The third season of Only Murders In The Building is back on our screens with a new murder, new mysteries, and a mind-blowing cast. The previous season left us with a cliffhanger when an actor named Ben Kenroy died on stage during an on-going theater show, thereby setting the stage for a murder mystery and a podcast on the same. We have recently checked out the first two episodes of Season 3, and as Mabel and Charles discovered, the killer is, in fact, someone from the cast. Therefore, before the third season moves any further, we would like to give you a gist of each character that we will be seeing a lot of in this season. So, without wasting any more time, let’s introduce the new and recurring characters of Only Murders In The Building.
Charles-Haden Savage
If there is a person in the entire show who can spot the silver lining in any low moment, then it is definitely Charles. It is perhaps the brilliance of Steve Martin, who plays the character and brings such grace to him. His father, Charles Sr., was a struggling actor in those days and often used to pass by Arconia. Whenever the father and son crossed the building, Charles Sr. would tell his son that one day, he was going to purchase a roof in that building. However, his dream never came true, as he was arrested for the alleged murder of a painter named Rose Cooper. When Charles grew up, he decided to become an actor just like his late father, and we believe that after the success of Brazzos, he purchased an apartment in Arconia, thereby fulfilling his father’s dream. Charles had also married a woman named Emma back in the day, but things didn’t work out between them, so they separated. However, Charles is still in touch with Emma’s teenage daughter, Lucy, who visits the old man from time to time, and we believe that she is the only family Charles has.
Oliver Putnam
People often say that you have to fake it until you make it. It is most likely true in show business, where you have to act both on and off-screen. The industry moguls expect an artist to have some sort of glittery charm that they believe will attract the audience, and in order to create such an aura, an artist is often compelled to maintain a lavish lifestyle that they cannot really afford.
Martin Short’s character can be defined along those lines. He had been a failure all his life but never gave up trying. He never directed any remarkable plays in his lifetime, but we believe he may have struck some deal through which he managed to purchase an apartment in Arconia. He wanted to live in Arconia because he believed it was the hub where you met all the important actors and producers, and living in the Upper West Side might have given him a sense of success. However, throughout Season 1, Oliver had been failing to pay the maintenance charges on the apartment and was drowning in debt, but he still refused to sell it. He has a son named Will, who always advises his father to slow down a bit and cut down on unnecessary expenses, but for Oliver, theater and show business are everything. You will find him wearing the most flashy clothes and using the most “French” words to impress the listeners around him. In short, he has created an image of a successful artist in his mind even though he has been a failure all his life. Maybe Oliver believes that one only fails if they accept defeat. In the third season, Oliver gets a chance to make a comeback to Broadway, but with his lead actor ending up dead, will Oliver be able to revive his career? Well, maybe we will soon find out.
Mabel Mora
It won’t be wrong to say that it is Selena Gomez’s character that most of us relate to. She is around 29 years old and still figuring out what she really wants to do in life. Mabel comes from Queens, where she used to live with her mother and father. Her father died early due to stomach cancer while she was still a teenager, and it was her mother who supported the family after that. Against her mother’s wishes, Mabel took on the responsibility of renovating her aunt’s apartment in Arconia, where she met the two most wonderful old souls who were going to change her life forever. With Charles and Oliver, Mabel started the Only Murders In The Building podcast, thereby giving wings to her passion for true crime. The trio found a sense of purpose while solving mysteries together, but as we found out in Season 3, Mabel’s aunt has sold her apartment, and she has to leave Arconia in four weeks. So, is it the end of the hustle, or will the universe wave its wand and magically change the predetermined ending to her story? We hope she doesn’t have to leave the building because we want the band to solve more and more murder cases, though we do not support murder in any capacity, of course.
Ben Glenroy
Have you ever met a popular actor who looks so humble and down-to-earth on screen and in interviews, but in real life, he is a total monster? Paul Rudd’s character is easily that person. He was a star in everyone’s eyes, but he would say the most mean things to a person to demean them in the worst ways possible. Actually, there wasn’t even a single person in the cast who liked Ben. He had beef with everyone, and perhaps that was the reason why Mabel theorized that whoever killed him must be someone from the cast of “Death Rattle.”
In his days, Ben had been part of some popular shows like “Girl Cop” and “CoBro.” He has a brother named Dickie, who also acts as his manager. And just to make it clear, Ben treats Dickie more like a servant than a brother or a manager, and thus, he might not be in the cast of the play, but he does have a motive to kill his own brother.
Loretta Durkin
There is something poetic about failed artists. We believe it is their unsatisfied hunger for success and recognition that keeps them moving. Meryl Streep’s character is that struggling actor who wants to charm you with each line she speaks. She wants perfection in her performance: be it her character’s dialect, the way she delivers the lines, the pauses she takes, and each and every gesture she makes on stage. She wants it all to be perfect, but she never really got the chance to showcase her talent and has waited long enough to pour her soul into the character Oliver has offered her. While none of the people, especially Ben, believe that she is the best fit for the role, Oliver recognized the intensity in her eyes when she auditioned for the role. Oliver is falling in love with the hustler, who, like him, never got the recognition she deserved, but what is suspicious about her character is her hatred towards Ben.
Other Members Of The Play
The first two episodes of the third season don’t really give any insights into the other character, but we believe the subsequent episodes will explore them further through their interaction (read: hatred) with Ben. The first one of the lot is Ashley Park’s character, Kimber, who we believe will play a potential love interest in the play. Ben has been hitting on her since the start of the rehearsal, and he may have even tried to cross the line sometime, which created the rift between the two. There are other actors in the play, like Ty, Charles, Jonathan, Bobo, and others, about whom we are sure to get more information in the upcoming episodes.
Other than the cast of the play, we have our friendly resident, Howard Morris (Michael Cyril Creighton), who needs no introduction if you have seen the first two seasons. He is an ally and a cat lover who brings comic freshness to the screen with his presence. In the third season, Howard takes up the role of Oliver’s assistant to help him with the play, and as we know, Howard cannot be the killer because he faints at the sight of blood. However, Howard does have beef with stage manager KT for some reason, which we are going to find out about soon.
In the end, we have our producers, Donna Demeo and the “Son.” “Death Rattle” is the first venture of Donna’s son, Cliff, and she may not have wanted his career to start with a flop. We believe Donna might have seen the run-through and rehearsals of the show and was certain that the play was going to be another flop from Oliver, which was why she decided to create a distraction. Nevertheless, after Ben’s death, Oliver pitched the idea of turning “Death Rattle” into a musical because that’s how his show would sing. Oliver got a minor heart attack after he heard Maxine’s critical review of his show, who told him in plain and simple words that the play was missing Oliver’s soul. So, is it going to be another flop musical, or will some singing and dancing really make the show a super hit? We wait eagerly to find out the answers.
A bit of information before we take ou leave. Ben had gifted a specially designed handkerchief to each member of the cast and crew. It was the same handkerchief that Mabel spotted on Ben’s dead body, thereby speculating that the killer was someone from the cast. She could be right, or she could be wrong, which usually happens, but the evidence brings something to head start the investigation and records the first episode of their podcast. So here begins a new investigation to catch Ben’s killer. If you have any theories about who this mysterious murderer could be, then please share them with us, as we and the readers would love to know all the conspiracies surrounding it.
