In the penultimate episode of Only Murders In The Building, we’re suddenly much closer to finding out what might’ve happened to Lester and Nicky. Episode 8 ended with us finding out that Randall was the one who ran away with the elevator crank the night Lester died, thanks to the bird cam. In episode 9, Randall has escaped, and the gang gives up on solving the murder because there’s not going to be a building for much longer. It does feel like the end of an era, but of course, we can’t tell until we know for sure. Episode 9 feels almost like a goodbye in many ways, and this is especially apparent in the way Charles and Oliver treat each other this episode. Additionally, it’s a reminder of how important it is to feel like you’re part of a community when you live somewhere, or you end up feeling lonely and isolated. The Arconia looks to be a place for loners, well, rich loners, who ended up finding friends in each other, which is quite sweet. But also, does anybody else pick up a “technology is actually good for you” vibe from this episode? I guess there would be no podcast if it weren’t for the internet, eh? Okay, jokes aside, let’s jump straight into episode 9 of season 5.
Spoiler Alert
Does the Gang Catch Randall?
Only Murders In The Building episode 9 opens with Mabel, Charles, and Oliver confronting Randall, the doorman, over him showing up in the bird cam footage on the night Lester died. He starts off by denying it before trying something the trio’s never had to deal with before: physically running away. They’re honestly baffled that they’ve never had to chase someone before, considering they’re two old men and a hot woman in heels. With the Arconia’s days numbered and their one suspect unreachable, no amount of determination can help them solve the case this time, and everyone kind of deflates as time goes on.
Perhaps the biggest heartbreak is Howard’s, when he finds out his security privileges with robo-Lester have been revoked by Camila, and he’s not special to his robo-lover anymore. Oliver doesn’t bother packing, almost like he can’t come to terms with the fact that he’ll have to vacate his beloved apartment in the Arconia. Charles tries house-hunting online but ends up stumbling on senior care facilities staffed by butlers (i.e., nurses). And in a moment of weakness, Mabel texts Jay Pflug back and sort of accepts his invitation to go hang out at his place in the Maldives.
When Detective Williams finds out about this Maldives holiday over drinks with Mabel in the underground casino, she can’t keep herself from expressing her disappointment. The idea of Mabel just giving up on a case doesn’t make sense to her. But in the middle of this conversation, the pair notice a secret entrance built into the casino’s wall, thanks to a random footprint on the pristine carpet. In the underground passageway they discover, they stumble upon a framed picture Randall must have posed in front of when he posted on social media pretending to be in Cuba (a country he couldn’t be extradited from). They also find out the passageway connects the building to the dry cleaner’s next door, where Nicky’s body was found, and conclude the killer must have used this passage to transport him. But all this means Randall’s still in the building!
At the same time, the gang goes down to the lobby to call a meeting, only to stumble upon their old murder suspect, an actual grave robber, Teddy, returning to say bye to the Arconia. At the same time, robo-Lester says there’s a delivery for 6C, where nobody lives, and this is when the robot reveals Randall’s been squatting there. So, as robo-Lester heads up to give an unsuspecting Randall his food, the trio are back on track. Randall tries to make a run for it yet again, but this time he bumps into Theo, Teddy’s son, who is unsurprised he’s bumping into murder suspects just like that in the Arconia.
What Happens Between Charles and Oliver?
In episode 9, Charles and Oliver are coping with parting with the Arconia and, in turn, each other, but they’re going about it in different ways. At least Oliver has someone to go to after this, and Mabel is young and free, too, but Charles feels like he’s got nobody else, which is why he can’t get himself to partake in the farewell activities; he doesn’t want this to be goodbye. However, this hurts Oliver’s feelings, because he feels like Charles doesn’t care about them anymore and is looking for new friends and new hobbies because he’s moved on like they never meant anything to him. Funny old men who don’t know how to express their feelings, uff. But fortunately, they end up talking it out, and they both realize that the reason they’re so upset with each other is because they don’t want this to be goodbye. Hopefully, it’s not going to be either, but for now, Charles gets Oliver to sign a piece of the Arconia, a doorknob from his house, for memory’s sake. The podcast is the best thing that has ever happened to them (or so it seems).
Who Stole The Finger?
Finding Randall again puts the pep back in the gang’s step, but the guy still denies his guilt. He says he didn’t kill Lester, and that he withheld evidence from the investigation only because Lester himself had asked him to. Charles tries to say it’s too convenient that the only person who could confirm that is dead, but a clearly miserable Randall says that’s the furthest thing from the truth. Unexpectedly (for the second time this episode), robo-Lester comes to the rescue and says he saw the whole thing go down. Well, his predecessor did, before he was thrown unceremoniously off the roof, but his recordings have been uploaded to this robo-Lester, too.
He dims the lights down and starts projecting a recording from the night of Lester’s death that shows the old doorman clutching the bloody elevator crank and telling Randall he’s going to be a good doorman. He then told Randall to go give Oliver his wedding shrimp, and that was the last time he ever saw Lester alive. By the time he was back, the doorman was lying dead in the fountain, so Randall stole the bloody crank off the floor and hid it in Nicky’s office so nobody would suspect Lester of murder, though he himself did.
At the end of episode 9 of Only Murders In The Building, the gang gets the garbage guy to pull the murder board out of the garbage (Charles had dumped it) and starts trying to piece everything together. But something catches Howard’s eye: an interesting scuff mark next to Mabel’s fridge that everyone thought Robo-Lester was responsible for. Howard is quick to point out that the scuff marks don’t match and that it’s actually a very specific model of mobility scooter that leaves that pattern of scuff mark (he knows thanks to his mother’s old thing), and just like that, the gang knows who did it. The last thing we see in this episode is them marching up to the dry cleaner’s and accusing the Caccimelio grandmother of stealing the finger before she swears in Italian and looks furiously at us through Robo-Lester’s eyes. With only one episode left, I’m desperate to find out who killed Nicky and honestly can’t figure it out. Who do you think killed Nicky?
