Only Murders in the Building season 3 finale recap

Martin Short in Only Murders in the Building (Image credit: Patrick Harbron/Hulu)

NOTE: this post contains spoilers for Only Murders in the Building season 3 finale, “Opening Night.”

The death of Ben Glenroy (Paul Rudd) ruined Oliver Putman's (Martin Short) first opening night. Now, as a musical, the revised Death Rattle Dazzle is going full steam ahead, even with a murderer lurking in the shadows. The podcast trio has narrowed their list of suspects to one, and it is time to confront producer extraordinaire Donna (Linda Emond). After all, Donna previously told Loretta (Meryl Streep) that a mother would "do anything" to protect their child. But is there more to this story than a parent killing for her son?

Loretta in the inner sanctum

Thanks to some fortunate timing, Loretta did not plead guilty to murdering Ben and is out on bail. She is invited into the inner murder board sanctum as the team recaps the theory behind Donna's crime. Loretta realizes she has some additional information to help explain Donna's actions, as when they were in the bathroom together, she heard the producer throwing up. Loretta deduces Donna must be terminally ill and is protecting Cliff's (Wesley Taylor) career after she is gone.

Loretta also has a vital clue in her possession as Dickie (Jeremy Shamos) gave her the bloody handkerchief (that he bought from Uma). Something on this item points an additional finger at Donna. Unfortunately, much of the evidence is circumstantial, and they must get a confession on tape. Mabel (Selena Gomez) has scripted what they need to say to get Donna to spill, which will occur just before the show begins. Loretta also plans on telling Dickie the truth about who she is after the show.

A confession

Linda Emond, Selena Gomez and Wesley Taylor in Only Murders in the Building (Image credit: Patrck Harbron/Hulu)

The tease of a review waiting in K.T.'s office lures Donna to what is a makeshift interrogation room. While no one is off-book with the lines Mabel has written, Donna confesses without any fight. "I did it," she admits about poisoning Ben, explaining she wanted to buy time so the show wouldn't flop. It was never Donna's plan to kill the star. However, the lipstick on the hanky matches her shade, and they surmise she also pushed Ben down the Arconia elevator shaft.

Seeing the evidence, she admits to the murder and says she will hand herself in after the show. Donna has Stage 4 lung cancer, which proves Loretta's theory right. However, Mabel doesn't seem overly convinced by how quickly Donna confessed.

Before she can press Donna any further, Howard (Michael Cyril Creighton) interrupts with an emergency: Jonathan's (Jason Veasey) leading man drug cocktail has incapacitated him and he cannot go on stage. Howard offers his services, but Oliver steps up instead.

Backstage, Mabel still looks uncertain. When she runs into Tobert (Jesse Williams), he tells her that he is going to LA to work on an indie film. It's a sweet moment, but one topped by Loretta and Dickie's heart-to-heart. After Loretta sings her showstopper, she tells Dickie the truth, and he says part of him knew from the moment they met.

The real killer

Mabel hears Loretta's confession from the wings and sees Donna telling Cliff what she has done. When Cliff walks off upset, Mabel follows him to the rafters and confronts him about his role in Ben's death. She realizes the current handkerchief in his top pocket also has his mother's lipstick (a kiss on the lips and one on the heart, their little ritual) and realizes that he had the original hankie and pushed Ben.

When Cliff left the afterparty, he ran into Ben, who had found out from his doctor (this was the mystery call) that someone had given him rat poison. Ben realizes it must have been the cookie and threatens to call the cops on Donna. The two got into a verbal sparring match: Cliff calls Ben a "phony," and Ben refuses to call Cliff by his name. A scuffle follows, and Cliff pushes Ben before fleeing the scene.

To avoid jail, Cliff threatens to throw himself from the rafters onto the stage; this disturbance makes the show's final number even more dramatic. Donna helps pull Cliff to safety with the help of Charles (Steve Martin), Mabel and Oliver. Everyone arrives for the curtain call to take their well-earned bow.

The afterparty

Donna and Cliff's arrests don't stop the company from heading to Oliver's for another sedate afterparty. Maxine's review is a rave, detailing the "Putnam-inspired insanity."

It's a great time to be Loretta, who is loved up with Oliver, has a strong bond with her son and several offers for when Death Rattle Dazzle's run is over. Even if she goes to Los Angeles for work, Oliver can visit as he likes this city "in small doses." Mabel feels similarly about Hollywood, but is open to visits there to continue things with Tobert.

Charles gets a text from Joy, but it is just to tell him that Scott Bakula "says hi." While his love life is flailing, he is far from alone, as Sazz (Jane Lynch) stops by to celebrate. She is dressed in the same outfit as Charles (as his stunt double, she tends to do this), and there is talk of getting a special bottle of wine from his apartment.

When everyone wonders where Charles is, he pops up and mentions that Sazz went to get the wine, but she's not back and he is worried she has drunk it all. Unfortunately for Sazz, in what appears to be a case of mistaken identity, she is shot through the window of Charles' apartment, and the chest wound could be fatal. Another murder in the building! Season 4 has not been officially announced, but the podcast trio has their next case.

Only Murders in the Building season 3 is available to watch on Hulu in the US and Disney Plus in the UK.

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Emma Fraser spends most of her time writing about TV, fashion, and costume design; Dana Scully is the reason she loves a pantsuit. Words can also be found at Vulture, Elle, Primetimer, Collider, Little White Lies, Observer, and Girls on Tops. Emma has a Master’s in Film and Television, started a (defunct) blog that mainly focused on Mad Men in 2010, and has been getting paid to write about TV since 2015. It goes back way further as she got her big start making observations in her diary about My So-Called Life’s Angela Chase (and her style) at 14.