'Only Murders in the Building' Season 3 review: All the world's a stage

A theater is the perfect place to set a mystery. Superstitions like vengeful ghosts and cursed shows abound, while conflicts between ambitious cast and crew members risk boiling over...perhaps even into murder. These myths and tensions are at the core of Only Murders in the Building's third season, which understands the power and potential of the theater as a crime scene and uses it to its fullest effect.

Only Murders in the Building has always been a show rooted in the theatrical: Oliver Putnam (Martin Short), part of the show's core trio rounded out by Charles-Haden Savage (Steve Martin) and Mabel Mora (Selena Gomez), is a Broadway director who loves nothing more than to namedrop famous plays and actors. His perspective results in some of the show's most engaging departures from reality, including a Season 1 Chorus Line-inspired sequence where he lines up the Arconia's residents onstage to try to single out a murderer. On top of Oliver's theatrical embellishments, Only Murders in the Building also features appearances from stage legends like Jackie Hoffman and Nathan Lane. So as much as the show revolves around true crime podcasting, it was only a matter of time before it turned its attention to the stage. It's less a surprising change of course than it is fate.

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That fated shift first took place in the Only Murders in the Building's Season 2 finale, when Ben Glenroy (Paul Rudd), the lead actor in Oliver's Broadway comeback, died onstage just moments into an opening night performance. Season 3 picks up in the aftermath of this death, with our sleuths reunited once more — with a twist. Only Murders in the Building retains its cast's killer chemistry and superb wit, but the extra focus on the theatrical provides refreshing new complications to the Charles-Oliver-Mabel dynamic, proving Only Murders in the Building still has some delightful tricks up its sleeve.

Only Murders in the Building Season 3 presents: The case of Ben Glenroy.

Meryl Streep in "Only Murders of the Building." Credit: Patrick Harbron/Hulu

While we knew next to nothing about Ben Glenroy prior to his death in the Season 2 finale, Only Murders in the Building doesn't take long to catch us up on this season's high-profile murder victim. Flashbacks build a picture of Ben as an action star (known best for the CoBro movies and the TV show Girl Cop) attempting to pivot to the stage in order to be taken more seriously. He teams up with Oliver for a revival of the play Death Rattle, a bizarre murder mystery where a baby is the prime suspect.

Despite initial excitement over Ben's casting, rehearsals sour when it turns out that he can be a grade-A jerk — so much so that anyone involved in the show could have a motive. Was stage ingénue and influencer Kimber (Ashley Park) responsible for his death? Was it Oliver's new assistant, the cat-loving Howard (Michael Cyril Creighton)? Or was it newcomer Loretta (Meryl Streep), an aspiring actor who was about to finally get her big break onstage after a lifetime of rejection? The suspect list extends even further, with new murderous tricks and hints at every turn. As the mystery deepens, only one thing is for sure right from the start: Rudd is having an absolute blast playing up Ben's diva persona, effectively balancing it with some of Ben's more earnest scenes.

Once again, Steve Martin, Martin Short, and Selena Gomez make TV magic — and so does Meryl Streep.

Selena Gomez, Martin Short, and Steve Martin in "Only Murders in the Building." Credit: Patrick Harbron/Hulu

Alongside Rudd's deeply funny turn as Ben, we have the return of the ever-delightful grouping of Martin, Short, and Gomez. As in the prior two seasons, the three play especially well off each other: Short brings a heightened theatricality to Oliver's post-murder hysteria, Martin enhances Charles' curmudgeonly nature with some inspired physical comedy (just wait to see how Martin plays off walking into a wall), and Gomez tempers it all with archly delivered deadpan takedowns. In many ways, it's a continuation of the dynamic we've seen for the past two seasons. Yet Only Murders in the Building builds further on the trio this season — sometimes by separating them entirely.

Mabel hasn't seen Charles and Oliver as much while they've been working on Death Rattle, meaning that two points of this triangle are closer than ever, while the third feels left out. This sense of alienation continues even after Ben's death: Mabel wants to investigate, but Charles and especially Oliver are more focused on reviving the play (and reworking it as a musical). As their rehearsals and personal drama move farther away from Mabel's orbit, she turns to some unexpected allies, causing major strife between our core three in the process. It's a great chance for Martin, Short, and Gomez to dig deeper into just how much these three characters mean to each other, even if they don't always know how to show it.

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As Mabel ventures deeper into investigating Ben's demise, Charles and Oliver deal with their own tangled love lives. Charles is dating Joy (Andrea Martin), his makeup artist from his Brazzos days — but is he capable of accepting love without self-sabotaging? Meanwhile, Oliver and Loretta clearly have feelings for each other, a love made all the more complicated by their director-actor relationship.

Unsurprisingly, Streep proves a wonderful addition to the Only Murders in the Building cast. Her Loretta is a flustered, deeply committed actor who's finally been given a shot. Yet beneath all Loretta's nerves (and questionable accent work), there lies layers of pathos that Streep surfaces elegantly from episode to episode. You may think you have Loretta figured out from the get-go, but trust me — you don't.

Only Murders in the Building finds power in theater in Season 3.

Steve Martin, Selena Gomez, and Ryan Broussard in "Only Murders in the Building." Credit: Patrick Harbron/Hulu

Oliver may be the most outwardly theatrical character in Only Murders in the Building, but it is perhaps Loretta who most embodies the ways in which theater shapes this season. For her, and for most of the people in the cast of Death Rattle, theater is a way to be seen, and not just in an egotistical way. It's a way to be understood and appreciated after years and years of hard work — but it comes at a price. Sometimes, like in the case of Ben Glenroy, that price is deadly. So, Only Murders in the Building asks, is that moment in the spotlight something worth dying for?

On top of these more existential questions, Only Murders in the Building fully unleashes the fun of theater this season. Panic during rehearsals leads to surreal interludes where Charles undergoes an out-of-body experience. Demanding actors get far too deep into their characters, much to Oliver's chagrin. Even more Broadway legends make cameos this season — sometimes even playing themselves. And best of all, Only Murders in the Building introduces a bevy of catchy musical numbers to obsess over this season, including a truly impressive patter song that you'll have a hard time getting out of your head.

Finally, the theater allows Only Murders in the Building to depart somewhat from its initial, Arconia-centric formula. Don't worry, purists, Ben Glenroy still has some surprising connections to the Arconia itself, so we're not shut out of the building entirely. But expanding to a new crime scene and to more suspects outside of the Arconia helps propel Only Murders in the Building in directions that feel new, yet authentic to the show's emotional core. Despite Ben's death (or really, because of it), this show goes on — and in spectacular fashion.

Only Murders in the Building Season 3 premieres Aug. 8 on Hulu, with new episodes streaming weekly.