It’s never the first person accused in any murder mystery.
Only Murders In The Building breaks a lot of rules, though, and it might have shattered one more trope almost halfway through the season.
The trap the detectives fell into on Only Murders In The Building Season 5 Episode 4 not only saved the mystery from becoming predictable, but also offered a compelling subplot that I can’t wait for more of.
Only Murders In The Building Did The Impossible And Made The Billionaires Likable…
…at least at first.
Sure, they were one-upping each other as they joined the impromptu dinner party in order to ensure that the trio didn’t post anything negative about them on their podcast.
But one-on-one, they were a lot of fun.
Camille wasn’t terribly likable, but she matched Oliver’s narcissism with her own, so that made her entertaining.
But Sebastian had good advice for Charles about not wasting whatever years he has left, while Jay and Mabel hit it off.
That made the final twist hit even harder: these seemingly nice people were liars and possibly all conspired to commit murder.
The trio wasn’t the only ones fooled. I totally bought it too.
I was wracking my brain trying to figure out who killed Lester and Nicky, if not one of these three billionaires.
Plus, their kind, helpful demeanor (except for Camille, again) was at odds with how they were portrayed as narcissists who saw earning money as a game they had to win at all costs.
I should have known something was off because of that.
In Retrospect, Their Story Didn’t Make Sense
The fake story the three billionaires told doesn’t fully exonerate anyone.
Sure, the detectives bought it at first, but even if it were true, it makes them look more guilty, not less.
Supposedly, Jay lost his finger protecting the others from a deranged Nicky with a meat cleaver… but Nicky was killed with a similar weapon.
That being the case, shouldn’t the fact that Jay supposedly sacrified his finger disarming Nicky suggest that one of the three then used that cleaver to end Nicky’s reign of terror permanently?
No one has mentioned that yet, and I suppose the fact that the story was entirely fabricated is more important. Still, that might come up later.
Also, If That Finger Isn’t Jay’s, Whose Is It?
And what really happened to Jay’s finger?
These questions have set up one of Only Murders In The Building’s more intriguing mysteries.
Every lie has a kernel of truth in it, so it’s possible that Jay lost his finger fighting with Nicky and a meat cleaver, though it doesn’t give him the cover he thinks it does.
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Obviously, the finger in the freezer isn’t Jay’s, but SOMETHING happened to his, and I think there was emotional truth in the way he introduced it.
Mabel: So what happened to your finger?
Jay: Another poor decision in a string of them.
Of course, he could just be a sociopath who knows all the right things to say to make someone like Mabel fall for him and his lies.
Mabel’s Heartbreak Was The Worst (Although She’d Never Admit It)
Mabel’s backstory about Aletha and then confiding in Jay that she couldn’t trust anyone because of that backstory was heartbreaking.
She always is so unlucky in love and it’s made her the cynical, jaded character that adds so much to the show.
The closest she came to a real relationship was with that cameraman who was potentially shady in Only Murders In The Building Season 4.
Now this.
It was nice that she had those few fleeting moments of happiness before being the one to realize all three of those billionaires were lying.
Her insistence that she wasn’t fluttering her eyelashes over Jay was so adorable.
Additionally, Aletha remains shallow and annoying, and Mabel deserves better than her. Can we make Aletha the killer so we can eliminate her?
Let’s Talk About That Trap At The End
The “wrong finger” twist was intriguing, but I cared less about it than about the billionaires asserting control over the podcast.
I figured that Jay had been the one to arrange the meeting for the trio with the corporate producers, but I didn’t realize it was a conspiracy by all the billionaires to silence the detectives.
I love this twist so hard.
Stories where the little guys have to go up against powerful and wealthy antagonists who will do anything to silence them are my favorite type of drama.
Plus, this twist reinforces the theme of the billionaires being the new Mafia, complete with the silencing of their enemies.
I’m curious about how the trio is going to get out of this.
For one thing, I don’t think Mabel ever signed the contract. But also… are they going to have to create a second podcast to compete with the original one now that it’s been locked into a corporate model that disfavors telling the truth?
That would be at least as funny as that pathetic excuse for a dinner party on Only Murders In The Building Season 4 Episode 5.
Have You Solved The Murder Yet? I Haven’t.
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Only Murders In The Building streams on Hulu. New episodes drop on Tuesdays at 12/11c.
Watch Only Murders In The Building Online
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