In this season’s penultimate episode of Only Murders in the Building, tension builds amongst our trio straining their relationship. The attack on Charles’ girlfriend forces him to stop participating in the podcast. In addition, much of their neighbors are fed up with the Arconia’s increased public scrutiny and vote to have our protagonists evicted from the building. Hoping that if they catch the real killer they won’t be kicked out, Mabel and Oliver continue their investigation discovering Tim Kono had a lover. Meanwhile, Charles learns that Jan is lying about herself.
“Open and Shut” continues to follow the lead from the previous episode. Charles is in real danger while he’s face to face with the killer. It’s a mental battle as he plays mind games with the villain demonstrating how well of an actor and clever he really is. Everyone’s cards are placed on the table and the man is full of surprises. Meanwhile, Oliver and Mabel go snooping. There’s a nice back and forth of scenes jumping from the murderer’s confessions to them discovering clues to fill in the blanks.
Though a little subdued, Charles manages to escape. Only Murders in the Building goes a little overboard with Steve Martin’s physical comedy but the series does a good job effectively using the elevators and closing doors to build the suspense. There are near misses between him and both the killer and Mabel and Oliver. There is an eventual reunion with our protagonists as they try to save the day and catch the murderer. Despite the graveness of the situation, there is still some laughs with Oliver recording the podcast the whole time. In addition, Charles’ hallucination of standing up to the suspect is funny.
The finale brings a satisfying conclusion to the overarching mystery. It’s pretty straight forward with no real big final twists. Much like the episode title implies, it is an open and shut case. It also ties everything together with call backs to many aspects from throughout the season. Many of the zany characters we’ve met along the way make appearances and Charles, Mabel, and Oliver even have the Hollywood happy ending with their loved ones…or do they?
In a meta moment when Mabel mentions how not everything is settled and there’s a feeling of loose ends, Only Murders in the Building revisits the series opening scene and sets up the next mystery. Thus, capping off a very enjoyable and entertaining season.
“Open and Shut” is a straight forward finale that nicely ties up the mystery of the season while setting up what’s in store for Mabel, Oliver, and Charles when the show comes back.
Binge Only Murders in the Building on Hulu.
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