Only Murders in the Building Season 3 Episode 9 Review: Thirty
This piece was written during the 2023 WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes. Without the labor of the writers and actors currently on strike, the series being covered here wouldn’t exist.
Only Murders in the Building Season 3 Episode 9, “Thirty,” finds our trio retracing Ben’s steps on opening night, and with a bit of help from Howard, they’re able to come up with a solid murder suspect.
As far as penultimate episodes go, it’s underwhelming.
There’s nothing horribly wrong with “Thirty,” but none of the storylines are particularly exciting or engaging. There’s no big ramp-up in suspense or shock as the potential murderer is revealed. It’s all just okay.
The show makes the decision to have our trio put together Ben’s final moments (before death number one) by essentially following him around in those thirty minutes before the curtain went up.
Charles, Mabel, and Oliver are spectators with everything unfolding as if they were there all along, making them privy to moments there’s actually no way they could have possibly seen.
The suspension of disbelief with that is not an issue. It makes things easier, accepting what we’re seeing as the true events without needing Charles, Mabel, and Oliver to somehow confirm that, for instance, Ben said a bunch of horrible things about himself and was the one to write the message on the mirror.
Maybe we’ll get confirmation that it went down that way on Only Murders in the Building Season 3 Episode 10, “Opening Night,” but at this point, it’s not necessary. It doesn’t feel like a stretch to imagine that is what happened, so we won’t gain anything at this point from an extra bit of confirmation.
While we get some laughs from our trio’s commentary on Ben’s activities before the curtain went up, they aren’t actively investigating, so there isn’t much excitement around what they uncover. They have a couple of excursions where we get that classic trio energy present, and I just wish there was more of that throughout the episode.
Mabel being at a weird stage in her life where so much is up in the air and undecided is a great arc for her. It’s relatable and allows us to see a more vulnerable side to her.
This is a bit of a frustrating storyline because there hasn’t been any payoff yet. All we’ve seen is more of Mabel struggling to figure out her life or reflecting on how her life isn’t what she imagined it would be, but this is something that can’t be neatly wrapped up and solved in a thirty-minute episode.
So while you wish something would click and work out for Mabel, it’s more realistic that she sits in this lost feeling for a while. Hopefully by the end of “Opening Night,” Mabel has made some progress.
Stray Thoughts
- Howard is the MVP of the episode.
- Donna being the murderer makes sense. She kisses her son on the lips, so her murdering Ben to save her son the heartbreak of a bad play isn’t a stretch.
- Do we think Joy’s family has the fountain of youth somewhere on their property?
- Ben talking to the cookies and not a person has been obvious ever since we first saw that clip.
- I could do without the weird baby dream Mabel has.
What did you think of this episode of Only Murders in the Building? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
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New episodes of Only Murders in the Building premiere Tuesdays on Hulu.
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Allison Nichols
Allison is in a love affair with television that doesn't seem to be letting up anytime soon. Slightly damaged fictional characters are her weakness. She loves to spend her free time curled up with a cat and a show to binge-watch. Allison is a Tomatometer-approved critic (Rotten Tomatoes).