The season two finale ofOnly Murders in the Buildingdropped yesterday, and NO SPOILERS but let me just say my theory on who killed Bunny Folger was ALMOST right. This season wasnot quite as sharpor cleverly plotted as the first season, but the lead trio of Steve Martin, Martin Short, and Selena Gomez settled into a delightful groove, and the surrounding ensemble got a bigger role this time, too, turning the show into a cozy mystery full of real estate porn, great coats, and acerbic inter-generational witticisms. There will be aseason three, which the final episode teased, revealing a one-year time jump and a new victim: Paul Rudd as Ben Glenroy, an asshole theater actor with a secret.
It hadn’t occurred to me before, but now, after two seasons, yes, OF COURSE, Paul Rudd should be inOnly Murders. Besides the fact that his brand of comedic acting fits right in with Steve Martin and Martin Short, he also has a Selena Gomez connection. They starred in the Netflix filmThe Fundamentals of Caringtogether and seemed to form exactly the kind of inter-generational friendship portrayed inOnly Murders. She has showed up for him atthe Big Slick, the charity for Kansas City’s Children’s Mercy Hospital which Rudd co-founded along with Jason Sudeikis and Rob Riggle. And he showed up for her professionally:
Now, Mabel can investigate Ben Glenroy’s death and bring the whole thing full circle. It’s unclear how involved Rudd will be in season three—he’s playing “the body”, after all—but I can’t imagine casting Paul Rudd and not doing an episode like “The Last Day of Bunny Folger” for his character. Tim Kono was a recurring character in season one flashbacks, but season two found a way to turn Bunny Folger into a fully-fledged character beyond the circumstances of her death. I hope season three does the same, especially since it is already established that Ben Glenroy has a secret. It will be at least a year before we seeOnly Murdersseason three, which is currently being written, but I am already excited for the next mystery. There remains a strain of spikiness inOnly Murdersthat challenges the “comfort viewing” label, but it has become the go-to comfort watch for many of us despite that. Real question: is this our post-modernMurder, She Wrote?
