Ronit J

Only Murders In The Building Season 5 Synopsis:

After discovering their loveable doorman, Lester, dead in the fountain, Mabel, Charles and Oliver must once again investigate foul play. What it leads to, however, is an intricate web of crime and corporate elites, from mob rackets, the uber rich, and even a robotic doorman who might just hold the key to solving another murder in the infamous Arconia.

Only Murders In The Building Season 5 Review:

I have a kind of love-hate relationship with OMITB. I absolutely loved the first season, and hated the second just as much. Yes, I know it was the COVID season, and faced a ton of restrictions which clearly affected its overall quality, but still. Everything since has left me with mixed feelings. However, the Charles-Oliver-Mabel trio have become a kind of comforting presence for me. And, it’s that comfort which keeps bringing me back to this show every time there’s a new season out.

If I’m being honest, I wasn’t a fan of the way the last season killed off Lester in its final scene. It felt like a cheap gimmick to tease the next season. And yes, that’s kind of a staple of this show. However, after four seasons, the pattern does get repetitive, no? Besides, when I saw the trailer for Season 5, I thought they were overdoing it with the involvement of the mob and billionaires.

So, did the season live up to its hype, or did it disappoint?

The Good, The Bad, And The Meh

As you might expect, the show follows its routine formula. Murder, followed by investigation, followed by a dissection of many lives around the murder, each giving insight into relevant emotional, and sometimes socio-cultural conflicts. From Thē (Beanie Feldstein) being the uber popular popstar, to the growing property rates and potential housing crisis, to even the slowly fading profession of the doorman, Only Murders in the Building Season 5 has quite a lot to appreciate.

I especially loved that last bit I mentioned, seeing the Arconia change over the years through Lester’s eyes. Even getting to know the doorman through his widow, Lorraine (Diane Weist). Seeing how intimately Lester was involved with the Arconia and its residents, not to mention the whole casino racket in the basement… now that was interesting. Lester’s story scratched into the class disparity angle to an extent, but tread carefully, not wanting to ruffle the wrong feathers I guess.

But, there are also enough ridiculous plotlines to almost derail the show. The entire plot of the severed finger and them finding Nicky Caccimelio’s (Bobby Cannavale) body and performing an ‘autopsy’ was a little too stupid. Even the inclusion of LESTR the robot felt like they wanted to comment on the growing AI “revolution”, except it came off just as a silly gag with Howard (Michael Cyril Creighton) treating it as his lover. So many missed possibilities…

And then there are the meh elements. The entire mob plotline with Sofia Caccimelio (Téa Leoni), and her purely physical romance with Charles all felt like random fillers.

Almost there, but not quite

One amazing thing that this season could’ve done is highlight the extreme lengths to which billionaires around the world are going to appease their filthy appetites. I really thought that’s what this season was building up to with the inclusion of Jay Pflug (Logan Lerman), Sebastian Steed (Christoph Waltz) and Camila White (Renée Zellweger). But then, they humanised the three to seem like goofy misunderstood folks so detached from regular life that they only ‘seem evil’. I mean, yes, they do try to buy the Arconia to turn it into New York’s first and biggest casino. And they do some pretty shady stuff to achieve. it. But that’s the extent of their malice. All that seems like child’s play compared to the real-world destruction that this class has unleashed upon our world.

Given the growing economic disparity across the globe, coupled with the increasing support for fascism fuelled by corporate greed, the way the show handled this entire angle completely rubbed me the wrong way. I mean, of all the times you could’ve chosen to include ‘innocent billionaires’ in your show, you pick the one time in history where the faults of that uber rich class are literally burning the world down? This has got to be my biggest complaint from the show.

Apart from that, there were ample jokes, gags, side plots, and more that didn’t work. But that’s been the case with the previous seasons too. The podcast seems to be running out of content. And honestly, it’s becoming increasingly ridiculous how many murders there are around the Arconia. Even the meta humour in the final scene just didn’t hit the mark for me.

And the murder? Well, honestly it was interesting, if not a little too conveniently solved.

Only Murders In The Building Season 5 Ending Explained

SPOILER ALERT: Lester was the killer! Well, he killed Nicky to save the Arconia, so that’s one of the two murders. But who killed Lester? That was… Mayor Beau Tillman (Keegan-Michael Key). The message Lester sent his wife “It is Beautiful” was actually autocorrect.

Sofia had been cheating on Nicky with Beau. Nicky finds out on the inopportune night, and, in an intoxicated rage, attacks him with a cleaver. Lester attacks Nicky in return because he needs to ‘protect the Arconia from the billionaires and Nicky’. In the ensuing chaos, Nicky falls on top of Lester, inadvertently stabbing himself in the heart with the same cleaver. Lester steals Beau’s finger, and tries to escape, but Beau manages to catch up and shove him, abetting the accidental death.

Mabel, Oliver and Charles confront the billionaires and Beau, but Beau’s corrupt cops take them hostage. During the press conference where Camila is about to announce her new casino, Howard, Thē, and Miller manage to distract the press and cops, and lead them to the underground parlour for an impromptu performance by Thē. Our trio escape and accuse Beau, providing recorded evidence (recorder in the secret drawer in the roulette table). Beau is caught. Pflug reveals that Lester had made an announcement to the billionaires that whoever got the severed finger would get the casino. To show that he’s a good guy, he even confesses to the cops, resulting in all three billionaires getting arrested.

The Arconia is safe. Everything seems to go back to normal. Until, the trio is listening to Cinda Canning’s (Tina Fey) new podcast where she talks about a red-haired woman accused of crimes against British Royalty. At the same time, a red-haired woman stumbles and crawls towards the Arconia. Just before dying, she places a bloodied hand inside the gate, thereby making this yet another… murder in the building. The redhead? Cinda Canning!

Only Murders In The Building Season 5 Worth Watching?

Depends.

The season—like all it’s previous seasons except the first—has as much good as it has bad. Honestly, the show is probably turned into something that only die hard fans will enjoy, while others may or may not like it. And that’s the case with me too. I loved some aspects of it, but hated others.

All in all, it ended up being just an average, albeit a cosy, watch. I do believe it’s worth a watch if you’re a fan, but if you’ve been meaning to abandon the show for its declining quality, you’re not really missing out on much.

Will There Be An Only Murders In The Building Season 6?

Probably. After all, the show did end with the cliffhanger of Cinda’s murder in the building. The sixth season is probably going to have a British spin to it. I mean, yes, it seems like they’ve exhausted all possibilities with the format. Podcast, a theatrical production, a film adaptation, and now even a clash with organised crime and billionaires. Now the British Royalty? Things are starting to get a little ridiculous.

As much as I would like for this show to end, I know I’ll probably sit down with a bowl of chips and watch every new episode the day it drops, if and when the sixth season releases next year.

In Conclusion:

Only Murders In The Building Season 5 was a mix bag that ultimately delivers a satisfying, cozy mystery. After all, that’s what this show always has been, no?

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What did you think of Only Murders In The Building Season 5 (2025)? Let me know in the comments below! Any other manga, anime, series, book, or movie you’d like me to review? Let me know your recommendations, and I’ll be sure to check them out.

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Until next time!