The case has taken many twists and turns in Only Murders in the Building Season 5, as is usually the situation for every season. There are so many clues pointing in different directions, the trio of Charles (Steve Martin), Oliver (Martin Short), and Mabel (Selena Gomez) are finding it tough to figure out what’s real, what’s not, and who is responsible for killing both Lester (Teddy Coluca) and Nicky (Bobby Cannavale). While the latest revelation doesn’t hint at the identity of the killer (or killers), it does threaten the future of the Arconia.
Camila Has Big Plans for the Arconia
In Episode 7, “Silver Alert,” the trio learns devastating news. After hearing from Mayor Tillman (Keegan-Michael Key) that Bash (Christoph Waltz) is heading to his Connecticut mansion for a secret meeting with other billionaires, the trio decide to follow him. This is fueled by Tillman’s confession, which provides damning evidence that Bash could be the murderer. In fact, Tillman predicts as such. Why? Not only is Bash trying to control Tillman’s campaign through hefty donations, he has even inserted his niece Romi (Caitlin Houlahan) to serve as Bash’s assistant. Surely, there’s something to this.
What they discover when they arrive at the remote location, however, is not at all what they anticipated. Bash, Camila (Renée Zellweger), and Jay (Logan Lerman) are playing a series of board games to fuel their need for constant competition. They’re tired of taking one another’s businesses down, so this is a nice escape while still feeding their need to win. Yes, these billionaires are so bored with making million-dollar deals that Monopoly and trivia are all that’s left to satiate their greedy desires.
Mabel has an idea, challenging them to a board game competition with high stakes they find difficult to pass up. It is, after all, all about the win for them. The deal: if Mabel and Charles win, they can keep investigating without interference. If they lose, their investigation into the billionaires will stop forever. There’s a lot on the line, but thankfully, they win in the final category: Broadway. They pull it out based on otherwise useless information Oliver has told them over the years, despite Oliver having left the venue, worried about his safety.
What’s most interesting during this meeting is that they learn something big that ties the billionaire trio to the Arconia in a way they hadn’t anticipated. Bash had plans to open New York’s first casino, and, of course, the others wanted to beat him to the punch. Camila visits later to reveal that she has been making moves to do so. The severed finger they discover the trio had stolen (or rather paid someone to get) apparently holds the key to the single permit New York is willing to grant.
Camila is disgusted by the others’ plans. Jay wants to put his casino into a YMCA location while Bash wants to erect it in a spaceship floating over Times Square. Camila has a classier idea. Called The Camila Club, it would be bespoke, designed to make gambling chic with quiet slots. She mentions that she’ll start renovations on Oliver’s apartment, confusing the trio. This is when her grand plan is revealed: that amazing offer he received on his unit was secretly from her. She has a venue in mind for her casino, and it’s one no one saw coming: the Arconia. “You’re turning the Arconia into a casino,” Charles asks. Camila sighs. “Well, have a good night. Hopefully they’ll have murders in your next building, too.”
Will the Arconia Be No More?
Armed with this devastating knowledge, Mabel sets out to run her own sting operation in Episode 8, “Cuckoo Chicks.” When the sleuths learn of a ladies-only private party taking place at the secret casino in the Arconia, Mabel leverages her old friend Althea (Beanie Feldstein) to get her an invitation. The plan is to get as much information from Camila as they can, perhaps have her confess to Lester’s murder so they can stop her before she takes over the building. But how? She already knows who they are. She doesn’t, however, know Loretta (Meryl Streep), one of the returning stars from the show. Loretta is confident she can put on an elaborate character, thanks to her acting chops, to befriend Camila and glean information.
Before this happens, however, a flashback scene shows an interaction between Camila and Nicky. She asks him about hosting a private ladies’ night once a month, and he agrees to allow it. It’s clear that she has an affection for him and he reciprocates the flirtation. There’s more there than meets the eye.
While the ladies are working their magic, Oliver and Charles try to discover more about what’s going on in the building. They discover that many residents have sold their apartments to Camila, and she’s on the verge of acquiring a 51% stake in the building. They have until midnight to convince people to cancel their sales and prevent her from being able to convert the building into a casino. But it seems not many people care. They’re happy to move on, especially with a hefty check in their pocket.
Back in the casino, Loretta pretends to be a psychic, worrying Oliver that he married a “woo woo” since she discusses her actual belief in these tactics and her ability to channel spirits. But it works once she builds trust with Camila, and the billionaire starts to recall her interactions with Nicky. She told him about Bash’s plans to build New York’s biggest casino and how Jay made a bid as well to “impress daddy.” She offered to buy enough of the Arconia so Nicky could build that casino there, and they could do it together.
However, Nicky refuses to sell: the place is his wife’s family’s legacy. And he still loves his wife, a bit of news that upsets Camila greatly. She had clearly hoped to get into business, and bed, with Nicky. That’s when her claws came out and when she slowly began to buy apartments in the Arconia, one by one. Now it’s all coming into focus. If Nicky wasn’t going to partner with her on the casino, she’d find a way to get it herself.
In a flashback, Camila runs into a distraught Nicky on the street while everyone is looking for him. He declares that he’s in on the plan she had proposed. Why? He’s upset because he caught his wife in bed with someone else. He doesn’t care about her family legacy anymore.
As Loretta and Camila’s conversation is coming to a close, Camila gets a text that the last apartment closed escrow, and she now officially owns 51% of the building. Meanwhile, Lorraine (Dianne Wiest) and Vince (Richard Kind) make a break in the case. There’s video from a bird-watching camera they set up (and forgot about) that captured footage on the night Lester died. It doesn’t show who killed him, but reveals that the beloved doorman Lester blew his bird whistle to trigger it while he was still alive in the fountain. The recording shows the new doorman Randall (Jermaine Fowler), going outside, finding the bloody elevator crank on the ground, picking it up, putting it in his pocket, and ducking away. What does this all mean?
That’s for another angle. For now, what’s evident is that the future of the Arconia is in danger. Considering the building, exterior shots of which are filmed at the historic The Belnord apartments on the Upper West Side of New York, is such an enduring part of the show, it’s a massive shake-up. How can a show about murders in a building exist without the actual building? Could the crew be moving to make way for a new venue for potential future seasons? It could make sense, since it seems the Arconia has already been the site of five seasons’ worth of murders. If there’s a sixth, a new locale could make things interesting.
With Camila officially majority owner, she can do with the building as she pleases. This could mean displacing tenants who are still left to sign deals, building up the casino, and turning the lavish venue into New York’s biggest gambling house. What’s evident is that while Camila is arguably the season’s biggest villain at this point, she likely didn’t kill Nicky, removing her as a suspect. At least for now. But with the current situation, there could be a third death: that of the iconic building in which these murders have always taken place. For that, Camila is the prime suspect. Stream Only Murders in the Building on Hulu.
- Release Date
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August 31, 2021
- Network
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Hulu
- Showrunner
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John Hoffman
