartments of Charles and Oliver — and all others’ that are the building ground of the series mise-en-scène — that now host memories that viewers fear losing along with the characters. So how can the hearty OMITB world be replaced? After all, the real house still stands in the actual New York City (86th Street & Broadway), so it must somehow persist.
Also familiar is the Arconia collective. Four years in, the OMITB cast has impenetrable chemistry. The podcast trio, and the accumulated Arconia collective of housemate past foes, are perfectly familiar and above all, trustworthy— the characters do not change, meaning that the external changes they go through are easier to handle. Mabel, Oliver, and Charles have staple characteristics that are unlikely to change abruptly, so through anything, the safety of having these light-hearted friends will always persist.
In the very first episode of the season, after a signature awkward interaction between Charles and Oliver trying their best to do a Marlon Brando impression, Mabel cuts in with: “Okay, you know what, I’m so sorry that I started this” — such are the interactions that make up most of the episodes.
The safety this familiar dynamic provides collective gives to a viewer is elevated by the light-heartedness of dialogues, color-grading, and humor. The comedic duo of Martin and Short input bits of funny one-liners or silly scenarios into kind, and just as tense, conversations. The colors of OMITB are usually warm, the tones of most mise-en-scène are tranquil and comfortable to look at, and the shots are never awkward.
As a result, OMITB is easy — easy to watch, and, above all, easy to follow. The average time to make a meal — including prep and cleanup — is around 37 minutes per day for Americans. The average runtime of an episode of Season 5 of OMITB is also 37 minutes: It is perfect kitchen TV.
“Only Murders in the Building” Season 5 is just as exciting, heartfelt, and light as the four before it, and the only things that change are the new victims, characters, and stakes — which remain safe, and therefore successful. With Season 6 now confirmed to move outside of the Big Apple to London, viewers will be asking: Who will be murdered next?
