Only Murders in the Building’s fifth season, now streaming on Hulu, returns the series to the Arconia and to the familiar dynamic of Charles, Mabel and Oliver as they investigate the suspicious death of the building’s doorman. Early reviews praise the show for keeping its principal trio at the center of the story and for delivering a solid first episode that sets a personal, character-driven mystery in motion.
The season opens with the body of Lester (Teddy Coluca), the Arconia doorman, being prepared to lie in state in the building’s lobby while Oliver Putnam (Martin Short) reads a simple obituary. Lester’s bloody body was found in the courtyard fountain shortly after Oliver’s wedding to Loretta Durkin (Meryl Streep), and police quickly classify the death as accidental. The three amateur sleuths — Oliver, Mabel Mora (Selena Gomez) and Charles-Haden Savage (Steve Martin) — find reason to doubt that ruling when a severed finger turns up in Oliver’s leftover wedding shrimp and a photograph places Lester in the background of a conversation with a suspected mob figure, Nicky Caccimelio (Bobby Cannavale). Their investigation takes them to Staten Island to visit Nicky’s wife, Sofia Caccimelio (Téa Leoni), and back to the Arconia, where a playing card leads Charles and Mabel to a secret passage and a room beneath the building that suggests Lester was there shortly before he died. Oliver’s efforts to show he cared for Lester lead to another discovery at a dry cleaner that adds further mystery.
Creators Steve Martin and John Hoffman, along with their writing team, return to the formula that grounded earlier seasons: keep the action largely within the Arconia and maintain the trio as the narrative engine. Critics note that the presence of many guest stars — including several Oscar winners slated to appear later in the season — does not derail the episode so long as the focus remains on the core characters and their interactions. The show’s humor continues to arise from the trio’s chemistry and the interplay of age-targeted jokes that land in both directions.
The first episode also underscores how making the victim someone already known to the principal characters ramps up the stakes; Lester’s role as a congenial fixture of the Arconia recalls the personal nature of prior cases, such as the murder of Sazz in season four. Performances by supporting players received specific praise: Dianne Wiest’s Lorraine, Lester’s wife, gets a comic beat that reviewers singled out, and Jackie Hoffman’s return as Uma was noted for its caustic humor. Two major guest stars — Renée Zellweger and Christoph Waltz — had not yet appeared in the premiere, a structure that allows the trio to work the case together before additional high-profile arrivals complicate the narrative.
The premiere contains no explicit sexual content. The episode balances revelations and character work while leaving key questions unanswered, including whether Lester’s death is tied to organized crime and what the severed finger signifies. Critics who assessed the episode concluded that the series remains entertaining and funny when it prioritizes its three leads, recommending viewers stream the new season to follow the unfolding mystery.
Only Murders in the Building continues to blend comedy and mystery around the Arconia’s eccentric residents, relying on established character bonds and tightly focused storytelling to sustain the franchise into its fifth season.