Meryl Streep doesnβt have a problem blending in.
In the new season of βOnly Murders in the Building,β sheβs a struggling actress who lands a part in a Broadway play, then becomes one of the suspects when the leading man winds up dead.
Because heβs an obnoxious celebrity, Ben Glenroy (Paul Rudd) has plenty of co-stars, friends, enemies and stalkers who would want him dead.
On opening night of their hoary drama, Ben drops over. The show canβt go on -- or can it?
When Oliver (Martin Short) gets the bright idea to turn it into a musical, the mystery finds new life and plenty of clues for his podcast with Charles (Steve Martin) and Mabel (Selena Gomez).
Streepβs Loretta Durkin is excited because it could be the big break she has been looking for. Even better, she gets a good number in the musical version.
So βinside baseball,β the new season fits the stars better than previous outings. It hints at retracing steps, but the over-the-top production numbers make it more of an original than even βSchmigadoon.β
Likely suspects? Oh yeah. Among them: Kimber (Ashley Park), who has an outside connection to Ben; a documentarian (Jesse Williams), whoβs chronicling Benβs return; a beloved makeup artist (Andrea Martin); and a stalker who has more paraphernalia than a museum curator.
In the cast there are plenty of real Broadway regulars.. Wesley Taylor has a fun turn as a producerβs son (whoβs funding the show with momβs money); Tony winner Jeremy Shamos has great breakdowns as Benβs manager.
Toss in Don Darryl Rivera, Gerald Caesar and, of course, Streep and this becomes a crossover of the highest order. For Short itβs a fertile playground. He finally gets back on Broadway and then must figure out how to keep a seemingly dead horse going.
When Loretta invites him to her apartment, βOnly Murdersβ becomes the slapstick comedy Short has been longing for. Streep plays right into his hand. She has all the credentials (a cruise ship production of βCharlotteβs Web,β for example) and a way with a song that could land its creators an Emmy nomination.
Martin, meanwhile, finds himself in the heat of the production. When it shifts to a musical, heβs forced to do a patter song -- something non-singers get in a musical. That sends him into a tizzy and prompts him to find a way to remember the words. When heβs asked to complain about the script, he simply says, βI come from television and I was trained not to question the script.β
On so many levels, this seasonβs shows deliver.
Just when you think youβve narrowed in on the killer, the field broadens. The showβs writers manage to drop plenty of insider intel (Bernadette Peters gets name-checked) and reference lots of New York regulars.
Thankfully, Rudd broadens the focus, borrowing a bit from James Marsdenβs βJury Dutyβ playbook to make Benβs βCo-broβ the kind of Marvel character youβd love to hate. He toys with all the cast at the first read-through and appears enough in flashbacks to make this seem like another βMurder on the Orient Express.β
The success of other mysteries only adds to the suspense. While the podcast is faintly mentioned, Mabel, Oliver and Charles do get a chance to play amateur sleuths. They also find love interests and a way to make βOnly Murdersβ the only smart mystery that doesnβt bear Rian Johnsonβs fingerprints.
βOnly Murders in the Buildingβ airs on Hulu.