Frustration has ruled Loretta Durkin’s life. As a child, she decided to pursue acting, but the glaring spotlight was never on her. She’s spent her life waiting for someone to spot her and wonder where she’s been all this time. The best joke of Only Murders in the Building Season 3 is that it’s Meryl Streep who plays an actress who, despite her best efforts, just couldn’t get her job done. Her character is another lone loser who joins the trio of protagonists in the series, which celebrates a new episode on Disney+ this Tuesday (with two episodes followed by a new one every week). Loretta has reached this point in her maturity. The director of a Broadway play listens to her and sees it clearly: where had she been all this time?
More information
The second season of Only Murders in the Building ended with a murder… outside the building. Just on the day of the premiere of the play that brings Oliver (a great Martin Short) back to Broadway, his protagonist dies as soon as he appears on stage, thus abandoning the premise of the forthcoming sequel. The first chapters of the new installment – eight of its ten episodes were watched to write this text – move between the present and leaps into the past to show the preparation of the work and to teach where the new characters come from and how Friends have already come here. The viewer witnesses the ingestion of the two main guest stars (there are a few others with brief appearances): Meryl Streep, who plays one of the actresses in Oliver’s play, and Paul Rudd (the murdered man), who gives life to a star in Hollywood cinema , which had its heyday in the 1990s and wants to repeat the success on the tables. His arrogance makes him the perfect victim: everyone around him could have wished for his death.
Selena Gomez, Martin Short and Steve Martin, in a picture from the first episode of Only Murdes in the Building. Patrick Harbron (HULU)
Starring Martin Short, Steve Martin and Selena Gomez, the series returns to a high level despite marking a slow progressive decline since its glorious first season. It continues to provide quality entertainment with good dialogue and scenes of physical humor in a high level production. By now everyone knows why you came here. Viewers agree with the work, and that’s why the series may falter or present a case full of false clues, forcing amateur investigators to run in circles until the key emerges that clears everything up. It’s also not hard to forgive the loopholes in the script – do they kill a Hollywood star and do the police barely intervene in the investigation? – because deep down it’s the most unimportant thing, a mere Macguffin that allows the viewer to spend time in the corridors of the Arconia with its protagonists and supporting characters, a group of adorable weirdos.
Beyond the mystery that unfolds more slowly than on other occasions, this season focuses on the personal and emotional development of the three protagonists. It gets a little more dramatic, more serious. Charles (Steve Martin), the actor clinging to a television character that made him famous, now has a love affair that gives him a huge headache. Oliver (Short) must redo his work after the protagonist’s death to try to salvage his magnificent return to the stage. And this time, Mabel (Gomez) will be more alone than ever in her investigation as she contemplates what she wants to do with her life, what kind of person she is and what she wants to be. The fact that everyone is focused on their own business means the trio have fewer sequences together than on other occasions, but when they do happen their chemistry still works perfectly.
Steve Martin, Selena Gomez and Ryan Broussard in the second episode of the season. Patrick Harbron (HULU)
Only Murders in the Building knew early on how to laugh at yourself and not take yourself too seriously, an unmistakable trait of intelligence in both the show and the humans. The meta-references and winks to the viewer are still present in the new chapters, albeit with less relevance than in the second part. Another engine of previous episodes, the protagonists’ passion for true crime podcasts and the amateur production that united them, which served to parody the contemporary obsession with this content, also diminishes their presence on this occasion. After all, the series already has a lot of substance and we know the characters so well that we need more excuses to keep going. And who needs extras when you’ve got Meryl Streep in your cast?
Martin Short, Selena Gomez and Steve Martin as the main trio of “Only Murders in the Building” at some point in Season 3. Patrick Harbron (HULU)
If the series has already reached a good level on its own, it increases even further with its appearance on screen, with hilarious moments and others full of emotions with her as the protagonist. But would this season be interesting if she wasn’t in the cast? The question remains in the air. On the other hand, pay attention to the hilarious musical scenes that result from the reconversion that Oliver subjects his work to: in order to put the original incident behind him, he decides to turn it into a musical with a plot so absurd that it is impossible to explain it credible.
Perhaps the formula has worn off with a few repetitions, but the joy one feels from re-encountering the locations, characters, and forms of Just Murders in the Building makes up for it enough that I’m hoping for more deaths and more investigations the Arconia, improbable as they are.
The success of the formula combining mystery and comedy
Aside from Building Murders Only, other recent television titles have combined a police investigation or crime thriller with humor. It’s a hybrid of genres that has also found success in cinemas in productions with great critical and critical acclaim such as “Daggers in the Back” or just audiences like “Criminals at Sea” on Netflix. On the small screen, this type of story benefits from weekly airing, with storylines that entice the viewer to keep coming back.
The Afterparty (Apple TV+ is airing its second season) follows the investigation into a murder that leaves everyone present at the location a suspect, with each chapter focusing on a different character and narrative genre. One chapter can be told as a musical, another as a teen comedy, another as a historical series, and another with animation. The headaches of the millennial generation have been the focus of five seasons of black comedy Search Party (Warner TV), while the two episodes of multi-award-winning series The White Lotus (HBO Max) mix social satire with a dash of mystery. . The combination of genres also dominates in The Flight Attendant (HBO Max), which brings an extra touch of humor to the Hitchcon backdrop.
You can follow EL PAÍS TELEVSIÓN on Twitter or sign up here to receive our weekly newsletter.
Receive the TV newsletter
All the news from channels and platforms, with interviews, news and analyses, as well as recommendations and criticism from our journalists
REGISTRATION
Subscribe to continue reading
Read without limits