Martin Short, Selena Gomez and Steve Martin as intrepid podcasters Oliver, Mabel and Brazzos.
Mystery comedy-drama Only Murders in the Building blows my hair back like you can't believe.
I arrived late to the party and only recently discovered it - I'm now on Season 3 in anticipation of Season 4 which premieres on Disney+ on 27 August 2024.
Too long to wait!
I have one final episode of Season 3 and I'm saving it in my pocket, grieving its departure before it's ended.
What is it about this show that's so special? I've compiled this list of the five top things that I love, with 1 being the best.
5.
The fact that it's a murder mystery set in an apartment building, filled with interesting souls and randos.
I've always dreamed of creating a TV show or movie about the characters in a block of flats and Only Murders has done it perfectly.
You get to eavesdrop on everyone like a voyeur with Big Brother syndrome, while teasing your brain with whodunnit? It's all-consuming - you can't zone out or think about something else.
The attention to detail makes this even more so. The design of each apartment in the Arconia building, the end credits artwork that changes with every episode and the script where every line is considered with care.
4.
I'm addicted to looking through windows and the show fulfills this need.
If you like your privacy and see me walking past your home, shut your curtains and turn out the lights because I
will stare in. I'll even hurt my neck I'll crane so much trying to see what I can see.
It creates this weird feeling of comfort mixed with loneliness because I'm not actually inside the scene I'm looking at. It's difficult to describe but it works for me - being the observer.
The Only Murders opening sequence elicits this feeling.
3.
Guffaws and delight. It's funny, funny and everyone delivers the humour perfectly in a cocktail of wit, timing and physical comedy. The way Martin Short uses his hands as Oliver Putnam finishes me off.
And so does Jane Lynch as Sazzzzz... I understand why Brazzos loses his girlfriends to her.
2.
The theatricality of their podcasts, the showbiz references and the stage given to theatre. Oh, how I love that! Season 3 is
the best because of this.
The monologues, the showstopper songs, the way our heroes became the audience as they deciphered the murder in Episode 9.
It makes me feel exactly like Meryl Streep's character Loretta when she sat mesmerised on the side of the stage as a girl.
1.
The way in which the story challenges stereotypes and prejudices around age through the fantabulous friendship shared between Oliver, Charles and Mabel despite their age differences which span over 40 years.
I find this is extremely meaningful, inspiring and anti-establishment. It shreds labels and the relentless programming we're subjected to that insists we must be part of a demographic.
Gen Z, baby boomers, pensioners, millenials - labels used to create divisions between us. They're also used to make money off us by herding us into seperate groups so we can be sold to.
Only Murders in the Building shatters this by celebrating real human connection and showing how it transcends the concept of age.