Which of the Death Rattle Dazzle team members did it? Who of the crew would commit this crime? We find out in the Season 3 finale of Only Murders in the Building. Were you ahead of all the twists and turns in store for The Arconia’s least favorite trio of podcasters?
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Episode 10: “Opening Night” – Written by John Hoffman and Ben Smith
“What is it that a producer does?,” asks Donna (Linda Emond) in this episode’s narration. She likens producing a show to giving birth. A tireless workaholic, we see her on a work call as she literally gave birth to her only child, Cliff. Her narration continues by saying that in spite of all the hit shows and awards she’s received, the thing she’s most proud of is her child. “The thing no one tells you when you first start is how rewarding producing can be, or how dangerous.” The culmination of Donna’s introduction finds her helping her son, Cliff (Wesley Taylor), produce his very first show – Death Rattle.
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Mabel Mora (Selena Gomez), Charles-Haden Savage (Steve Martin), and Oliver Putnam (Martin Short) recap the facts of the case around the suspect board, with Loretta Durkin (Meryl Streep) present. She thanks them for stopping her from confessing to the crime and for bailing her out. As they lay out the case that Donna killed Ben Glenroy to ensure that Cliff’s first show wasn’t a failure, Loretta adds that she believes that Donna is sick. She remembers hearing her coughing in the bathroom and speculates that Donna needed to make this a hit because she wouldn’t get another chance. Mabel lays out the plan for Oliver and Charles, discussing a bouquet of flowers and distributing index cards with their talking points to try and get Donna to confess. As they talk, Loretta retrieves an object she thinks might help – the bloody handkerchief taken from Ben’s dead body. She reveals that Dickie gave it to her when he visited her in jail, thinking it would implicate her. Mabel’s jaw drops as she looks closely at it.
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It’s opening night and the lobby of the Gooseberry Theater is bustling as ticketholders head to their seats for the premiere of Death Rattle Dazzle. Mabel finds Donna and gives her a bouquet of flowers. She opens the card, which reads, “New review in K.T.’s office.” She excuses herself from Cliff, but not before performing their odd ritual kiss. “One on your lips, and one on your heart,” Donna says, before rushing backstage.
“You’re a little short of breath, Donna,” Mabel observes as the producer enters K.T.’s office to find that Mabel has beat her there and stands with Charles and Oliver. They reveal that they know that Donna got an advance copy of Maxine’s review. Oliver offers Donna a cookie, holding up a tray of Schmackery’s, including one with a rattle on it. “You think I poisoned Ben, right?,” Donna asks. “That’s what this is about? Great. Let’s jump ahead. I did it.” The trio is stunned. Donna looks around the office and asks where the microphone is. Tobert (Jesse Williams) reveals himself from behind the door, covered in coats holding a boom mic that was just out of her view. Donna speaks directly into the mic as she shares that she poisoned a cookie and placed it in Ben’s dressing room, but clarifies that she wasn’t trying to kill him. She just wanted him sick enough that he wouldn’t take the stage on opening night. Mabel shows Donna the handkerchief as proof that she went a step further and pushed Ben. “You idiots actually got me,” she says. “I pushed Ben. I couldn’t risk him performing that night and ruining our show. I killed Ben Glenroy.” Stunned, Charles congratulates Mabel on how easy this was. Donna sits on the couch and makes a request that they let her stay to see the show become a hit, adding that she will surrender afterward. “I’m a woman with Stage 4 lung cancer. I’m not a flight risk.” Howard Morris (Michael Cyril Creighton) barges in to announce a major problem. Jonathan took his leading man cocktail of medications, and it knocked him out. But he brings up the fact that somebody in the room knows every line, has been to every rehearsal, and can do the show. “Howard, are you saying what I think you’re saying?,” Oliver asks as Howard puts on the detective hat.
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The show is about to start as Uma Heller (Jackie Hoffman) takes her seat next to Matthew Broderick (Matthew Broderick). “Do you think someone might die again?,” she gleefully asks. “Oliver’s career might die again,” Matthew Broderick responds, making her smile. The show begins. The ensemble begins to sing ‘Creature of the Night.” The leading man is revealed. It’s not Howard.
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As Oliver fills in for the show’s star, Mabel and Tobert talk backstage. He tells her that he really likes her and he’s been offered a job on an independent film in L.A. He invites her to come with him. She agrees to think about it.
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Loretta performs “Look for the Light” as Dickie Glenroy (Jeremy Shamos) watches from the wings tearfully. As Loretta walks off the stage, she tells Dickie she needs to tell him something, but Dickie shakes his head. “I knew it,” he cries, saying he could feel a strong connection to her from the first time they met at the dress rehearsal. “There’s nothing in the world I wouldn’t do for you,” Loretta tells her son. Mabel smiles as she observes their connection. Then she looks into the audience and sees Donna whispering to Cliff. He gets upset, rises from his seat, and exits the auditorium.
