Only Murders In the Building Season 3 Episode 10 Review: Opening Night
Denis Kimathi
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Curtain call!
Only Murders In the Building Season 3 Episode 10 concluded the latest murder mystery as the trio figured out the circumstances surrounding Ben's death, while Oliver got the musical he'd always dreamed of.
Even if the previous episode had all but confirmed who the killer was, a twist was to be expected in this episode, and a twist they delivered.
The season finale tied together all the major plot points, gave several conflicts the resolution they deserved, and teased Only Murders in the Building Season 4's murder mystery.
Only Murders in the Building Season 3 had been an ode to motherhood and sacrifices mothers make for their children, and who better to showcase that than Donna?
Donna narrated the episode, explaining some of her greatest achievements as a producer, but her best production was Cliff, even if she didn't admit it.
She was enamored with him when the doctors placed him in her hands. A bond was formed right there that would never be broken.
She raised him in theatre and might have gotten too attached to him because the kissing was still weird.
Donna held his hand for far too long, afraid to let him make mistakes.
And your mommy will protect you for the rest of her life.
Donna
Her dedication to him was something to be admired, but it was also a cautionary tale. Too much love springs to mind.
The trio planned how to confront Donna with what they had found because they needed content for the podcast, but that meeting in the closet was so anticlimactic.
In the past two seasons, when the mystery had reached this point, there was some pushback from the suspect as they tried to get themselves off the hook.
Donna didn't push back and even made a point of admitting everything right into the microphone. The trio had expected her to fight, but she didn't.
That scene lacked the intrigue one would anticipate, but they rectified that later.
Oliver finally got the opening night he'd always wanted, even if the lead male actor rendered himself useless.
The musical didn't make much sense since it was shown in snippets that accompanied the central scene in the episode, and it was also a little disappointing.
The viewer should have seen everything to decide, but sometimes you can't have it all.
Since we didn't see everything, it wasn't that interesting. Editing the scenes to augment the actual scenes saved the narrative since it drove the feeling the writers wanted to communicate.
While it was disappointing that we didn't see the complete show, it also made sense how they did it.
That said, it wasn't thrilling that we never heard Charles' song. If he'd genuinely nailed it, which I think he did, we should have heard "Which of the Triplets, Did It?" in full glory, accompanied by the instruments and all.
When Only Murders in the Building Season 3 Episode 9 revealed Donna as the killer, some things didn't make sense even with half our information. Accepting that Donna pushed Ben down the elevator shaft seemed like a huge stretch.
The truth was that Ben was a younger man with much more strength than Donna. To be able to push him would have required a lot of power, which I didn't see either Donna or Loretta having.
The fact that it was Cliff who did it made sense.
Mabel confronting Cliff about the elevator gave us the satisfaction Donna's confession denied us.
Cliff was more specific with his confession, showing the motive and the means. The lack of specific details in Donna's confession was the first indicator she might cover for her son.
Ben had always been an awful person, and while we can't blame the victim, he also had a part to play in his own death. He never knew when to leave people alone and had to push until he broke someone.
How do you call the cops? Do you just Google cops?
Ben
He realized the word "boy" triggered Cliff and held on to it like a toddler does a breast.
He didn't deserve to die, but there's something to be said about choices and consequences. What did you think he was thinking about as he fell down that shaft?
There were some laughs worth mentioning, so here we go with the top three funniest moments.
At number three is Oliver's snort when Loretta shows the hankie with blood on it. Since that snort caught my attention, it never fails to crack me up.
Oliver: [snorts]
Loretta: What? Did I do good?
Number two goes to Howard trying to nudge Oliver into making him the lead after Jonathan's pills incident. The delivery was just perfect.
Oliver: Howard, Jonathan has got to go on. Who's going to replace our leading man on five minutes notice?
Howard: I don't know. But we will need someone who knows his every line, someone who's studied his every gesture, his every intonation. Someone who never sought the spotlight but is willing to accept the weight of the detective's hat.
And then the opposite of what he wanted happened. In retrospect, it was the best decision not to make him the lead since he couldn't act to save his life.
Number one goes to Mabel. It takes a certain kind of person to watch something uncomfortable and still find a way to make it funny. I could almost see her fight not to call the whole thing gross.
Donna: It's a thing we do.
Mabel: It's so sweet. I'm gonna leave before it gets any sweeter.
"Opening Night" was a perfect season finale as it tied up everything nicely while teasing the next mystery. Oliver got his play, Dickie met his mother, and Ben's killer was revealed.
Sazz's murder was intriguing because how it was executed seemed professional. Did the killer mistake her for Charles? Who would send a hitman after Charles?
Charles: Maybe we'll open a cold case.
Sazz: I got a cold case for ya!
Since it happened in the Arconia, will Uma move?
Over to you, Arconiacs. What did you think? Are you excited to see how the next season shakes out?
Hit the comments.
Denis Kimathi was a staff writer for TV Fanatic. He has watched more dramas and comedies than he cares to remember. Catch him on social media obsessing over [excellent] past, current, and upcoming shows or going off about the politics of representation on TV. Follow him on X.
