Only Murders in the Building Recap: On Fire

As a seasoned armchair detective who’s seen more than my fair share of whodunits, I must say this latest twist has me hooked like a fish on a line! The plot thickens with each episode and it seems our cunning screenwriter-turned-killer, Marshall, is finally in the spotlight.

Even though their main suspect is known for being unconscious, Charles, Oliver, and Mabel decide to visit Glenn Stubbins at the hospital instead. They plan to try waking him up with beer and corned beef, but the Irish nurse prevents them from entering his room, preventing what could have been a potentially harmful act. However, when they thought they had reached a dead end, the bartender from Concussions arrives, proving to be more helpful as he’s awake and able to answer their questions effectively.

It was discovered that Glenn wasn’t Sazz’s suspicious apprentice who worked on the ‘Project Ronkonkoma’, but instead, Glenn became Sazz’s replacement after the original stunt person made a severe mistake. “He messed up so badly, Sazz had to disassociate with him,” the bartender informs them. Sazz ended his career, then Glenn took over – and both eventually faced gunfire. However, only the movie’s director could provide insights into the events that transpired. Surprisingly, it was none other than Ron Howard. “At last, a celebrity this season,” Oliver says. The idea of a Ron Howard film encountering trouble seemed unthinkable to me as I switched off CNN.

Instead of roaming through every baseball hat store nationwide, there’s got to be a smarter approach. Oliver believes he might have a connection as they shared an unusual encounter at a Chinese restaurant in 1988. If not the restaurant itself, Mabel suggests contacting Bev Melon for possible leads, given that Molly Shannon collaborated with him on a project, which could provide some leverage. Bev claims to know Ron Howard’s whereabouts, stating that it’s hard to be relevant in this town without keeping tabs on him. As it happens, Ron Howard is currently filming a movie in New York, and Bev offers Mabel a deal: providing Ron’s address if she agrees to work on their movie’s problematic script to make it sound more realistic.

Setting off towards Ron Howard’s film production site, they find themselves working on a movie titled “Escape From Planet Klongo“. Despite the general knowledge that most films still shot in New York are either “Elsbeth“, “Law & Order“, Sabrina Brier’s TikToks, or “Only Murders in the Building “, they manage to blend in as background actors. However, their objective to meet Ron Howard takes an unexpected turn.

Mabel can’t stop the argument or see what happens because she leaves after hearing Glenn Stubbins woke up from a coma in the hospital. Unfortunately, someone else arrives before her and smothers Glenn with a pillow. This show is about trying to kill Paul Rudd. Meanwhile, a news report about Nicky “The Neck” Caccimelio’s disappearance, a dry cleaning mogul connected to the Caputo crime family, appears on TV. Mabel seems unfamiliar with this person, leading us to wonder if he’s a new character or if we missed something earlier. It’s also significant that the Irish nurse, Shannon, called only Glenn’s emergency contact, Sazz, but since the killer has Sazz’s phone, they can’t be reached.

After returning to the set and not realizing the killer has returned, Charles and Oliver reconcile, with Charles expressing his concerns about feeling like an unwanted third wheel. To alleviate this fear and strengthen their bond, they decide to eat at Oliver’s favorite Chinese restaurant. The meal turns out to be the perfect bachelor party for Charles, minus his request for a famous celebrity. However, a voice from across the restaurant catches my attention, making me think I accidentally changed channels to Arrested Development. It’s Ron Howard, back at the same spot where Oliver claimed they first met, but it gets even more surprising – he recognizes Charles! The warm welcome is a satisfying payoff, as after four seasons of Oliver’s exaggerated celebrity stories, one finally proves to be true. “I love that in Mayberry when you’d go down by the fishing hole,” an excited Charles exclaims – it’s a beautiful sentence when you reflect on it. Despite this, Ron still decides to join them for lunch at their table.

When the subject of Project Ronkonkoma arises, he recounts the entire incident – parts of which were previously shown from Sazz’s perspective throughout the episode. Fortunately, much like reliable witnesses in crime dramas, Ron Howard has a photographic memory regarding this event. The fire stunt appeared to run smoothly, but following the extinguishing of the mystery stuntman, he re-ignited prematurely in front of Howard, resulting in him losing his eyebrows. He also mentions that the stuntman made off with his shoes, and we can see this through Ron Howard’s replacement pair, which match the footprint left at the crime scene. This detail might seem a tad contrived, but it serves as a convenient way for the show to wrap up that plot thread. We later learn that the stuntman’s name is Rex Bailey, a name that doesn’t resonate, but when Ron presents a photograph, everything falls into place. Despite his disguise, it turns out that our suspect – the film’s screenwriter, Marshall – is indeed the culprit. My intuition about distrusting people with flawless vision has proven to be correct.

At this moment, Mabel finds herself in a precarious situation as she’s with Marshall, who turns out to be the murderer. However, she believes he’s merely Marshall the screenwriter, which is equally terrifying. She stumbled upon him in distress outside her apartment, pleading for her help to save his job by improving the script. But when Mabel reaches for a beer from the case Sazz brought during the night of the murder, she stumbles upon a piece of evidence that’s been overlooked – a script for their “Only Murders” movie, but written by Sazz. As she confronts him about this revelation, she sees a text on her phone implicating him as the killer. What makes this situation even more alarming is that he’s currently seated on the bed, and we’ve just witnessed him committing a murder with a pillow. Mabel, it’s time to flee!

It seems everything is falling into place, yet there’s one more episode remaining. Now, Mabel finds herself in an apartment with the suspected killer all by herself. They’ve managed to pinpoint the suspect, but they may need to apprehend him to ensure Mabel’s safety and possibly bring the perpetrator to justice. The final episode leaves room for additional discoveries about Marshall’s actions, such as whether he truly acted alone in his crimes or had help. Questions also arise concerning Marshall’s relationship with Professor Dudenoff and how he gained access to the Dudenoff apartment. What’s more, there’s still mystery surrounding the dry cleaning magnate of Brooklyn and those elusive rats that Glenn keeps spotting. In the end, I hope Marshall is held accountable for his deeds – most notably, the heinous act of chopping off his long blonde hair to hide behind that bowl cut.

2024-10-22 13:54

Only Murders in the Building Recap: On Fire

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