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Mabel goes backstage and finds that Jonathan (Jason Veasey) is awake, but loopy from the pills. She asks if he saw Cliff and he points up. She follows the spiral staircase to the attic above the theater. On stage, Charles performs his patter song, “Which of the Pickwick Triplets Did It?” Mabel finds Cliff in the room above the stage and he recalls childhoods spent up there, pretending he was conducting the orchestra below with licorice. Mabel tells Cliff that his mother confessed to killing Ben, but she realizes out loud that it wasn’t Donna. She pulls out the hankie. “One on the lips and one on the heart,” she repeats, showing Dickie that adjacent to Ben’s blood is red lipstick. “You had her handkerchief, and it was you at the elevator with Ben.”
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In a flashback, we see Ben Glenroy (Paul Rudd) in the hallway of The Arconia just before he dies. He got off the phone with his doctor just as Cliff walked out of the party. Noticing that Ben seemed distressed, Cliff asked if he was okay. “No, my hospital labs came back,” Ben says. “The doctor says it was rat poison.” Ben thinks out loud, confused about how he ingested poison since he was fasting. And then he remembers the cookie… and how Donna was the last person he talked to before he ate it… and how she told him to be good to himself. In that moment, Cliff recalled seeing his mother in the hallway with a cookie, heading to Ben’s dressing room. “Maybe she was protecting me, it’s what she does,” Cliff defends Donna as Ben begins to throw out accusations. Ben pulls out his phone and says he will call the cops. The two begin to fight, first with words, then with pushes. In the skirmish, Ben gets pushed past the caution tape of the open elevator shaft. Trying to stop his fall, he reaches forward and grabs Cliff’s handkerchief, taking it with him as he falls to his doom.
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In the attic, Cliff has opened a trap door that leads directly down to the stage. He watches as Loretta sings “For the Sake of a Child,” a duet with the detective character, portrayed by Oliver. But in Cliff’s eyes, he sees Ben Glenroy down there playing the part that should’ve been his. “I can’t let my mom take the fall,” Cliff panics. “I killed Ben.” Mabel yells for help and Charles comes running. Her cry can be heard from the audience and we see who's seated on the other side of Matthew Broderick. “Is someone in my rafters?,” asks Jerry Blau (Peter Bartlett). When Loretta pushes Oliver off the lighthouse onto a mat, he sees what’s happening above the stage and goes rushing to help as Cliff lowers himself down, hanging to the floor as he gets ready to drop to his death.
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Cliff stops when he sees Oliver. “Were the merman in Splash this high when they fell?,” Cliff asks. “No, I think you’re a bit higher, son,” Oliver replies. Cliff asks if their death was painless. “You’ve never heard mermen scream like that,” Oliver confirms. Cliff asks them to tell Donna he loves her and to throw away the box under his bed without opening it. But before he can let go, Donna’s hands wrap around his. “It was an accident Mom, I swear,” Cliff cries. Everyone helps Donna pull Cliff up. He and Donna hug and cry as Howard calls everyone for the curtain call.
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“I’m so glad I’m not in this,” Matthew Broderick says from the audience as everyone joins the curtain call. Afterward, we see the police escort Donna and Cliff out of the theater.
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“Congratulations, everybody, I did it,” Oliver announces at the afterparty in his apartment. Maxine’s review is out, and it’s full of praise. He and Loretta find themselves back at Oliver’s piano. Dickie approaches with some good news for Loretta. Grey’s New Orleans Family Burn Unit is willing to wait for her, but she’s also been offered the lead voice role in an animated feature called Hedda Gobbler. Loretta tells Oliver she’s considering turning both down to stay in New York City with him. “It would also mean following your dream and a fresh job with your son,” he encourages her. “And I like L.A… in small doses.” In another room, Tobert pours Mabel a glass of wine and asks if she’s done any California dreaming. She tells him she’s going to stay in New York, but that she’d like to visit. “I like L.A… in small doses.”
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As a special surprise, Sazz Pataki (Jane Lynch) crashes the afterparty with a case of beer. Charles excuses himself, wanting to go to his apartment to retrieve a rare bottle of wine he’s been saving for a special occasion, promising to be right back.
Charles’ apartment is dark as he enters. He proceeds into the kitchen. There’s a quiet pop. Charles falls down on his back. We see a bullet hole in the window. Blood is leaking from Charles’ chest…. Wait, no, it’s not Charles. It’s Sazz! She touches her bloody chest before her hands drop to the floor. Her fingers are twitching when the scene goes dark.
That’s right, folks, another murder in the building! Hulu announced that the show will return for Season 4, so that means I’ll be back with more episode recaps. Until then, give ‘em the ol’ Death Rattle Dazzle!