Murder! Intrigue! Podcasts! All that and more can be found in Hulu’s hit comedy, Only Murders in the Building. The Emmy-nominated series is returning for Season 3 on August 8th, and this is your guide to everything from the show’s latest A-list cast members to its exciting new mystery.
Who’s in the cast of Only Murders in the Building Season 3?
The series continues its odd throuple dynamic of Steve Martin, Martin Short and Selena Gomez as a trio of tenants in the ritzy Arconia building. Martin plays Charles-Haden Savage, a popular TV actor of days gone by, while Short is Oliver Putnam, a theater director with lofty ideas and a loose grip on his finances. Their merry band of true crime podcasters is held together by Gomez’s Mabel, a young artist who prefers to keep her past to herself.
And who’s joining this season? One name, two words, three Oscars: Meryl Streep. The veteran actress plays an actress, albeit one who seems more inclined to be on stage than on screen. She, along with Paul Rudd and Ashley Park, serves as part of the cast of Oliver’s newest play, one that’s destined for doom. Jesse Williams will also be playing a supporting role as a documentarian with a penchant for murder mysteries.
What is the plot of Only Murders Season 3?
For the first time, it looks like the murdering didn’t happen in the building. Continuing a pattern set by the show’s first season, Season 2 ended with a mystery solved (i.e., Arconia board president Bunny Folger was murdered by an up-and-coming true crime podcast team) and a new mystery to unravel. The season concluded with a flash forward to the opening night of Oliver’s Broadway comeback, where lead actor Ben Glenroy (Rudd) drops dead on stage.
Season 3 promises to pick up all the pieces in between that time jump, focusing in part on the play’s extensive rehearsal process. Could Meryl’s messy theater actress have done it, or was it Park’s trend-obsessed starlet? Only time—and our trio’s rudimentary investigative skills—will tell.
There’s also likely to be a musical element to this season, with music-and-lyrics teams of Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman (Hairspray, Some Like It Hot) on board. Whether that means there’s a musical episode in store or we’re backstage for the making of a Broadway production throughout the season, there’s sure to be some razzle dazzle.
What are critics saying about Season 3?
So far, Season 3 has been winning the same acclaim as the prior two seasons of Only Murders. With the action and mystery now revolving around the Broadway stage and all the bombast that comes with it, “it feels like the show has truly come into its own.” The season’s new emphasis on show business shows off the series’ “well-worked stagecraft” and its actors’ many talents, as the comedy “spins from vaudeville to farce to musical… in a way that always feels audience-focused, not indulgent.” On the whole, critics have been calling it a delightfully good time, with a frequent point being that Only Murders is one of the few shows on television that’s willing to embrace silliness and have some fun.
Is there a trailer?
Yes! Hulu has been teasing the newest season for quite some time, but a full length trailer was released late in July.
When does Season 3 premiere?
The first two episodes of the newest season will be released Tuesday, August 8th, with a new episode premiering every Tuesday. There are 10 episodes overall.
