What Is the Story About?
Season 5 of Only Murders in the Building begins right where the last one left us, with a new mystery on the Arconia’s doorstep. This time, it’s Lester, the long-serving doorman, found dead in the building’s fountain just a day after Oliver’s wedding to Loretta.
While the police dismiss it as an accident, Charles, Oliver, and Mabel are convinced foul play is involved. Their suspicion only grows when a severed human finger turns up, sparking a hunt to figure out whose it is and how it connects to Lester’s death.
The investigation draws them into a web of suspects, including a mob widow tied to a missing husband, and three billionaires introduced in a shadowy underground casino, one of whom is missing a finger. With each lead, the trio juggle their personal struggles and the challenges of keeping their podcast alive, even as the Arconia once again proves to be a place where secrets lurk behind every door.
Performances?
The heart of Only Murders in the Building has always been its trio, and in Season 5 they remain the strongest anchor.
Steve Martin slips back into Charles-Haden Savage with his signature mix of awkward charm and quiet melancholy, balancing comedy with moments of vulnerability. Martin Short is, as ever, a delight as Oliver Putnam, stealing scenes with his manic energy, flamboyant gestures, and that trademark snort, even if it resurfaces more than it should this season. Selena Gomez continues to ground the group as Mabel, her dry wit and understated delivery cutting through the chaos, while also revealing new shades of maturity and independence.
Among the supporting cast, Teddy Coluca finally gets his due as Lester, the doorman whose death sets off this season’s mystery. His backstory episode adds warmth, showing us a man whose dreams may have dimmed but whose spirit never soured. Meryl Streep’s return as Loretta divides opinion, her presence brings gravitas, but sometimes distracts from the trio’s dynamic. Renée Zellweger feels miscast as one of the billionaire suspects, all mannerisms and little depth, while Christoph Waltz is a scene-stealer, perfectly tuned to the show’s eccentric humor.
Analysis
Season 5 of Only Murders in the Building arrives with everything that made the show lovable, warmth, sly humour, and a genuine affection for its oddball characters, and yet you can see it straining under its own ambition. The new case (Lester found dead; a severed finger; a trail that leads from the Arconia to Staten Island mob houses and an underground casino) gives the writers plenty of toys, billionaires, mafia threads, returning guest stars, but too often those toys feel scattered across too many hands.
The season opens strong: the first episode lands the inciting mystery and the second gives us a touching backstory episode for Lester that genuinely earns our sympathy. But after that the plot splinters. Red herrings multiply, a mob widow, mafia-branded podcasts, three billionaire suspects, and the proportion of meaningful clues to shiny distractions tilts the wrong way. The trio’s investigative chemistry, the show’s engine, is intermittently sidelined. Splitting Charles, Oliver and Mabel up weakens the show’s emotional core; when the group is together, the series hums. When they’re scattered, the narrative becomes a collection of vignettes rather than a tight mystery.
OMITB has always balanced melancholy and comedy; Season 5 still does that well in places. Siddhartha Khosla’s score and the Arconia’s warmth anchor the episodes emotionally. But some jokes feel laboured rather than effortless, Howard’s bits, the robot-doorman subplot, and Oliver’s snort (which had been wisely dialled down in season 4) occasionally slide from charming to gimmicky. The show’s sly satirical edge, about celebrity, true-crime culture and podcasts, is present but sometimes reduced to texture instead of driving scenes.
The three leads remain the reason to watch. Steve Martin, Martin Short and Selena Gomez still have chemistry and they carry the season’s quieter beats. The Lester flashback episode is proof the writers can still create small, perfect character moments. Guest players are a mixed bag: Christoph Waltz shows up and delights exactly as expected; Renée Zellweger’s billionaire turn lands unevenly and sometimes reads like mannerism over character; Meryl Streep’s return, for some viewers, distracts more than it enhances. The season’s biggest sin is underusing its strongest asset, keeping the trio at the centre and letting suspects orbit them rather than vice versa.
Pacing is uneven. A few mid-season episodes stall under the weight of set-pieces and detours, and the podcast framing, once a clever connective tissue, recedes as plot mechanics take over. When the show slows to admire a beat or an elegiac revelation, it’s lovely. When it slows because the writers are juggling too much, it loses momentum.
What still works is the affection for the Arconia, character-driven humor, tender backstory work (Lester’s episode), and the trio’s interpersonal growth. What doesn’t: an overpopulated suspect list, too many outside-the-building detours, uneven guest casting, and a scattering of jokes that feel like padding.
Season 5 is not a disaster, it’s still charming, often funny and occasionally moving. But it feels like a show worried about running out of surprises and therefore packing in everything it can find. The good news is the core remains intact. If the writers refocus on the trio, tighten the mystery, and let the Arconia be the gravitational centre again, Season 6 could easily reclaim the nimbleness OMITB once owned.
Music and Other Departments?
One of the most consistent strengths of Only Murders in the Building has been its use of music, and Season 5 continues that tradition with Siddhartha Khosla’s wistful score. His compositions give the show its signature tone, whimsical yet melancholic, reminding us that beneath the comedy lies loneliness, longing, and the desire for connection. The playful cues during investigation scenes still provide levity, while softer piano-driven themes enrich the flashbacks, particularly in Lester’s backstory episode, where the music becomes an emotional thread that ties his youthful dreams with his later years of quiet service at the Arconia.
Costume design also remains an essential storytelling tool. Oliver’s flamboyant scarves, Charles’s muted, slightly outdated wardrobe, and Mabel’s chic millennial style continue to visually define their personalities. Production design, especially the Arconia’s interiors, retains its role as a silent character, luxurious yet lived-in, a space that feels like both theatre and home.
Cinematography, while not showy, does its job of balancing intimacy with spectacle. The Arconia’s hallways are shot with warmth, while the underground casino sequence pushes for grandeur, though sometimes at the expense of coherence. Editing is brisk but occasionally falters in juggling multiple plotlines.
Overall, the technical departments remain reliable, with music standing out as the element that consistently elevates even the weaker stretches of narrativ
Highlights?
Khosla’s score is perfect.
Again, the show is filled with witty dialogues
Arconia remains the show’s strongest backdrop.
Strong side characters.
Drawbacks?
Cinematography feels too safe, lacks tension.
Editing slows the pace down.
Some external sets look caricatured, not grounded.
Did I Enjoy It?
Definitely
Will You Recommend It?
This is surely one of the best content on all of OTT. If you have watched the past seasons, it is a good time to resume it. And if not, get started with it
Only Murders In The Building Season 5 Series Review by Binged Bureau
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